Dear Friends,

As part of our journey to learn more about Biblical Hebrew, I thought it would be nice to discuss the word for Hebrew itself: עִבְרִית, “Ivrit”, and other words from the same root. While this is the name of the language, it is interesting to note that this name in itself does not appear in the Bible. The only time the Hebrew language is mentioned, in 2 Kings 18:26, 28 (and in the parallel in Isaiah 37:11, 13), it is called יְהוּדִית, “Yehudit”, literally – Judean, and is thus differentiated from Aramaic. The leaders of the people ask the Rab-Shakeh, a senior Assyrian official, that he deliver his message from the king of Assyria encouraging Judea to surrender in Aramaic rather than in יְהוּדִית, because Aramaic is not understood by commoners.

The origin of the word is the man עֵבֶר, Ever, who was a descendant of Shem (son of Noah) and the father of many nations. The most famous among these nations is, of course, the Hebrews – the עִבְרִים, “Ivrim”, the first of whom, Abraham, is referred to in Genesis 14:13 as אַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי, “Avram the Ivri”.
The word עֵבֶר, Ever, is also a noun meaning a thigh, a side or a direction. A good example for this is the collocation עֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן, “Ever HaYarden” – the other side of the Jordan, meaning, the East Bank.
 

This word is naturally connected to the root from which it is derived. The verb from the root עב"ר means “to pass (to the other side)”. The words from this root מֵעֲבָר “ma’avar” and  מַעְבָרָה ”ma’abarah” both denote a pass (such as a river pass).
 

An additional word from the same root is עֶבְרָה. The word literally means an overflow or outburst – usually either of insolence or of divine wrath. This is perhaps also connected to the meaning of “to pass” – the insolence or wrath is so great that they surpass reason and cause an outburst.

A rare derivation from this root is בַּעֲבוּר, “Ba’avur”, literally “for the sake of” or “on account of”. When Abraham makes a covenant with Abimelech, the king of the Philistine city of Gerar, he sets aside seven lambs, and explains that he does this בַּעֲבוּר תִּהְיֶה-לִּי לְעֵדָה כִּי חָפַרְתִּי אֶת-הַבְּאֵר הַזֹּאת, “for the sake that they be my witness that it is I who dug this well” (Genesis 21:30).
 

A geographical region with a name from the root עב"ר is the mountain district of עֲבָרִים, “Avarim”, which is located on the East Bank of the Jordan, in Moab, opposite Jericho. One of the mountains of this ridge is Mount Nebo, on which Moses climbed in order to have a clear view of the entire Land of Canaan before his death, because he was punished and forbidden to enter the land itself.
 

I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about the word עִבְרִית. Have a great week!

Naama Baumgarten
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team