hide text
It is held by the best authorities and by the Jews themselves that the name is derived from Heber, or Eber (which means "from the other side," or a sojourner, or immigrant). Heber was the son of Salah and the father of Peleg (see Gen. 10:24, 11:14, and I Chron. 1:25). Abram was the first to be called a Hebrew (Gen. 14:13), presumably in the immigrant sense. The name is seldom used of the Israelites in the Old Testament, except when the speaker is a foreigner, or when the Israelites speak of themselves to one of another nation. Some writers have held that Hebrew is derived from Abraham (Abrai), but this explanation is not generally adopted.
