Eber
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'''Eber''' ('''עֵבֶר''', [[Standard Hebrew]] '''{{unicode|ʿÉver}}''', [[Tiberian Hebrew]] '''{{unicode|ʿĒḇer}}''', [[Arabic]]: ھود) is a person from the [[Hebrew Bible]]. He was a great-grandson of [[Noah]]'s son [[Shem]] and the father of [[Peleg]] and [[Joktan]]. He was the son of Salah and an ancestor of [[Abraham]].
In Jewish tradition, Eber, the great-grandson of [[Shem]], refused to help with the building of the [[Tower of Babel]], so his language was not confused when it fell. He and his family alone retained the original human language, called ''lingua humana'' in [[Latin]] or Gortighern. After this, the language was called [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], named after Eber. (There are different religious positions on this issue; see also [[Adamic language]].)
The name "Eber" along with the name ''[[Hapiru]]'' are considered by Biblical scholars to be the roots of the word "[[Hebrews|Hebrew]]", with "eber" most often meaning "side" or "beyond", but also ''region beyond or across'', ''opposite side'', or ''passage''.
:[Genesis 10:21] Also to Shem, the father of all the [[Children of Eber]], and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. ([[New American Standard Bible|NASB]])
In some translations of the [[New Testament]], he is referred to once as '''Heber''' ([Luke 3:35] ...the son of [[Serug]], the son of [[Reu]], the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of [[List of minor Biblical figures#Salah|Salah]]...);
however, he should not be confused with the [[Heber]] of the Old Testament (different Hebrew spelling חבר), grandson of [[Asher (Bible)|Asher]] ([Genesis 46:17] The sons of Asher: [[Imnah]] and [[Ishvah]] and [[Ishvi]] and [[Beriah]] and their sister [[Serah]]. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and [[Malchiel]]).
According to tradition, Eber died at the age of 464 when [[Jacob]] was 20. The [[Hebrew Calendar]] synchronises this date with [[1817 BC]].
==Theories about Eber==
There is a legend that the [[Eurasian Avars|Avars]] were descendants of Eber through children of Abraham and his third (or second, as the [[Talmud]] identifies her with [[Hagar]]) wife [[Keturah]].
The [[Qur'an]] discusses a prophet named [[Hud (prophet)|Hud]] who was sent to the people of [[Aad (Omani tribe)|'Ad]] (عاد). He may be the same person as Eber.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
[[Charles N. Pope]] suggests that Eber was the Babylonian king, [[Hammurabi]] who reigned over the Babylonian Empire from 1792 BC until his death in 1750 BC.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
Eber (2303 BC) son of Shelah (2333 BC) and great-grandson of [[Shem]] (2468 BC) is also the founding patriarch of the descendancy of Joktan and his son Jobab.
==Linguistic association of "Eber", "Heber" and "Hebrew"==
In the [[King James Version of the Bible|King James Version]] (KJV) of the [[Old Testament]], the name "Eber" is used, while in the KJV [[New Testament]], "Heber" is used instead, each referring to the same person. And in both KJV books, the word "Hebrew" refers to the descendants of this person. The confusion between "Eber" and "Heber" lies in transcriptional misunderstandings through ongoing layers of Biblical translation, as well as the differentiated cultural origins of the Old and New Testaments.
The origin of the names for Eber and the Hebrews, as used in [[Europe]]an [[Christianity|Christian]] languages, derived from [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] עבר ''ʿĒḇer'' and עברי ''ʿIḇrāy'', as spoken in the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] province of [[Judaea]] and by those Jews who escaped the province's destruction. When [[Greek language|Greek]]-writing Jewish scholars compiled the [[Septuagint]], the adaptations chosen for these names (for whatever reason) were Εβερ ''Heber'' and Εβραιος ''Hebraios''. These names were adapted through [[Latin]] and [[French language|French]] before reaching [[English language|English]] as "Heber" and "Hebrew", and these names were used in the KJV New Testament.
However, the KJV Old Testament was largely translated not from Greek and Latin sources, but from existing Hebrew texts accessible to scholars at the time, employing a uniquely [[England|Anglo-Saxon]] method of adapting Hebrew words and names. As such, in the Old Testament, "Eber" was used without the H, likely reflecting the common Hebrew dialects used among the Jews of Europe. However, the KJV translators chose to use the New Testament name "Hebrew" (instead of "Ibrite" or "[[Eberite]]") as the canonical term for the descendants of Eber in the Old Testament as well, likely to avoid confusing lay readers.
As the King James Version of the Bible became the primary Christian [[scripture]] of [[Great Britain]], the association of "Eber" with "Hebrew" in the English-speaking religious world became a permanent phenomenon.
==External links==
{{WikisourceEBD1897|Eber}}
* Easton's Bible Dictionary: [http://www.studylight.org/dic/ebd/view.cgi?number=T1119 Eber] | [http://www.studylight.org/dic/ebd/view.cgi?number=T1706 Heber] | '''[http://www.studylight.org/dic/ebd/view.cgi?number=T1707 Hebrew]'''
* Smith's Bible Dictionary: [http://www.studylight.org/dic/sbd/view.cgi?number=T1257 Eber] | '''[http://www.studylight.org/dic/sbd/view.cgi?number=T1909 Heber]''' | '''[http://www.studylight.org/dic/sbd/view.cgi?number=T1910 Hebrew]'''
* International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: '''[http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T2864 Eber]''' | '''[http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T4214 Heber]''' | [http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T4217 Hebrew]
{{Adam to David}}
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