Do you know who the first Hebrew was? And why he was called that?
The first place in the Bible where the term Hebrew is recorded is when Abraham's nephew Lot was taken captive. The Bible then states that "there came one that had escaped, and told Abraham the Hebrew".
Later on in the Bible Joseph, Abraham's great-grandson, was also referred to as a Hebrew. Even over 400 years later, when pharaoh's daughter found the 3 month old Moses in the basket, she was able to recognize that he was of Hebrew descent.
The word Hebrew comes from the Hebrew word AY-VER which means to pass over. Abraham was probably referred to as a Hebrew because he passed over from the land of the Chaldees to the Promised Land, the land of Canaan.
But not only did Abraham pass over from one land mass to another, he also passed over from being an unbeliever to being a believer in the only true God, who created the heavens, the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them. So in a spiritual sense anyone who passes over from not believing in the only true God, our Savior, to believing in Him, becomes a Hebrew.
