Hebrews

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of Hebrew.

   The Hebrews built a religious tradition centered on a single God.

   Archaeologists study how the Hebrews organized their earliest settlements.

   Note

   Only the people make a plural: the countable senses of Hebrew, a member of the Semitic people descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or a descendant of Eber. The language, its script and the colloquial sense of gibberish are uncountable and never take an -s. In present-day reference Israelites or Jews is generally preferred, which leaves this plural sounding historical, at home in talk of the biblical period.

2. 2
   proper noun

   In the Bible, the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is the nineteenth book of the New Testament.

   The preacher based his sermon on a passage from Hebrews.

   Hebrews opens with a meditation on how God has spoken through his son.

   Note

   A book title that looks like a plural noun: an anonymous letter, named by tradition for its Jewish Christian audience, that argues Christ's priesthood supersedes the Levitical order. As a title it takes a singular verb and no article (Hebrews opens, a passage from Hebrews), while the Hebrews, with the article, means the people themselves. In references it is abbreviated Heb.

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