Eber

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Eber (Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx) is an ancestor of the Ishmaelites and the Israelites according to the Generations of Noah in the Book of Genesis (Template:Bibleverse) and the Books of Chronicles (Template:Bibleverse).

Lineage

Eber (Hebrew: Ever) was a great-grandson of Noah's son Shem and the father of Peleg, born when Eber was 34 years old,<ref name=Larsson1983>Template:Cite journal</ref> and of Joktan. He was the son of Shelah, a distant ancestor of Abraham. According to the Hebrew Bible, Eber died at the age of 464.<ref name=Larsson1983/><ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref>

In the Septuagint, the name is written as Heber/Eber ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), and his father is called Sala ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). His son is called Phaleg/Phalek ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), born when Heber was 34 years old, and he had other sons and daughters. Heber lived to an age of 464 years.<ref>Genesis 11:14–17</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Name

The triliteral root Template:Wikt-lang, Template:Transliteration, is connected with crossing over and the beyond.<ref>Marcus Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (London, W.C.: Luzac & Co.; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons; 1903), p. 1039 etc.</ref> Considering that other names for descendants of Shem also stand for places, Eber can also be considered the name of an area, perhaps near Assyria.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite Jewish Encyclopedia</ref>

Medieval scholars such as Michael the Syrian, Bar Hebraeus, and Agapius of Hierapolis noted that the prevailing view was the Hebrews (Template:Langx, also derived from the letters {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) had received their name from ʿEber,<ref>Who Were the Hebrews?</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while others state the name "Hebrew" means "those who cross", a reference to those who crossed the Euphrates with Abram from Ur of the Chaldees to Harran and then Canaan.<ref name=":0" />

In some translations of the New Testament, he is referred to once as Heber/Eber (Luke 3:35, "Template:Langx] the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Selah") but should not be confused with Ḥeber, the grandson of Asher, who is mentioned in Genesis 46:17 and in Numbers 26:45, as their names are distinct in Hebrew; Ḥeber is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} with a heth while ʿEber has an ayin.

Hebrew

Template:See also The 13th-century Muslim historian Abu al-Fida relates a story noting that the patriarch Eber, the great-grandson of Shem, refused to help with the building of the Tower of Babel. As a result, his language was not confused when the tower was abandoned. He and his family alone retained the original Adamic language, which he identified as Hebrew, a language named after ʿEber.<ref>Morris Jastrow, Ira Maurice Price, Marcus Jastrow, Louis Ginzberg, & Duncan B. MacDonald; "Babel, Tower of", Jewish Encyclopedia; Funk & Wagnalls, 1906.</ref>

In Islam

Template:See also ʿEber is sometimes referred to in classical Islamic writings as the "father" of the "prehistoric, original Arabs" (the ʿArab al-ʿĀriba), who lived in the Arabian Peninsula after the Deluge.<ref name=Buhl>Buhl, Fr., "Ḏj̲urhum", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936), Edited by M. Th. Houtsma, T.W. Arnold, R. Basset, R. Hartmann.</ref> ʿEber was also identified with the Muslim prophet Hud by some of the early Muslim authorities, who has a surah named after him in the Quran.<ref name=Wensinck>Wensinck, A. J., "Hūd", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936), Edited by M. Th. Houtsma, T.W. Arnold, R. Basset, R. Hartmann.</ref> Other sources identify the prophet Hud as ʿEber's son.<ref name=Wensinck /><ref name="dabbagh">Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

• ʿApiru

External links

• Easton's Bible Dictionary: Eber | Heber | Hebrew
• Smith's Bible Dictionary: Eber | Heber | Hebrew
• International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Eber | Heber| Hebrew