Hebraeus

Hebraeus is the Latinized form of an epithet meaning “the Hebrew” or “son of the Hebrew,” used in medieval Christian and Syriac scholarly contexts. The term functioned as a proper name or honorific attached to scholars associated with Hebrew learning or Jewish heritage and is most famously preserved in the name Bar Hebraeus.

The best-known bearer is Gregory Bar Hebraeus (c. 1226–1286), a prominent Syriac Orthodox scholar and polymath. Writing in Syriac and Arabic, he produced a broad body of work spanning theology, philosophy, linguistics, medicine, and history. He is especially known for the Ecclesiastical Chronicle, a comprehensive history of the Christian Church from creation to his own time, which remains a major source for late antique and medieval Syriac history. His linguistic and lexicographical writings also contributed to Syriac and Arabic scholarship and helped shape subsequent scholars in the Syriac tradition.

In modern usage, Hebraeus occurs mainly in reference to Bar Hebraeus and as part of Latinized names for Syriac authors. The epithet underscores historical linkages between intellectual life in the Near East and Hebrew linguistic or cultural heritage, as reflected in the scholarly identity of Bar Hebraeus and his contemporaries.

See also Bar Hebraeus.