The original name for the people we now call
Jews was Hebrews. The word "Hebrew" (in Hebrew,
"Ivri") is first used in the Torah to describe
Abraham (Gen. 14:13). The word is apparently
derived from the name Eber, one of Abraham's ancestors. Another tradition
teaches that the word comes from the word "eyver," which means "the other
side," referring to the fact that Abraham came from the other side of the
Euphrates, or referring to the fact Abraham was separated from the other
nations morally and spiritually.