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Ἑβραῖοι · Hebrews (ε 38) · Suda

Letters

Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω

Near ε38

ε34I was calling out, they were calling out
ε35they became famished
ε36had a sore throat
ε37tossed ashore
ε38Hebrews
ε39buzzed, roared
ε40thundered
ε41Hebros, Hebrus
ε42they were reveling

Suda/Ε epsilon/ε38

← Previous entry,ε37 Next entry,ε39 →

Ἑβραῖοι

Hebrews

Translated by Ross Scaife ✝13 May 2002Vetting: high8 revisions

aetiology
Christianity
dialects, grammar, and etymology
geography
religion

1 note · 32 words

Translation

[sc. Named] from Heber son of Sal,¹ who distributed the land to the tribes after naming the settlers Hebrews. This man did not labor alongside the tower-builders, and his language remained unchanged.²

Greek original · Adler’s text

Ἑβραῖοι· ἀπὸ Ἕβερ υἱοῦ Σάλα, ὃς ἐμέρισε τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὴν γῆν τοὺς προσοίκους ὀνομάσας Ἑβραίους. οὗτος οὐ συνεπόνησε τοῖς πυργοποιοῖς, καὶ διέμεινεν ἡ διάλεκτος αὐτοῦ ἀμετάβλητος.

Betacode

*(ebrai=oi: a)po\ *(/eber ui(ou= *sa/la, o(\s e)me/rise toi=s e)/qnesi th\n gh=n tou\s prosoi/kous o)noma/sas *(ebrai/ous. ou(=tos ou) sunepo/nhse toi=s purgopoioi=s, kai\ die/meinen h( dia/lektos au)tou= a)meta/blhtos.

Notes (1)

[1] Genesis 11.14-15: "And Shelakh lived thirty years, and begat Eber. And Shelakh lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters." See web address 1.
2The "tower-builders" refers to the tower of Babel (see also under alpha 425, sigma 154), where the languages of the people were confused, giving rise to a proliferation of tongues; see Genesis 11.1-9. Until the development of modern linguistics, most Christians believed that Hebrew was the pre-Babelic language, although the name of the pre-Babelic language is not given in Genesis (nor is the explanation that Eber did not work alongside the tower-builders). See Umberto Eco's The Search for the Perfect Language for a popular modern discussion.
cf. George the Monk, Chronicon 52.5 ff.; Malalas p. 11.15ff.
The origin of the word Hebrew might well be "descendants of Eber", or it could be via folk etymology from the root עבר ʿ-b-r, meaning to cross over; Abraham, first to be called עברי ʿiḇrī, crossed over from Ur to Canaan, though his name אברהם ʾaḇraham is unrelated, starting with alef, not ʿayin.

External resources

Web address 1 mazzaroth.com

Neighbouring entries

ε36Ἐβραγχίασενhad a sore throat ε37Ἔβρασενtossed ashore ε38ἙβραῖοιHebrews ε39Ἐβρόμησενbuzzed, roared ε40Ἐβρόντησενthundered

Revision history8 revisions · last 3 Dec 2015

3 Dec 2015coding and other cosmetics — David Whitehead
7 Aug 2014Converted Romanization of Hebrew to ISO 259 — Raphael Finkel
12 Nov 2013tweaked note — Catharine Roth
23 Jul 2012cosmetics — David Whitehead
29 Jul 2003added x-refs and keyword; cosmetics — David Whitehead
18 May 2003Augmented note 2; also minor cosmetic change — Patrick T. Rourke
31 Oct 2002Added Hebrew — Raphael Finkel
29 Aug 2002added note — Catharine Roth
13 May 2002Translated — Ross Scaife ✝

Cite this entry

Suda On Line, s.v. Ἑβραῖοι (Adler number epsilon 38), trans. Ross Scaife ✝, 13 May 2002. https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/epsilon/38

Translation by Ross Scaife ✝ for Suda On Line, revised by David Whitehead, Raphael Finkel, Catharine Roth, Patrick T. Rourke, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Shown unchanged, under the same licence, non-commercially. Original on SOL ↗