Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram.”
Genesis 14:13 ESV
Through the Bible: Genesis 12-15
Modern Bible readers don’t think twice about referring to God’s people as Hebrews. An entire book of the Bible is called by that name. Hebrew is the language the Old Testament is written in. We can scan right past it and it is barely a blip on our cognitive radar. So the fact that a verse in today’s reading marks the first time in recorded history that word us used might have slipped by you if you weren’t paying attention. It happens almost offhandedly, in the middle of a military report:
“Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew…” (Genesis 14:13)
But that title—the Hebrew—is anything but casual. Where did the name come from? What does it mean?
The answer may change the way you look at the entire story of the Bible.
Competing Theories
What Does “Hebrew” Mean? It depends on who you ask.
- Some connect it to the name Eber listed in the Table of Nations a few chapters earlier. Genesis 10:21 says, “To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born.” This verse potentially gives us the origin for two designations for God’s people: Hebrew (descendants of Eber) and Semite (descendants of Shem).
- Others connect it to the word habiru or apiru, found in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts and defined as “a stateless people, nomads, migrants, or wanderers.”
- Still others connect it to the place name Hebron. This one carries a lot of weight, because immediately before Abram is first described as a Hebrew in Genesis 14, Genesis 13 notes that he settled in Hebron (Genesis 13:18).
The Theological Weight of the Word
Each of these theories has its strengths and weaknesses, and their champions and detractors in the academic community. But there is a fourth possibility that, for me at least, is even more compelling:
The Hebrew word translated Hebrew is ʿibri, from the root ʿ-b-r, which means to cross over, to pass through, to come from the other side.
So when Abram is called “the Hebrew,” the text is not identifying his ethnicity so much as his story. He is the man
- who crossed out of Ur.
- the man who crossed the Euphrates.
- the man who crossed away from idols.
- the man who crossed into promise.
Abram is the crosser over.
And that identity shows up precisely when he begins interacting with the nations around him—as an outsider, a sojourner, a man who does not quite belong. It’s an identity that plays into our identity as New Testament believers. God said that His people would “be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” Later Peter would descirbe Christians as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you *out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9).
The idea of passing through or crossing over is central to our understanding of what it means to respond to the Gospel. The Apostle John said we have passed out of death into life (1 John 3:14). All of us then, are ibiri: we are crossers-over.
From Crossing to Communion
Before we leave the conversation, let’s revisit the connection to Hebron. Recall that just one chapter earlier, Genesis tells us that Abram settled by the oaks of Mamre at Hebron (Genesis 13:18).
That’s interesting, because Hebron comes from a different Hebrew root—ḥ-b-r—which means to join, to bind together, to be united.
So side by side in the narrative we have the idea of crossing over (ibri) and joining together (hbr). Abram the Hebrew– the Crosser Over– settled in Hebron– the Binder Together.
That’s not linguistic coincidence, but theological poetry. When we cross over from death into life, we are bound together in the communion of saints and the fellowship with the Spirit.
Crossing Made Visible: Genesis 15
Genesis 15 takes this theme and of passing through and gives it (literally) flesh and blood. We read in this chapter of the mysterious covenant ceremony in which the two parties to a covenant passed between the carcasses of dead animals (see also Day 016: What to Make of Genesis 15?). Here, Abram prepared the animals. He divided the carcasses, forming a path between them.
In the ancient world, both covenant partners would walk between the pieces, saying in effect, “May I become like this if I break the covenant.”
But in Genesis 15, something astonishing happens.
“A smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.” (Genesis 15:17)
Only God crosses. Abram does not walk the path. Abram does not swear the oath. Abram does not bind himself.
God alone is the Great Crosser-Over. The one who bridges the divide. And he is the Joiner-Together, the One who binds Himself to His people through the covenant He makes. The firepot and torch are not abstract symbols. They move. They pass through. They accompany.
Later, God will cross with Abram’s descendants:
- through the sea, with walls of water on the right and the left
- through the wilderness, guided by fire at night
- through exile to Babylon and return to Jerusalem.
Genesis 15 is not just about land and progeny. It is about God binding himself to his people by passing through what would destroy them.
Covenant Grace
Abram crossed into relationship, and God passed through death to secure it. This is covenant grace. God knew that human beings break promises, but God binds Himself anyway. Abram is called the Hebrew—the one who crossed over. But God is the God of the Hebrews–the God of all those who cross from death to life, and the one who, through love binds us all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:14
The gospel doesn’t begin in the New Testament. It begins here—with a God who walks alone through the darkness so his people can come into the light.
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