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Eber
A patriarch from whose name the term 'Hebrew' is traditionally derived; an ancestor of Abraham.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1
Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Origin & birthplace
Scan by NYPL — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersThe first-century Jewish historian Josephus names Eber and explicitly derives the term 'Hebrews' from him, preserving an ancient extra-biblical understanding of Eber as the people's namesake.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.6.4 (1.146-147), where 'Heber' is given as the origin of the name Hebrews.
Family & lineage
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe name Eber (Hebrew ʿEḇer) derives from the root ʿ-b-r, 'to cross over' or 'pass beyond,' and is the traditional etymological source of the gentilic ʿibri, 'Hebrew' — presenting Eber as the eponymous ancestor from whom the ethnonym descends.
Standard Hebrew onomastic/lexical analysis of the root ʿ-b-r and its relation to the ethnonym ʿibri (e.g. BDB and HALOT lexica).
ScholarlySome earlier scholars proposed connecting Eber/'Hebrew' (ʿibri) with the Habiru/ʿApiru attested across second-millennium Near Eastern texts such as the Amarna letters, but mainstream scholarship now rejects a direct equation, treating Habiru as a broad social designation rather than an ethnic term tied to Eber.
Scholarly discussion of the Habiru/ʿApiru (Amarna correspondence and related Akkadian texts); the proposed link is noted honestly as largely abandoned.