![]() But through intercourse with Damascus, Assyria, and Babylon, from the time of David, and more particularly from the period of the Exile, it comes under the influence of the Aramaic idiom, and this is seen in the writings which date from this period. From the first it appears in its full maturity of development. It preserves all through a remarkable uniformity of structure. For the thousand years between Moses and the Babylonian exile the Hebrew language underwent little or no modification. Isaiah ( 19:18) calls it "the language of Canaan." Whether this language, as seen in the earliest books of the Old Testament, was the very dialect which Abraham brought with him into Canaan, or whether it was the common tongue of the Canaanitish nations which he only adopted, is uncertain probably the latter opinion is the correct one. When Abraham entered Canaan it is obvious that he found the language of its inhabitants closely allied to his own. It is one of the class of languages called Semitic, because they were chiefly spoken among the descendants of Shem. This name is first used by the Jews in times subsequent to the close of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament it is only spoken of as "Jewish" ( 2 Kings 18:26, 28 Isaiah 36:11, 13 2 Chronicles 32:18). The language of the Hebrew nation, and that in which the Old Testament is written, with the exception of a few portions in Chaldee. (3.) A third derivation of the word has been suggested, viz., that it is from the Hebrew word 'abhar, "to pass over," whence 'ebher, in the sense of a "sojourner" or "passer through" as distinct from a "settler" in the land, and thus applies to the condition of Abraham ( Hebrews 11:13). It is the more probable origin of the designation given to Abraham coming among the Canaanites as a man from beyond the Euphrates ( Genesis 14:13). ![]() (2.) Others trace the name of a Hebrew root-word signifying "to pass over," and hence regard it as meaning "the man who passed over," viz., the Euphrates or to the Hebrew word meaning "the region" or "country beyond," viz., the land of Chaldea. (1.) The name is derived, according to some, from Eber ( Genesis 10:24), the ancestor of Abraham. In the New Testament there is the same contrast between Hebrews and foreigners ( Acts 6:1 Philippians 3:5). Easton's Bible DictionaryA name applied to the Israelites in Scripture only by one who is a foreigner ( Genesis 39:14, 17 41:12, etc.), or by the Israelites when they speak of themselves to foreigners ( 40:15 Exodus 1:19), or when spoken of an contrasted with other peoples ( Genesis 43:32 Exodus 1:3, 7, 15 Deuteronomy 15:12).
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