Was Abram the first Jew?

Cross over to the source

Reading the Bible from Genesis, Abraham is the first individual to have a personal relationship with God and willingly move his life to the Land of Canaan. He is truly the founder of the people of Israel, however the Bible doesn’t refer to him as an “Israelite” or “Jew”. Instead the Bible calls him, “Abram the Hebrew” (Gen. 14:13). The word for “Hebrew” is ivri (עִבְרִי), from the root ἉBR’ meaning “to cross over”. But why does the Bible give Abraham such an odd name?

Abraham was truly a “crosser-over”. Firstly, he “crossed over” the mighty Euphrates River to start his life in the Land of Israel. On a deeper level, he “crossed over” from his idol-worshipping past, becoming the world’s first believer in one God. We invite you to “cross over” from Biblical translation to the source of the Scriptures – the original Hebrew. Enroll in our live online Biblical Hebrew course and discover the hidden secrets of the Scriptures today!