hebrew

Everyday

1. Hebrew is the ancient language of the Jewish people, in which most of the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible) was written; modern Hebrew is the main language of Israel. tree →
2. (Bible, old) A Hebrew is an Israelite, one of the people descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. tree →
3. As an adjective it describes things of that language or people, like the Hebrew alphabet. tree →

In the lessons

In RE pupils see that Hebrew is written from right to left and the alphabet begins aleph, bet. Jewish children learn Hebrew to read the Torah. In Bible stories, "the Hebrews" are the Israelites in Egypt. Phrases: speak Hebrew, the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew school, the Hebrew alphabet.

Examples

• Hebrew is written from right to left. tree →
• Ben goes to Hebrew school on Sundays. tree →
• The Torah is written in Hebrew. tree →
• Pharaoh made the Hebrews work as slaves. tree →
• We learned that "shalom" is the Hebrew word for peace. tree →
• The Hebrew alphabet has twenty-two letters. tree →
• Queen of Beauty rose and went to her chamber, from which she fetched a knife with some Hebrew words engraven on the blade. tree →

Note

Always capital H. Not every Jewish person speaks Hebrew, and Yiddish is a different language. "Hebrews" is also a book of the New Testament (a letter).

In Jewish tradition

Here it mostly means an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, often as an outsider such as Egypt would call him. In the Prophets it is also how Jonah describes himself to the sailors, and Jeremiah uses it for Hebrew servants who must be freed. It can also mean the language.

Interpretation. The rabbis explain the name "Ivri" as coming from Ever, an ancestor of Abraham, or from "ever," the other side, since Abraham came from across the river. Hebrew is called the holy tongue, and Sefer Yetzirah says the world was made with its letters. Jeremiah links the law of freeing a Hebrew servant to the covenant, and the rabbis read it as a warning that freedom must be kept.

Examples

• If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. (Torah EXO.21.2, JPS 1917) tree →
• And she spoke unto him according to these words, saying: 'The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me. (Torah GEN.39.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah; (Torah EXO.1.15, JPS 1917) tree →
• And he said unto them: 'I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.' (Prophets JON.1.9, JPS 1917) tree →
• that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free; that none should make bondmen of them, even of a Jew his brother; (Prophets JER.34.9, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Always capital H. Not every Jewish person speaks Hebrew, and Yiddish is a different language. "Hebrews" is also a book of the New Testament (a letter).