View source for Eber

{{Short description|Great-grandson of Shem, the son of Noah}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox person
|image              = Eber.jpg
|image_size         = 200px
|caption            = Eber imagined in the 1553 ''[[Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum]]''
| parents           = [[Selah (biblical figure)|Selah]]
| children          = [[Peleg]]<br />[[Joktan]]
}}

'''Eber''' ({{langx|he|עֵבֶר|ʿĒḇer}}; {{langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἔβερ|Éber}}; {{langx|ar|عٰابِر|ʿĀbir}}) is an ancestor of the [[Ishmaelites]] and the [[Israelites]] according to the [[Generations of Noah]] in the [[Book of Genesis]] ({{bibleverse||Genesis|10-11|HE}}) and the [[Books of Chronicles]] ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|1|HE}}).

== Lineage ==
Eber (Hebrew: Ever) was a great-grandson of [[Noah]]'s son [[Shem]] and the father of [[Peleg]], born when Eber was 34 years old,<ref name=Larsson1983>{{cite journal |last1=Larsson |first1=Gerhard |title=The Chronology of the Pentateuch: A Comparison of the MT and LXX |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |date=1983 |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=401–409 |doi=10.2307/3261014 |jstor=3261014 }}</ref> and of [[Joktan]]. He was the son of [[Salah (biblical figure)|Shelah]], a distant ancestor of [[Abraham]]. According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], Eber died at the age of 464.<ref name=Larsson1983/><ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|11:14-17|HE}}</ref>
  
In the [[Septuagint]], the name is written as '''Heber/Eber''' ({{lang|grc-x-biblical|῞Εβερ/Ἔβερ}}), and his father is called Sala ({{lang|grc-x-biblical|Σαλά/Σάλα}}). His son is called Phaleg/Phalek ({{lang|grc-x-biblical|Φαλέγ/Φάλεκ}}), born when Heber was 34 years old, and he had other sons and daughters. Heber lived to an age of 464 years.<ref>[https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/genesis/11.html Genesis 11:14–17]</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/septuagint-genesis/10.asp?pg=3 | title=Septuagint Genesis, Ch. 10 - Part 3 }}</ref>

== Name ==

The [[triliteral root]] {{wikt-lang|arc|ע־ב־ר}}, {{transliteration|arc|ʕ-b-r}}, is connected with crossing over and the beyond.<ref>[[Marcus Jastrow]], ''A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature'' (London, W.C.: Luzac & Co.; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons; 1903), p. [[wikisource:Page:A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, Volume 2 (1903).djvu/357|1039]] etc.</ref> Considering that other names for descendants of Shem also stand for places, Eber can also be considered the name of an area, perhaps near [[Assyria]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Eber |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5406-eber |first1=Emil G. |last1=Hirsch |first2=Eduard |last2=König |authorlink1=Emil G. Hirsch |authorlink2=Friedrich Eduard König |volume=5 |page=30}}</ref>

Medieval scholars such as [[Michael the Syrian]], [[Bar Hebraeus]], and [[Agapius of Hierapolis]] noted that the prevailing view was the [[Hebrews]] ({{langx|he|עִבְרִיִּים|ʿIḇriyyim}}, also derived from the letters {{lang|he|ʿ-b-r}}) had received their name from ʿEber,<ref>[https://www.thetorah.com/article/who-were-the-hebrews Who Were the Hebrews?]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=EBER - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5406-eber |access-date=March 3, 2019 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> while others state the name "Hebrew" means "those who cross", a reference to those who crossed the [[Euphrates]] with [[Abraham|Abram]] from [[Ur of the Chaldees]] to [[Harran]] and then [[Canaan]].<ref name=":0" />

In some translations of the [[New Testament]], he is referred to once as '''Heber/Eber''' ([[Luke 3]]:35, "{{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἔβερ}}] the son of [[Serug]], the son of [[Reu]], the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of [[Selah (biblical figure)|Selah]]"). He is distinct from [[Heber (biblical figure)|Ḥeber]], the grandson of [[Asher]], who is mentioned in [[Genesis 46]]:17 and in [[Bemidbar (parashah)|Numbers 26]]:45; Ḥeber is {{lang|he|חבר}} with a [[heth]] while ʿEber has an [[ayin]].

== Hebrew ==
{{see also|Adamic language}}
The 13th-century Muslim historian [[Abu al-Fida]] relates a story noting that the patriarch Eber, the great-grandson of [[Shem]], refused to help with the building of the [[Tower of Babel]]. As a result, his language was not confused when the tower was abandoned. He and his family alone retained the original [[Adamic language]], which he identified as [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], a language named after ʿEber.<ref>[[Morris Jastrow]], Ira Maurice Price, [[Marcus Jastrow]], [[Louis Ginzberg]], & [[Duncan Black MacDonald|Duncan B. MacDonald]]; "[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2279-babel-tower-of Babel, Tower of]", ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]''; Funk & Wagnalls, 1906.</ref>

==In Islam==
{{See also|Hud (prophet)}}
In [[Islam]], Ābir ibn Shālakh ([[Arabic]]: عابر بن شالخ) is sometimes referred to in classical Islamic writings as the "father" of the "prehistoric, original Arabs" (the ''ʿArab al-ʿĀriba''), who lived in the [[Arabian Peninsula]] after the [[Genesis flood narrative|Deluge]].<ref name=Buhl>Buhl, Fr., "Ḏj̲urhum", in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936)'', Edited by M. Th. Houtsma, [[T.W. Arnold]], R. Basset, R. Hartmann.</ref> ʿEber was also identified with the [[prophets and messengers in Islam|Muslim prophet]] [[Hud (prophet)|Hud]] by some of the early Muslim authorities, who has [[Hud (surah)|a surah named after him]] in the [[Quran]].<ref name=Wensinck>Wensinck, A. J., "Hūd", in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936)'', Edited by M. Th. Houtsma, [[T.W. Arnold]], R. Basset, R. Hartmann.</ref> Other sources identify the prophet Hud as ʿEber's son.<ref name=Wensinck /><ref name="dabbagh">{{Cite book|last=Sijilmāsī|first=Aḥmad ibn al-Mubārak|title=Pure gold from the words of Sayyidī ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz al-Dabbāgh = al-Dhabab al-Ibrīz min kalām Sayyidī ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz al-Dabbāgh|date=2007|others=John O'Kane, Bernd Radtke|isbn=978-90-474-3248-7|location=Leiden, the Netherlands|oclc=310402464|page=415}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[ʿApiru]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{EBD poster|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 Muhammad}}
{{Adam to David}}
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[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Books of Chronicles people]]