There are many who have been told or believe that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were Jews. Is this true according to the scriptures? Also, what is the definition of a Hebrew?
Firstly, the definition of Hebrew literally means “One from beyond” as Abraham came from beyond the Euphrates River to Haran. Hebrew also means to cross over like crossing a river as we saw our ancestors did in the scriptures and why it is speculated that they were called “Hebrews” which would make since why Abraham was called the first Hebrew.
Genesis 14:13
“And one who had escaped came and informed Abram the Hebrew…”
So Hebrew is a language and an action that is primarily based on crossing/traversing which means to travel across or through. Oneforisrael.org says the root letters of Hebrew are used to mean to “cross over, pass through.”
“As you can see, there are several mentions of watery crossings: Abraham coming from beyond the River Euphrates, the dramatic Red Sea crossing of the Exodus, and then the entry into the Promised Land as they crossed over the River Jordan. These Hebrews, these Ivrim, have sure done a fair amount of traversing! You can see why the Egyptians might have called them Hebrews – ones who came from beyond the river – and why Abraham was the ultimate Hebrew. As if to emphasize the point, the Hebrews went through not one but two rather miraculous water crossings; the first and most famous one being the parting of the Red Sea, but also when they finally reached their destination, the Jordan River piled up on either side as the priests set foot on the river bed, and the Hebrews crossed over on dry ground into their inheritance in the Promised Land.
But what is wonderful about this passage in Joshua is that it lines up the idea of leaving behind a life of idol worship and crossing over into worshiping the One True ELOHIM of Israel.”
Joshua 24:15
“Put away the mighty ones your fathers served in the region beyond the river… as for me and my house, we will serve the YAHWEH”.
For Joshua the symbolism was clear: on one side of the river is idol worship, but we have left that life behind when we crossed over to the other side. Now we will serve the YAHWEH.
So, we can also view this as us crossing over from Christianity into the true path of worshippers following YESHUA! We see that the word Hebrew is for crossing over or passing through rivers and is also a language. So what ethnicity were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Were they Jews? No! They were Arameans/Syrians!
Acts 7:2
“And he replied, “Men, brothers and fathers, listen: The ELOHIM of esteem appeared to our father Abraham when he was in ARAM NAHARAYIM, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Come out of YOUR LAND and from your relatives, and come here, into a land that I shall show you.”
This is scripture is clearly laid out where Abraham was from and his ethnicity, so question is where is Aram Naharayim? Aram is referred to as Syria and Mesopotamia, it is homeland of the Arameans, right along the border of Turkey; and Wikipedia says that various geographic and historical links also tie the two neighboring countries together. Since he was Aramean, it is believed that he spoke Aramaic hence the word Syriac text meaning Syrian another word for Aramaic. I can’t say it’s 100% fact, I’m just laying out the scriptures and wanting to piece them together. Jubilees shows that YAHWEH revealed the Hebrew language to Abraham after the Tower of Babel when He told Abraham to go to a land that He would show him, so was it possible Abraham spoke Aramaic up until this point when he was 75 years old? Jubilees 12 shows us that Abraham was 60 when he burned down his dad’s house of idols and we know that he did not depart from his dad Terah’s house until he was 75.
Jubilees 12:11
“And Nahor, his brother, took a wife. And in the SIXTIETH year of the life of Abram, that Is, is the fourth week, in the fourth year, Abram arose by night, and burned the house of the idols, and he burned all that was in the house, and no man knew it. Verse 16 And in the sixth week, in the fifth year, Abram sat up throughout the night, on the first day of the seventh month….” So, more time has elapsed since he was 60, then Abraham prayed to YAHWEH and He answered Him and this is where Abraham was 75 when he left.
Genesis 12:1-4
“And YAHWEH said to Abraham, “Go yourself out of your land, from your relatives and from your dad’s house to a land which I show you. And I shall make you a great nation, and bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing! And I shall bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you. And in you all the clans of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abraham left as YAHWEH had commanded him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS old when he departed from Haran.”
Jubilees 12:22-27
“And he (Abraham) made an end of speaking and praying. And see, the word of YAHWEH was sent to him through me (messenger), saying “Get up from your land, and your clan and from the house of your dad, to a land which I shall show you, and I shall make you a great and numerous nation. And I shall bless you and I shall make your name great, and you shall be blessed in the earth, and in you shall all generations of the earth be blessed, and I shall bless them that bless you, and curse them that curses you. And I shall be an ELOHIM to you and your son, and to your son’s son, and to all your seed. Do not fear; from this time and to all generations of the earth, I am your ELOHIM. And YAHWEH ELOHIM said, “Open his (Abraham’s) mouth and his ears, that he may hear and speak with his mouth, with the LANGUAGE which has been revealed.” For it had ceased from the mouth of all the children of men from the day of the overthrow (Tower of Babel). And I opened his mouth, and his ears and his lips, and I began to speak with him in HEBREW in the TONGUE OF THE CREATION.” And he took the Books of his ancestors and these were written in Hebrew-and he TRANSCRIBED them, and he began from this time to study them. And I made known to him that which he could not understand, and he studied them during the six rainy months.”
Tying Genesis 12 and Jubilees 12 together we see that Abraham learned Hebrew when he was 75 years old, which ties into the this article which states:
Journals.uchicago.edu add this:
The Native Language of Abraham. -It would be reasonable to infer that the native language of Abraham was Aramaic, since he emigrated from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Canaan (Gen. xI. 31)…”
Isaac
So we see that Abraham was Aramean and he took his wife Sarah while he was in his homeland which would make her Aramean/Syrian as well.
Genesis 11:28-31
“And Haran died before his dad Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur-Kasdim (Kasdim is identified with the site of Urkesh-the capital of the Hurrian Kingdom, now in northeastern Syria, Josephus believed Ur-kasdim to be in Northern Mesopotamia which is Syria or Turkey) And Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milkah, the daughter of Haran the dad of Milkah and the dad of Yiskah. And Sarai was barren, she had no child. And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur-Kasdim to go the land of Canaan. And they came to Haran and dwelt there.”
So being that Abraham and Sarah were Aramean they would give birth to a son named Isaac who would be Aramean. We see that Abraham sends his servant back to his homeland in Aram Naharayim to take a wife for his son Isaac, which would make Rebecca an Aramean.
Genesis 24:1-10 (parenthesis mine)
“And Abraham was old, advanced in years. And YAHWEH had blessed Abraham in every way. And Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put you hand under my thigh, so that I make you swear by YAHWEH, the ELOHIM of the heavens and the ELOHIM of the earth, that you do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but go to MY LAND (Birthplace) and MY RELAVTIVES (My tribe), and take a wife from my son Isaac. And the servant said to him, “What if the woman refused to follow me to this land? Do I then take your son back to the land from which you came? And Abraham said to him, “Beware lest you take my son back there! “YAHWEH, ELOHIM of the heavens, who took me from my dad’s house and from the land of my relatives, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your seed I give this land,’ He sends His messenger before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. And if the woman refused to follow you, then you shall be released from this oath; only, do not take my son back there.” Then the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. And the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, for all his master’s good were in his hand. And he arose and went to ARAM NAHARAYIM, to the city of Nahor.”
We have to remember that Nahor the brother of Abraham would have to be a Aramean since they were brothers, the same blood; and he took a wife Milkah which was his brother Haran’s daughter making her Aramean as well.
Genesis 24:15
“And it came to be, before he had ended speaking, that see Rebecca, who was born to Bethu’el son of Milkah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her jar on her shoulder.”
So Nahor and Milkah would bring forth Aramean offspring which was Bethuel as we see Genesis 25:20
Genesis 25:20
“And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca as wife, the daughter of Bethu’el THE ARAMEAN OF PADDAM ARAM (Plain of Aram), the sister of Laban the ARAMEAN.”
So we see that Bethu’el the son of Nahor the brother of Abraham brought forth Laban and Rebecca who were both Aramean and the servant of Abraham went to get Rebecca the Aramean for Abraham’s Aramean son Isaac.
Jacob
So you guessed it! Isaac and Rebecca both being Aramean would produce an Aramean son named Jacob as we see in Deuteronomy 26.
Deuteronomy 26:5
“And you shall answer and say before YAHWEH your ELOHIM, My dad was a perishing ARAMEAN, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there with a few men. And there he became a nation, great, mighty, and numerous. But the Egyptians did evil to us, and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.”
The context of this scripture shows us that this is Jacob because he and his sons went down to Egypt and sojourned there with a few men and increased greatly, the supporting scripture is:
Exodus 1:1-7
“And these are the names of the children of Yisra’el who came to Egypt with Jacob, each one with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And all those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy beings, as Joseph was already in Egypt. And Joseph died and all his brothers, and all that generation. And the children of Yisra’el bore fruit and increased very much, multiplied and became very strong, and the land was filled with them.”
So, we see from scripture that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were Arameans and not Jews; furthermore, the Jews did not even exist until Jacob begot Judah his fourth born son; and his tribe would later be called Jews. As always let us strive to walk in the truth of the scriptures and rejoice in the treasure that is discovered.
As always may our Father YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!