Ἑβραῖος

Ἑβραῖος — Hebraîos

Ἑβραῖος (WH Ἐβραῖος, see their Introductory § 408), ἑβραιου, ὁ, a Hebrew (עִבְרִי a name first given to Abraham, Gen 14:13, afterward transferred to his posterity descended from Isaac and Jacob; by it in the O. T. the Israelites are both distinguished from and designated by foreigners, as afterward by Pausanias, Plutarch, others. The name is now generally derived from עֵבֶר for הַנָּהָר עֵבֶר, i. e. of the region beyond the Euphrates, whence עִבְרִי equivalent to one who comes from the region beyond the Euphrates; Gen 14:13 the Sept. ὁ περάτης. Cf. Gesenius, Gesch. d. hebr. Sprache u. Schrift, p. 11f; Thesaurus, ii., p. 987; Knobel, Volkertafel der Genesis, p. 176ff; Bleek, Einl. in d. A. T. edition 1, p. 73f. (English translation, i. 76f); (B. D. under the word. For Synonym: see Ἰουδαῖος.)).

1. In the N. T. anyone of the Jewish or Israelitish nation: 2Co 11:22; Php 3:5. (In this sense Euseb. h. e. 2, 4, 3 calls Philo the Alexandrian Jew, Ἑβραῖος, although his education was Greek, and he had little (if any) knowledge even of the Hebrew language; and in Praep. evang. 8, 8, 34 he applies the same word to Aristobulus, who was both an Alexandrian, and a Greek-speaking Jew.)

2. In a narrower sense those are called Ἑβραῖοί, who lived in Palestine and used the language of the country, i. e. Chaldee; from whom are distinguished οἱ ἑλληνισται, which see That name adhered to them even after they had gone over to Christianity: Act 6:1. (Philo in his de conf. lingg. § 26 makes a contrast between Ἑβραῖοί and ἡμεῖς; and in his de congr. erud. grat. § 8 he calls Greek ἡ ἡμετέρα διάλεκτος. Hence, in this sense he does not reckon himself as a Hebrew.)

3. All Jewish Christians, whether they spoke Aramaic or Greek, equivalent to πιστοί ἐξ Ἑβραίων; so in the heading of the Epistle to the Hebrews; called by Eusebius, h. e. 3, 4, 2 οἱ ἐξ Ἑβραίων ὄντες. (Cf. K. Wieseler, Unters. u. d. Hebraerbrief, 2te Halfte. Kiel, 1861, pp. 25-30.)