Hebrews

Hebrews (Hebrew: עברים or עבריים, ʿIḇrîm, ʿIḇriyyîm; ʿIvrim, ʿIvriyyim; ʕibrim, ʕibriyim) is an ethnonym used in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible). It is mostly taken as synonymous with the Semitic Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still nomadic, but in some instances it may also be used in a wider sense, referring to the Phoenicians, or to other ancient groups, such as the group known as Shasu of Yhw on the eve of the Bronze Age collapse.

By the Roman era, Greek Hebraios could refer to the Jews in general, as Strong's Hebrew Dictionary puts it "any of the Jewish Nation" and at other times more specifically to the Jews living in Judea. In Early Christianity, the Greek term Εβραία (feminine) Εβραίες (plural) Εβραί (masculine) refers to Christianizing Jews, as opposed to the gentile Christians and Christian Judaizers (Acts 6:1 among others). Ιουδαία is the province where the Temple was located.

The Old Testament of the Christian Bible uses Hebrews and Jews interchangeably, in the Book Of Esther (2:5) Mordechai the Benjamite is called a Jew, though he is not of the tribe of Judah. In Jonah 1:9 Jonah is called a Hebrew.

In Armenian, Italian, Kurdish, Old French and a few other languages the transfer of the name from Hebrew to Jew never took place, and 'Hebrew' is the primary used word for a Jew.