A Christian Hebraist is a scholar of Hebrew who comes from a Christian family background/belief or is a Jewish adherent of Christianity. The main area of study is that commonly known as the Old Testament to Christians (and Tanakh to Jews), but Christians have occasionally taken an interest in the Talmud and the Kabbalah.
The early fathers of the Christian Church got their knowledge of Hebrew traditions (Masoretic, Midrashim and Aggadah) from their Jewish teachers. That is seen especially in the exegesis of Justin Martyr,[1] Aphraates, Ephraem Syrus and Origen of Alexandria. Jerome's teachers are even mentioned by name such as Bar Ḥanina (Hananiah).