Habiru

The term Habiru is read as "Hapiru" in Akkadian documents and as "Apiru" in Egyptian documents. In cuneiform it was often written with the logogram (a sign representing a word or idea) "SA.GAZ." Because it sounds similar to ʿIbri, the Hebrew word for a Hebrew, it is frequently discussed in biblical studies.

Background

The term Habiru appears in documents from a wide area, including Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt, during the second millennium BC (roughly 2000–1000 BC). Examples include the Mari, Nuzi, Ugarit, and Hittite texts. In these documents the Habiru are portrayed as people who had left their homelands or communities and lived as wanderers. They also appear as mercenaries, raiders, and fugitives. The Nuzi texts mention Habiru who contracted themselves into servitude in order to make a living. For this reason, scholars generally understand Habiru not as the name of a particular ethnic group but as a term for a social condition or status.

Development

The Habiru became widely known through the Amarna letters, discovered in 1887 at Tell el-Amarna in Egypt. These letters are diplomatic correspondence from the fourteenth century BC exchanged between the Egyptian pharaoh and the rulers of city-states in Canaan and Syria. In a number of letters, Canaanite rulers report that the Habiru are attacking cities and seizing the king's lands, and they appeal to Egypt to send troops. The letters of Abdi-Heba, the ruler of Jerusalem, are especially well known. In some passages rulers accuse one another of siding with the Habiru, which shows that the term was also used as a pejorative for rebels or outlaws. Later documents from the Egyptian New Kingdom are reported to record Apiru being conscripted for labor such as construction and quarrying. By the end of the second millennium BC, the term had largely disappeared from the written record.

Results and Influence

The Habiru material prompted a reexamination of how the term "Hebrew" is used in the Old Testament. There the term is often used by foreigners when referring to Israelites; for example, in Genesis 39:14 an Egyptian calls Joseph "an Hebrew." The term also appears in Exodus 21:2, a law dealing with servitude. First Samuel 14:21 records that "the Hebrews that were with the Philistines" turned to the side of Israel. This verse is often cited as evidence that "Hebrew" was not always used as an exact synonym for Israel. Since the mid-twentieth century, some scholars seeking to explain Israel's settlement in Canaan have emphasized the incorporation of marginal groups such as the Habiru.

Assessment

There are three main views on the relationship between the Habiru and the Hebrews.

• Identification: Some conservative evangelical scholars regard the Habiru activity described in the Amarna letters as an Egyptian record of the conquest of Canaan led by Joshua. They cite this as support for the early date of the Exodus, which places it in the fifteenth century BC.
• Partial connection: This view holds that the two terms may be etymologically related and allows that early Israel may have included people in circumstances similar to those of the Habiru.
• Denial or caution: This view points out that it is uncertain whether the two terms correspond exactly in pronunciation. It also argues that because the Habiru appear across so wide an area and so long a period, they cannot be identified with the people of Israel. Even among conservative scholars who hold to the early date, some reject the identification for these reasons.

Most scholars do not simply equate the Habiru with the people of Israel. They do, however, treat the material as a useful reference for understanding the biblical term "Hebrew" and the social conditions of Canaan before the period of the Judges.