Semitic languages
The similarity of the Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic languages was accepted by Jewish and Islamic scholars since medieval times. The languages were familiar to Western European scholars due to historical contact with neighbouring Near Eastern countries and through Biblical studies, and a comparative analysis of Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic was published in Latin in 1538 by Guillaume Postel. Almost two centuries later, Hiob Ludolf described the similarities between these three languages and the Ethiopian Semitic languages. However, neither scholar named this grouping as "Semitic".
Arab (etymology)
The early Nabateans are also referred to as "ʿarvim" in Nehemiah 4:7 and the singular "ʿarvi" is applied to Geshem a leader who opposed Nehemiah. This term is identical to "ʿaravi" in unvowelled text but traditionally vowelized differently. It is usually translated "Arabian" or "Arab" and was used in early 20th century Hebrew to mean Arab. However it is unclear if the term related more to "ʿarav" or to "ʿerev". On the one hand its vowelization resembles that of the term "ʿarvati" (Arbathite) which is understood as an adjective formed from "ʿaravah "; thus it is plausibly a similarly formed adjective from "ʿarav" and thus a variant of "ʿaravi ". On the other hand, it is used in 2 Chronicles 21:16 for a seemingly different people located in Africa plausibly the same Africans referred to as an "ʿerev" (mix of people) in Ezekiel 30:5. Any of the other meanings of the root are also possible as the origin of the name.