Hebrew

Dictionary

He·brew (hē'brū) pronunciationn.

1. A member or descendant of a Semitic people claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; an Israelite; a Jew.
2.
   1. The Semitic language of the ancient Hebrews.
   2. Any of the various later forms of this language, especially the language of the Israelis.
   3. Hebrews (used with a sing. verb) (Abbr. Heb.) A book of the Bible. [Middle English Ebreu, from Old French,
       from Latin Hebraeus, Hebraic, from Greek Hebraios, from Aramaic ‘ibrāy, from Hebrew ‘ibrî.]
       Hebrew He'brew adj.

Columbia Encyclopedia

Hebrews, an anonymous New Testament homily with closing greetings normally associated with the letter genre, written before c.A.D. 96. It is addressed to Jewish Christians who were being pressured to renounce their confidence in Jesus. The first part is an argument that Christ is superior to the angels and to Moses; it closes with an exhortation to faith in the form of a commentary on a passage from Psalm 95. Jesus' priesthood is of the eternal order of Melchizedek, which replaces the levitical priesthood of Aaron. His sacrifice of himself is superior to and supersedes the incessant round of sacrifices offered by the levitical priests because it effects expiation of sins and the cleansing of the conscience once and for all. Chapter 11 celebrates the heroes of the faith, leading into a concluding exhortation to endurance and godly living. Bibliography See studies by F. F. Bruce (rev. ed. 1988) and W. L. Lane (1991).

Wikipedia

Hebrews (or Heberites, Eberites, Hebreians; Hebrew: עברים or עבריים, Standard ʿIvrim, ʿIvriyyim Tiberian ʿIḇrîm, 'Iḇriyyîm; meaning "descendants of biblical Patriarch Eber"), were people who lived in Canaan, an area encompassing Israel, both banks of the Jordan River (The West Bank and Jordan), Sinai, Lebanon, and the coastal portions of Syria. Language These areas were politically Phoenicia and of the Philistines in Canaan when they first arrived in the area. The Hebrews lived within this region in the 2nd millennium BCE and spoke a Canaanite dialect, which played a role in the Hebrew languages, although their culture was distinct from the local Canaanite culture. The extent of the distinction between the culture of the Canaanites and the Hebrews is a matter of great debate, touching as it does on strong religious sensibilities. They were also known as the Israelites