In eleventh grade, I took my only year of a foreign language in school, Spanish. I did this to fulfill the possible college entrance requirements of a foreign language. Thank goodness, Texas A&M would ultimately have no such requirement. In class, each student was required to select a Spanish name for use in class. While some names translate from English to Spanish, the name “Scott” has no such equivalent. I became Fernando. Whatever meaning the name Scott may have had to my parents (it means “from Scotland”, but I do not think that was the calling my parents gave me), the meaning was totally lost in the translation to Fernando.
The translation of names from the original language into English is just another subtle way the meaning conveyed in the original scripture has been lost. Whereas English names are selected for their sound or relationship, Jewish names are chosen to reflect the specific calling of GOD placed on the heart of the parents for the child. The English name “JESUS” has no specific meaning, while the original Hebrew name, “YESHUA”, means “the LORD is Salvation”. With this knowledge, the words of the angel to Joseph now make sense, “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matt 1:21). In other words, “Salvation, will save his people from their sins”. When a Hebrew parent exhorts their child to “live up to your name”, they do not mean the family name, which is the common concept in America, but the specific name that defines the calling of the child. The Bible is full of examples where people succeeded or failed to live up to their name.
So I wondered, how faithful and consistent were the men who translated the original biblical names into English?
NAS Name/Original Hebrew/Inconsistent NT Translation
Old Testament: Abraham/Avraham Isaac/Yitzchak Jacob/Yaakov
Joseph/Yosef Judah/Yhudah Moses/Moshe Miriam/Miryam Joshua/Yhoshua
Saul/Shaul Jonathan/Yhonatan David/David Soloman/Shlomo
New Testament: Mary/Miryam/Miryam Joseph/Yosef/Joseph JESUS/Yeshua
Peter/Kefa James/Yaakov/Jacob John/Yochanan Simon/Shimon
Saul/Shaul/Saul Paul/Paul
The mother of JESUS became “Mary”, like Queen Mary, and not the correct translation of “Miriam”, identical to the sister of Moses. In a similar manner, “Yaakov” became “James”, coincidentally, the name of the king who authorized the major English translation, and not Jacob, as the name was translated in the Older Testament. Although Yochanan does not have an equivalent Older Testament name, the name is translated as Johanan, instead of John, by outside sources when referring to Rabbi Yochanan be Zakai (30BCE-90CE) who was a primary contributor to the Mishnah.
There is no way to know for certain, but an indictment can be delivered that English translators systematically and methodically removed the Hebrew aspects from the Newer Testament scripture to set the assembly apart as a separate entity from Israel. Even the names were changed to protect the innocent.
Scott
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3 comments:
there was something in the air that night, the stars were bright fernando.
ok, one more thing. as you may know, i am big on knick-names, but I have struggled to come up with a suitable nick-name for you. Cott, as andre so loving called you or Scotty, but that reminds me of star trek. until now, you solved it for me, Fernando. and as always, you post is great thank you for your dedication to the scriptures.
What a great post!
The other night, I was reading in 'Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus,' about the whole Miriam/Mary, Yaakov/James thing. Brandon and I were trying to figure out where they got these very English-sounding names.
Kings and Queens. Makes sense to me.
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