ʿEber

In the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10–11; 1 Chronicles 1) ʿEber appears in the Shem line as a post‑Flood human ancestor: son of Shelah, father of Peleg (born when ʿEber was 34) and Joktan, and a great‑grandson of Shem. The biblical genealogical tradition records his lifespan (the Hebrew Bible tradition gives an age at death of 464 years). Medieval and later Islamic exegetical traditions expand his role: some medieval commentators present ʿEber as the eponymous ancestor of the Hebrews (either by direct naming or via the root ʿ‑b‑r 'to cross'), and certain Islamic authorities and narratives (reported in later medieval sources) variously identify or associate ʿEber with the prophetic figure Hud or with ancestral lines of early Arab groups. A 13th‑century report by Abu al‑Fida preserves a tradition that ʿEber refused to assist in building the Tower of Babel and thus retained the original language for himself and his family (identified as Hebrew); the supplied sources treat that anecdote as a later interpretive tradition rather than ascribed biblical fact.

The supplied sources provide no physical or iconographic description of ʿEber. He is represented in textual genealogies by name, filial relations, and ages; variant name forms are attested in Hebrew (עֵבֶר), Greek (Ἔβερ), and Arabic (عابر). No corporeal attributes, clothing, or phenomenological details are recorded in the cited material.

The primary roles attributed to ʿEber in the sources are genealogical and etiological: progenitor of Peleg and Joktan and ancestor in the line leading toward Abraham, a figure used to explain ethnonyms and linguistic or territorial origins. The sources do not ascribe supernatural powers to him. Later narrative traditions (e.g., Abu al‑Fida's report) credit him with a consequential moral action—refusal to participate in the Tower of Babel project—which is said to have led to his family's retention of the original language; this is presented as a later explanatory tradition rather than an innate supernatural ability.