Hebrews

However, in some instances, the designation "Hebrew" may also be used historically in a wider sense, referring to the Phoenicians or other ancient Semitic-speaking civilizations, such as the Shasu on the eve of the Late Bronze Age collapse.

[2][3] Some scholars regard "Hebrews" as an ethnonym,[4] while others do not,[5][6] and others still hold that the multiple modern connotations of ethnicity may not all map well onto the sociology of ancient Near Eastern groups.

[7] By the time of the Roman Empire, the term Hebraios (Greek: Ἑβραῖος) could refer to the Jews in general (as Strong's Hebrew Dictionary puts it: "any of the Jewish Nation")[8] or, at other times, specifically to those Jews who lived in Judea, which was a Roman province from 6 CE to 135 CE.

[16] It is also supported by the 3rd century BCE Septuagint, which translates ivri to perates (περατής),[17] a Greek word meaning "one who came across, a migrant",[18] from perao (περάω) "to cross, to traverse",[19] as well as some early traditional commentary.

Some authors such as Radak and R. Nehemiah[31] argue that Ibri denotes the descendants of the biblical patriarch Eber (Hebrew עבר), son of Shelah, a great-grandson of Noah and an ancestor of Abraham,[32] hence the occasional anglicization Eberites.

Alternatively, some argue that Habiru refers to a social class found in every ancient Near Eastern society, which Hebrews could be part of.

[citation needed] A friend of mine in Warsaw told me about a Polish journalist who visited Israel for the first time.

[50][51] Among certain left-wing or liberal circles of Judaic cultural lineage, the word "Hebrew" is used as an alternatively secular description of the Jewish people (e.g., Bernard Avishai's The Hebrew Republic or left-wing wishes for a "Hebrew-Arab" joint cultural republican state).

It is also used in some circles as a secular description of people of Judaic cultural lineage who practice other religions or none, including Hebrew Catholics.

[52] David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, believed that the Hebrews were the indigenous inhabitants of Canaan that joined Abraham's religion, after he settled in the region.

Judaean prisoners being deported into exile to other parts of the Assyrian Empire . Wall relief from the Southwest Palace at Nineveh , Mesopotamia , dated to 700–692 BCE (the Neo-Assyrian period ). Currently on display at the British Museum .
Ramesses III prisoner tiles depicting Canaanite and Shasu leaders as captives. Most archaeologists regard the Hebrews as local Canaanite refugees and possibly some Shasu settling down in the hill-country. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] [ 30 ]
A depiction of the Ancient Hebrews in Dura-Europos synagogue
Moses leads the Israelites across the Red Sea while pursued by Pharaoh . Fresco from the Dura-Europos synagogue in Syria, 244–256 CE
1940s poster:
Sail on Hebrew ships!