Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
Genesis 10:21 (NIV)
Linguistic historians note that “Eber” may be the source of the word “Hebrew.” The word means “crossing over.”
Scripturally, we link this to crossing over the Euphrates (Abraham) or the Jordan (Israel), but we also use this phrase to talk about crossing over into the afterlife.