HEBREW,"iiri(-i=y, o-iap, o—iny).— Ebrew(Shaks. I Hen. JV. II. iv. 198; AV 1611 Dt 15 heading): Ebreus (Wyd. 2 Co U--) : through Norm. He.hrcu, Ilebrwus, E/3paTo?, Aram, 'ibrai, det. forms, 'ibrd'nh,' ibrcti/ii/i, ("!^i\ ^)<1^V, ■i-i:!', l)ti]m. Jik/.-Fal. Aram, drnmm. p. 155). The Greeks were thus evidentl}' lirst aciiuainted with the word through Araraaie-ppeaking peoples. If, as maj' be pre- sumed, this was by way of N. Syria and Asia Minor, it throws no light on the date at which they came ])ersonally in touch with the Hebrews. As, however, 'E|3paios occurs only in later Greek (LXX, I'ausanias ; v. infra), it is possible that it was formed at a time when Aramaic was becominjr the prevailing language of the Hebrews themselves, ».e. c. 300 B.C.
I. Usage of the Word.— (A) Old Test. — Not in P nor, save in Jer 34»- " (nuot. from Ut 15"), in documents certainly later than 7th cent. n.C, pre- sumably because it has no theological or theocratic connot.ition but is jpuiely secular, and ' Jew ' (wh. see) took its jplace f^rom the 7th cent, onwards. It is apjiarently the oldest designation of the chosen people (whether in its primitive use confined to tluin or not, see II. ii.) in contrast to those of anotliir race. We thus lind it used : i. by others — (in 3!ii^" [.]■'] 41'- [E!, E.\ 2« (E], Egyptians; 1 S 4«-» [E'l 13'» [J-] 14" IJ'j* 29" [J'J, Phili.stines. ii. By Jews in addres.sing others — Gn 40" [E], Eg>-ptians; Ex 3" 7" 9' [all J], words that Moses was commanded by God to use to Pnaraoh ; 5' [J], words so used by him ; Jon 1', by Jonah to the
• UnleM we ulopt Tlltjdir'i emendation ' mice ' onjjl'n.
sailors who were presumably Phoenicians. iii. With a contrast to others expressed or clearly implied — Gn 14'' [' Exilic Midrash '??], Canaanites and Chedorlaomer's army ; 43"- [J"], Ex !"• '»• " [EJ 2'- "• '" [El, Egyptians ; 1 S 13»- ' * (J'], Philis- tines ; 14'-' [J'i, Philistines and, apparently, the bulk of Israel that were already with Saul ; Ex 21' ['Bk. of the Covenant'], Ut 15'-, Jer 34»- '♦ 'a Hebrew slave ' is contrasted with one of any other nationality.
(15) Apocrypha. — The word does not occur often, but the usage is similar, as far as it goes. i. Used by others, Jth 12" (Holofernes, an 'AssjTian'), 14'" (Bagoas, an ' Assyrian ').t ii. By Jews in address- ing others, Jth 10'^ ('Assyrians'), 2 Mac 7*' (Syrians), iii. With a contrast to others expressed or clearly implied, 2 Mac 11'" (Syrians) J 15" (Syrians), iv. The Prologue of Sir is sUghtly ditt'erent, for it is there used distinctly of the Hebrew language in contra.st to Greek, the dis- covery of the original of Sir showing that Hebrew, not Aramaic, wa.s intended.
(C) New Testament. — The phenomena here are more <liliicult. ' Hebrews ' are contrasted with ' Hellenists' (Ac 6'),§ i.e. those Jews who favoured Hellenism and practised Greek customs, and therefore, either by preference or by residence abroad, usually spoke the Greek language. Hebrews would therefore be those who more trulj' answered to the old idea of the people, the more conservative members who prided themselves on maintaining the old customs, and rejected as far as possible the insidious influence of Hellenism (2 Co U--, Ph 3', though St. Paul was a Jew of the Dispersion). In this way it is intelligible how ' Hebrew,' when used of language, may mean either Aramaic (Jn 5' 19"- "■ '-'" 20'" 'E/JpaiirW, ond proljably Ac 21*> 22- 26'^ rj 'E^paMi moKiKT^) or Hebrew proper (Kev 9" 16"* ■Kj3pai-<rrl).|l In other words, the evidence now available tends to show that tlio use of ' Hebrew ' does not refer funda- mentally to the language, •[ but rather to the historic position and worth of the nation. It is not a hnguistic but a national word. Hence Jo.sephus** can remark that the Heb. say for ' red ' dduifw. {Ant. II. i. 1) and for Pentecost iaapdi (Ant. III. X. 6), i.e. pure Aram, (.xt-iti, urnsi'j.tt
II. Original Meaning of the '\\OKD.—Quot homines tot sententi(E, for a word that "oes back to such jirimitive times readily lends itself to guesses on the part of those unactjuainted with Hebrew, or acquainted with it only in its biblical form.
i. '1 he derivation from .4 Aram (D-;;x)JJ is of course impossible, for k and y do not readily interchange, §§ and the Ios.s of the final n would be inexplicable. At most, the similarity of sound between the
• Klostcrmanti and Budde read ' & (freat nmUitude * (3"] Dy X
t Contrast tlie use of ' Israel ' in Jth, when <.;od'6 mercies are spoken ol, or when there is no thouRhl of nienilK-re of another nation, tt.fj. 15J*''".. ' Jews' is apparently not found in Jth.
I Notice the allusion to victories of tJie Hebrews of old.
§ Cf. the fu*tLy*fyr Al^piiit at Rome nieiitioneii on one. and apjiarenlly a second, in.soription (see Schurer. IIJI* li. ii. i?4S, and ik-rliner, Ge4eh. d. Juiltm in limn i. 64. Berliner, relerrintf to Derentmurf:. thinks Aififinn here meazu tjoiuaritanji, but surely wrongly ).
I Cf. ProloKTie to Sirooh, tripra.
it As Trenih, AT Ai/'xini/ini, { xxxlx.
"• Cf. A. Meyer, ,/mii ilultrrnprarlif, 1896, p. 40.