Forefather
Forefather Eber the Forefather
Ветхий Завет
Also known as: Хевер
Forefather Eber — an Old Testament patriarch, a descendant of Shem, son of Shelah, father of Peleg and Joktan; according to the biblical genealogy (Genesis 10:24-25, 11:14-17), he lived 464 years and became a direct ancestor of Abraham; he is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ given by the Evangelist Luke (Luke 3:35); his name is traditionally associated with the origin of the ethnonym "Hebrews."
Forefather Eber is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as a descendant of Shem, son of Shelah, and father of Peleg ("for in his days the earth was divided") and Joktan (Genesis 10:24-25). According to the biblical chronology of the genealogies in Genesis chapter 11, Eber lived 464 years. He is a direct ancestor of the patriarch Abraham and, accordingly, is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ according to His humanity, given by the Evangelist Luke (Luke 3:35). According to a common explanation in biblical scholarship, the ethnonym "Hebrews" derives from Eber's name (Hebrew עברים, "descendants of Eber" or "those who crossed over," "those who came from the other side"). Like the other Old Testament patriarchs, Forefather Eber has no separate extensive vita and is venerated by the Church collectively, as part of the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, observed on the Sunday between December 11 and 17 (Old Style), two weeks before the Nativity of Christ.