1. In the N. T. anyone of the Jewish or Israelitish nation: 2 Corinthians 11:22; Philippians 3:5. (In this sense Euseb. h. e. 2, 4, 3 calls Philo the Alexandrian Jew, Ἑβραῖος, although his education was Greek, and he had little (if any) knowledge even of the Hebrew language; and in Praep. evang. 8, 8, 34 he applies the same word to Aristobulus, who was both an Alexandrian, and a Greek-speaking Jew.)

2. In a narrower sense those are called Ἑβραῖοί, who lived in Palestine and used the language of the country, i. e. Chaldee; from whom are distinguished οἱ ἑλληνισται, which see That name adhered to them even after they had gone over to Christianity: Acts 6:1. (Philo in his de conf. lingg. § 26 makes a contrast between Ἑβραῖοί and ἡμεῖς; and in his de congr. erud. grat. § 8 he calls Greek ἡ ἡμετέρα διάλεκτος. Hence, in this sense he does not reckon himself as a Hebrew.)

3. All Jewish Christians, whether they spoke Aramaic or Greek, equivalent to πιστοί ἐξ Ἑβραίων; so in the heading of the Epistle to the Hebrews; called by Eusebius, h. e. 3, 4, 2 οἱ ἐξ Ἑβραίων ὄντες. (Cf. K. Wieseler, Unters. u. d. Hebraerbrief, 2te Halfte. Kiel, 1861, pp. 25-30.)