Editing Hebrews (section)

==Etymology==
The biblical term ''Ivri'' ({{lang|he|עברי}}; {{IPA|he|ʕivˈri}}) is usually rendered as ''Hebrew'' in English ({{langx|grc|Ἑβραῖος|link=no}}; {{langx|la|Hebraeus|link=no}}). The biblical word ''Ivri'' has the plural form ''Ivrim'', or ''Ibrim''. The definitive origin of the term "Hebrew" remains uncertain.<ref name="Hebrew">{{cite encyclopedia | title = Hebrew | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica | place = Chicago |year = 2009 }}</ref>

The most generally accepted hypothesis today<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h5680 | editor-last=Gesenius | editor-first=H. W. F. |title=Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/14-13.htm| work=Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges |title=Genesis 14:13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| editor-last=Ernest |editor-first=Klein |title=A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English |url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Klein_Dictionary%2C_%D7%A2%D6%B4%D7%91%D6%B0%D7%A8%D6%B4%D7%99?lang=he}}</ref> is that the text intends ''ivri'' as the adjective (Hebrew suffix -i) formed from ''ever'' (עֵבֶר) 'beyond, across' (avar (עָבַר) 'he crossed, he traversed'), as a description of migrants 'from across the river' as the Bible describes the Hebrews.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Joshua 24:3 But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac|url=https://biblehub.com/joshua/24-3.htm|access-date=August 4, 2020|website=biblehub.com}}</ref> It is also supported by the 3rd century BCE [[Septuagint]], which translates ''ivri'' to ''perates'' (περατής),<ref>{{cite web| title=Abram the Hebrew = Αβραμ τῷ περάτῃ |url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lxx/gen/14/1/t_conc_14013}}</ref> a Greek word meaning "one who came across, a migrant",<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Liddell|first1=Henry George|last2=Scott|first2=Robert|title=περατής|website=A Greek-English Lexicon|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dperath%2Fs|access-date=September 3, 2022}}</ref> from ''perao'' (περάω) "to cross, to traverse",<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Liddell|first1=Henry George|last2=Scott|first2=Robert|title=περάω|website=A Greek-English Lexicon|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=pera/w1|access-date=September 3, 2022}}</ref> as well as some early traditional commentary.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bereishit Rabah 42:8|url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Bereishit_Rabbah.42.8?lang=he|type=on the first mention of the word ''ivri'' in the Bible: the phrase "Abram the ''ivri''" of Genesis 14:13}}</ref> [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]] considers it the only linguistically acceptable hypothesis.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilhelm Gesenius|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gesenius'_Hebrew_Grammar/2._Sketch_of_the_History_of_the_Hebrew_Language|title=Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar|chapter=Sketch of the History of the Hebrew Language }}</ref> The description of peoples and nations from their location "from across the river" (often the river [[Euphrates]], sometimes the [[Jordan River]]) was common in this region of the ancient Near-East:<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Beattie|first1=D. R. G.|last2=Davies|first2=Philip R.|date=March 1, 2011|title=What Does Hebrew Mean?1|url=https://academic.oup.com/jss/article/56/1/71/1661105|journal=Journal of Semitic Studies|language=en|volume=56|issue=1|pages=71–83|doi=10.1093/jss/fgq059|issn=0022-4480}}</ref> it appears as ''eber nari'' in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]<ref>A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, Jeremy Black, Andrew George, Nicholas Postgate, page 64</ref><ref>[https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&ObjectID=P336126 Example]: definition of [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa02/sig?%E2%98%A3%40saao%2Fsaa02%25akk-x-stdbab%3Ae-bir-ID%E2%82%82%3DEber-nari%5Bacross%20the%20river%2F%2FSyria%20west%20of%20Euphrates%5DGN%C2%B4GN%24Eber-nari eber nari] in Akkadian-language [http://oracc.iaas.upenn.edu/saao/saa02/P336126/html Treaty of Esarhaddon King of Assyria with Baal King of Tyre] (British Museum, London, UK)</ref> and ''avar nahara'' in [[Aramaic]] (both corresponding to Hebrew ''ever nahar''), the Aramaic expression's use being quoted verbatim in the Bible, for example in an Aramaic letter sent to the [[List of monarchs of Persia|King of Persia]] in the [[Book of Ezra]]<ref>[https://biblehub.com/ezra/4-11.htm Ezra 4:11, New American Standard Bible]: "To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, ''the men in the region beyond the Euphrates River''" (Aramaic: ''enash avar nahara'').</ref> or in the [[Book of Nehemiah]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nehemiah 2:7 Hebrew Text Analysis|url=https://biblehub.com/text/nehemiah/2-7.htm|access-date=August 4, 2020|website=biblehub.com}}</ref> sometimes rendered as Trans-Euphrates.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nehemiah 2:7 in the New International Version translation: "may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates"|url=https://biblehub.com/nehemiah/2-7.htm|access-date=August 4, 2020|website=biblehub.com}}</ref>

[[File:Canaanites and Shasu Leader captives from Ramses III's tile collection; By Niv Lugassi.png|thumb|[[Ramesses III prisoner tiles]] depicting Canaanite and Shasu leaders as captives. Most archaeologists regard the Hebrews as local [[Canaanite people|Canaanite]] refugees and possibly some Shasu settling down in the hill-country.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://members.bib-arch.org/biblical-archaeology-review/34/6/9|title=Shasu or Habiru: Who Were the Early Israelites?|date=August 24, 2015|website=The BAS Library|access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch04-2.htm|title=Israelites as Canaanites|website=www.fsmitha.com|access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://members.bib-arch.org/biblical-archaeology-review/34/6/8|title=Inside, Outside: Where Did the Early Israelites Come From?|date=August 24, 2015|website=The BAS Library|access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref>]]
[[File:Samuel e david.jpg|right|thumb|A depiction of the Ancient Hebrews in [[Dura-Europos synagogue]]]]
[[File:Dura Europos fresco Jews cross Red Sea.jpg|thumb|[[Moses]] leads the Israelites across the [[Red Sea]] while pursued by [[Pharaoh]]. Fresco from the [[Dura-Europos]] synagogue in Syria, 244–256 CE]]
{{bibleverse||Genesis|10:21|HE}} refers to [[Shem]], the elder brother of [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] and [[Japheth]], and thus the first-born son of [[Noah]], as the father of the sons of [[Eber]] (עבר), which may have a similar meaning.

Some authors such as Radak and R. Nehemiah<ref>[https://www.thetorah.com/article/who-were-the-hebrews Who Were the Hebrews?]</ref> argue that ''Ibri'' denotes the descendants of the biblical patriarch [[Eber]] (Hebrew עבר), son of [[Salah (biblical figure)|Shelah]], a great-grandson of Noah and an ancestor of [[Abraham]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5406-eber|title=EBER - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com|access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref> hence the occasional [[Anglicisation|anglicization]] ''Eberites''. Others disagree, arguing that the Eberites and Hebrews were two different ethnicities, with the former specifically inhabiting Assyria. Nonetheless, the descent of Hebrews from Eber is acknowledged.<ref>{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Eber|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5406-eber|first1=Emil G.|last1=Hirsch|first2=Eduard|last2=König|authorlink1=Emil G. Hirsch|authorlink2=Friedrich Eduard König|volume=5|page=30}}</ref>

Since the 19th-century CE discovery of the second-millennium BCE inscriptions mentioning the [[Habiru]], many theories have linked these to the Hebrews. Some scholars argue that the name "Hebrew" is related to the name of those [[Nomad|semi-nomadic]] Habiru people recorded in [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] inscriptions of the 13th and 12th centuries BCE as having settled in [[Egypt]].<ref name="entry in britannica.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hebrew|title=Hebrew - people|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref> Other scholars rebut this, proposing that the Hebrews are mentioned in later texts of the [[Third Intermediate Period of Egypt|3rd Intermediate Period of Egypt]] (11th century BCE) as [[Shasu|Shasu of ''Yhw'']],<ref>{{cite journal | last = Rainey | first = Anson | title = Shasu or Habiru. Who Were the Early Israelites? | journal = Biblical Archaeology Review | volume = 34 | issue = 6 (Nov/Dec) | publisher = Biblical Archaeology Society | date = November 2008}}</ref> while some scholars<ref>{{Cite web|title=Klein Dictionary, עִבְרִי|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Klein_Dictionary,_עִבְרִי|access-date=August 4, 2020|website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> consider these two hypotheses compatible, ''Ḫabiru'' being a generic Akkadian form parallel to Hebrew ''ʿivri'' from the Akkadian equivalent of ''ʿever'' "beyond, across" describing foreign peoples "from across the river",<ref>See above the discussion of the Akkadian and Aramaic expressions ''eber nari'' and ''avar nahara'' respectively, corresponding to Hebrew ''ever nahar'', being widely used in the ancient Near-East.</ref> where the letter [[Ayin#Hebrew ayin|ayin]] (ע) in Hebrew corresponds to ''ḫ'' in Akkadian<ref>{{Cite book|last=Klein|first=Ernest|url=https://archive.org/details/AComprehensiveEtymologicalDictionaryOfTheEnglishLanguageByErnestKlein/page/n357/mode/2up|title=A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary Of The English Language|year=1971|pages=692}}</ref> (as in Hebrew ''zeroaʿ'' corresponding to Akkadian ''zuruḫ''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Search Entry|url=http://www.assyrianlanguages.org/akkadian/dosearch.php?searchkey=6333&language=id|access-date=August 4, 2020|website=www.assyrianlanguages.org}}</ref>). Alternatively, some argue that Habiru refers to a social class found in every ancient Near Eastern society, which Hebrews could be part of.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=D. Friedberg |first=Albert |date=22 February 2017 |title=Who Were the Hebrews? |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/who-were-the-hebrews#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20Hebrew%2C%E2%80%9D%20a%20member,the%20original%20language%20of%20man. |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128014216/https://www.thetorah.com/article/who-were-the-hebrews |archive-date=28 November 2023 |website=The Torah.com}}</ref>