Paraphrase the following sentence "Prior to his
conversion, he relied upon his
own depravity to shield and
sustain him in his savage
barbarity, but after his
conversion, he found religious
sanction and support for his
slaveholding cruelty."

Before his religious enlightenment, he was left to his own barbaric devices.

It is an interesting question but it is necessary to contextualize it.

First of all, hebrew is any member of ancient northern semitic people that were ancestors of the Jews, this definition is according Britannica Book.

But if I Have to mention the Bible the Hebrews was the Town of God defined in the Antique Testament  and they had roles and commandments   from God to follow. They had a sacerdote or lead who always talked with God and after communicated the messages for the People. One different from the people around them was that they can not eat murder animals and don't get idols of wood or someone else.

Now if we does check the new testament, the hebrews just believed in the Law of  Moses and it was very different of pharisees, sadducees and son of them didn't believe in Jesus Christ.

Nowadays these different of doctrine about God are alive and they have produced serious conflict between nations and people.