System Requirements

Hibernate 5.2 and later versions require at least Java 1.8 and JDBC 4.2.

Hibernate 5.1 and older versions require at least Java 1.6 and JDBC 4.0.

When building Hibernate 5.1 or older from sources, you need Java 1.7 due to a bug in the JDK 1.6 compiler.

Getting Started Guide

New users may want to first look through the Hibernate Getting Started Guide for basic information as well as tutorials. There is also a series of topical guides providing deep dives into various topics.

While having a strong background in SQL is not required to use Hibernate, it certainly helps a lot because it all boils down to SQL statements. Probably even more important is an understanding of data modeling principles. You might want to consider these resources as a good starting point:

Understanding the basics of transactions and design patterns such as Unit of Work (PoEAA) or Application Transaction are important as well. These topics will be discussed in the documentation, but a prior understanding will certainly help.