Bede : Sale also lived thirty years and begot Heber. The seventy interpreters have it one hundred and thirty. — Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron) Augustine of Hippo : ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF THE HEBREWS . — Why is it said that Shem was the father of all the sons of Heber, since Heber appears in the fifth generation from Shem, the son of Noah? (Cf. Genesis 10:22-24) Is it because the Hebrews are said to have received his name from him? Through him, indeed, the line of generations passes to Abraham. But we can rightly ask what is more likely: that the Hebrews were named for Heber as a variant of Hebrews, or that they were for Abraham's sake, as a variant of Abrahews. [ — QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 23 (tr. J. Litteral, draft) Ambrosiaster : OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE, WHERE DOES ITS NAME COME FROM. — Everything that comes from God is reasonable, and everything has its source in a cause which is the principle of its origin, which justifies its name and its existence in the eyes of reason, and presents a designation which is the origin of the name that it is clothed. The reason for existence of man is therefore the cause by which it exists. Now it is composed of four elements, the earth, the air, the water and the fire; the fifth element is the soul, which is like the conductor and as the king destined to direct the body after its formation and organization. We derive our origin from the earth, and we bear its name. In fact, the name of men given to us comes from humus, earth, of which the body of our first father was formed. There is, therefore, here a cause, a reason for all those who derive their origin from the same father, to be called by the same name, and seem to reproduce it in themselves. Let us now see whether it is right to say as some, that the Hebrews are thus called from Heber from he is who they descend from. To consider only the name, this opinion would have some probability, for Heber lived prior to Abraham. If, however, it were true, all those of the tribe of Heber should have borne this same name to him, for seven generations separate Hebron from Abraham. (Gen. 11:16, 26) If, then, this name is prior to Abraham, or Abraham himself was called by that name, then the Hebrews derive their name from Heber. If, on the contrary, this name was not used until after Abraham, then it is not from Heber, but from Abraham that the Hebrews derive their name, since the children of Abraham are the first whom we see called of that name. Thus, in Genesis, Joseph and his brothers are referred to as the Hebrews. As it was known that Abraham had come from Syria in the land of Canaan (Gen. 17:4), that his house had grown there, that in reward of his law he had been filled with all sorts of goods, that he had been called king, prophet and father of many nations (Gen. 17:4), that with three hundred and eighteen men of his servants he had defeated five kings (Gen. 17:4), and that these events had not taken place in an ignored corner of the earth to remain forever unknown, the name of Hebrews was given to those who descended from that race. For all these reasons, Abraham was therefore worthy to become the leader of those who drew from him their origin. It was by a providential judgment of God that the chief and stump of the people of God was established in the land of Canaan, so that all who were born of him in their religion as well as in their way of life would be quite different then if he had not been himself before coming into the land of Canaan. God had renewed it entirely, and he himself had to found a new people in the religion of the true God. This is why the Apostle St. Paul is glorified to be born a Hebrew of Hebrew fathers (Phil. 3:5); it was for him a title of dignity, a recommendation, and a mark of nobility, to bear the name of him whom so many virtues had made pleasing to God, and who was the chief and the stock of his people. Reject this opinion if it is not conformable to reason, if it is despised if it appears unworthy, if it is entirely rejected if Abraham is not worthy of this prerogative, as guilty of flatteries towards him. What is this hostility against Abraham, what is this rivalry which makes him dispute this glory by his enemies? And who are they, if not his own children? What have they then to do in Abraham to dispute this honor? And what have they so much to praise in Heber to judge him worthy of this prerogative? If we could examine his life, we might find that he worshiped idols, like Thare and Nachor, and the father of Nahor, who have not lived in a time far removed from him, and who, according to the testimony of Joshua, have served the foreign gods. (Josh. 24:2) Let those who support the contrary opinion tell us the reasons which militate here in favor of Heber, and what are the merits on which we keep silence; but these merits are void, for the Scriptures are common to us, and we see clearly what is due to each. If they think they can defend their opinion by the name alone, it is weak and improbable. The name of Héber could decide the question here if other testimonies supported this presumption, for others with the same name could claim this privilege without any right. The feeling in conformity with the truth is that which is supported not by name alone, but by solid reasons. Indeed, God having deigned to choose Abraham to vivify the human race in his person and to propose it to men as an example to God. follow to reach salvation, he had to repair in him what human frailty had made them lose. Now it has been proposed as a model in the resemblance of which the human race was to return to God, and which was to place men in possession of the true worship of God and of the language which had been given them in the first place. Adam was at first the image of God, and it was through him that the knowledge of God was to spread on earth; but after the ruin of mankind and the forgetting of the true God in which men had fallen, God made up his image in Abraham so that his faith in the true God would be fruitful again in abundance. It is not, then, contrary to reason, that the people who came forth from Abraham owed to him both his origin and his name. Would the name of Heaven be difficult for them, because it seems to have more analogy with the word Hebrew, and that the word Hebrews is said, and not Abraham! Let them observe that the Hebrew language, and not the Hebrews, are spoken of. If they wish to attack us on this point, they are beaten by their own weapons, and victory remains undecided between the two parties; it is reserved for him who will prove the truth of his assertions by good reasons, for although one is in a position on one point, one loses one's cause if one is in default on another. We say, therefore, that a letter has been suppressed for being pleasing to the ear, and that the Hebrews are said to be Hebrew, because the pronunciation is softer. Thus we do not call the Jews who come from Judah ‘Judah’, but Jews. Everywhere, in fact, where reason requires it, one or more letters are suppressed or modified to make the pronunciation more agreeable. Thus, for the middle of the day, we say noon, and likewise in a multitude of similar cases. It is therefore proper, as we have shown, that the Hebrew people owe to Abraham his name as well as his language. It is therefore this tongue which was first given to Adam and to other men, and which to punish it the presumption which inspired the construction of the tower of Babel was confounded and divided into several languages, so that it ceased to exist, giving birth by the change of certain phrases to a multitude of other idioms, which nevertheless had the same expression. As to this primitive language, it was not entirely lost, but it was confused in the other languages. God then confounded the language of men to prevent them from understanding each other and to engage in more reckless excesses (Gen. 11:8). There were, then, as many tongues as there were divisions among men; each division established a different language in the country it inhabited. If we do not wish to admit that it is this language which, according to Scripture, was the only one spoken among men, it remains for us only that is, it was formed in detail of the other languages ​​and reduced to a single idiom used by Abraham. As he was to be the father of a great number of nations, he spoke a language composed of many languages, and thus was the object of a general renewal. When those who are represented in the book of Genesis as having only one language, and the same manner of speaking from the East to scatter all over the face of the earth, preserve the use of the primitive language. (Gen. 10:31; 11:1) Indeed, this language given to the first man in paradise is spoken in no other country as any other language except by the Jews. And after the confusion of languages, we no longer find the trace of the language we call Hebrew. If, therefore, this language is not found in any country, or in any people, and Abraham was a native of Syria, whence came this language that he spoke, he or his descendants, if it were not the first, at least it was formed of several languages? Some languages, indeed, have similar expressions. But this hypothesis does not satisfy reason as that which holds that this language is the first, for reason shows the providential design of this fact. In this way, Abraham had to speak the language spoken by the first man so that Moses, in his history of the creation of the world and of man, used the same language that God used when he gave the first man the name of Adam and the first woman the name of Eve. It was fitting that the account of Moses should be written in the language of those whose origin he tells us to teach as God had resumed his first designs and renewed the effects of his mercy in the person of Abraham. [Questions on the Old and New Testaments, PL 35, — QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON GENESIS, Q. 5, 2 nd part (tr. J. Litteral, draft)