The name ‘Hebrew’ is said to be derived from the name of ‘Eber’, Abraham’s great great great great grandfather. The title is often understood to apply to Jacob-Israel, the grand son of Abraham, and his 12 sons, one of whom was Judah. After the division of the tribe of Israel following the death of King Solomon, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, plus half the tribe of Levi became known as ‘the southern kingdom’ or ‘the house of Judah’. The other 10 tribes became known as ‘the northern kingdom’, ‘the house of Ephraim’, or ‘Israel’. The 10 northern tribes were taken into captivity by the Assyrians, and later escaped, mostly northwards, becoming lost among the other nations. The house of Judah was later taken captive by the Babylonians and after 70 years was given permission to return to Jerusalem but few wished to leave Babylon. The group called ‘the Jews’ includes the descendants of Judah, those of the other 12 tribes who became associated with them through the division of Kingdom of Israel, the captivity in and return from Babylon, and those who married and converted in over time. Between the return from Babylon and the coming of the messiah, the lineal descendants of Jacob Israel became a smaller and smaller proportion of ‘the Jews’ and this remnant was probably the group who obeyed the instruction of Jesus of Nazareth to flee before the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian in 70AD. These would subsequently be identified by names such as The Nazarenes, Followers of The Way, and eventually as Christians. To identify all the genetic descendants of Eber would be a huge and likely impossible task, but there is a growing body of knowledge as to the identity of various groups of descendants and their histories.