CHRISTIANITY PLAYS FAST & LOSE WITH NAMES
BY JOHN, 2/22/11
The names of Jesus & most people in the Bible are pronounced differently than the ancients would have pronounced them. Abraham might be pronounced Avraham, Isaac is Yitzhak, and Jacob is Ya’akov. http://familybible.org/beitmidrash/Theology/OurSoF.htm
Jesus is the Greek form of a Hebrew or the Aramaic name spoken in the 1st Century which was probably Jeshua, from Joshua. Jesus seems to be a combination of Jehoshua & Hosea shortened to Jesus or Jesu in the Greek. http://netministries.org/easton/easton.htm?name=Jesus
Also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshua_%28name%29
The Hebrew name: Yeshua ha’Mashiach [Yeshua the Messiah] is the title Messianic Jews use instead of: Jesus the Christ. Keep in mind that in Hebrew there was no letter “j” , so all those sounds are sometimes pronounced by a “Y” or “ee” sound. In the koine Greek, Jesus is pronounced Jesous or Yesous (Pronounced as “ee-ay-sooce” in New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, King James). Our Savior’s name can be written as Jesous Christos or Jesus the Christ (Annointed One {of God}), Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus son of Joseph, son of man or son of David.
It seems to me that someone should write a more accurate pronunciation Bible, with the sounds that were heard in Jesus’ time. They could use Hebrew pronunciations in the Older Covenants & the Greek pronunciations in the Jesus’ Covenant.
The Virgin Mary’s Jewish name was probable Miriam. In the Greek it would Maria, for short or the full name Mariam which was taken from the Hebrew name Miriam.*
A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, as they say, but we think we’re so educated in the 21st Century & we’re still mispronouncing most of the names & words in the Bible. The modern Bible creators & publishing houses are constantly making new Bibles with the same errors, because we’re used to them. If we don’t buy the Bibles then all their efforts will have gone in vain. Let’s face it unless the sales are brisk the Bible won’t be printed in large quantities or with affordable prices. Most books are the same, whether it is Grimm’s Fairytales, Shakespeare or the Bible. The tyrant god: Mammon, gets the nod, again, because our industrial base involves producing mass quantities of whatever & the population consuming vast quantities of whatever. Without this system in place we might have to revert to farming in our own back yards, memorizing vast tracts of the Bible & who know maybe talking to each other. Parents or Churches would have to teach us to read with the few scarce Bibles. Today they have the scholarship & publishing houses, so if enough Christians write, email & call the publishers this could be changed. The Age of high quantity low quality will end one day. Quite a leap to make: but the Industrial Age will end when we run out of raw materials or the products that are produced become too expensive for all but the rich. In the Jewish description of Paradise on earth, we each build our own house & plant our own garden. Talk about independence & self-sustaining…
“And they shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”
Isaiah 65:22 KJV, see 65:13-25.
The house of God is built by the inspiration of God & the people properly instructed by the leaders that God appoints. Let the Congregation of the Lord inform our leaders of the changes we want in our Bibles, doctrines, prayers, songs, definitions of Biblical terms such as: Church, priest, deacon, evangelist, apostle, elder, etc.. We just want the latest in Biblical discoveries, languages & history of the early church period, whenever it isn’t too questionable.
CONCLUSION
It’s somewhat embarrassing to read your Bible for 20 or more years and see a skeptic or atheist on TV telling you the flaws of the Bible that you never knew about. As a Christian I want to know more about my religion that the devils who try to tear it down, the malicious mockers & the liberal Christians. But, unless I get a few Ph.D.s or the theologians & ministers start to correct & update our songs, creeds, prayers, & dogmas I will always be dumber than them. Where are the loud genius C.S. Lewis’ of our day. We have some, but we need more & louder. We will still have to ask the sinners to believe by faith, because our churches & denominations contradict & argue against each other. They & we look foolish sometimes. but it happened to Jesus & it must happen to us. It’s all part of persecution & being tested trials.
Let’s face it the Holy Spirit must enlighten the lost & confused person or they will be lost. We can’t put too much pressure on our leaders or ourselves. Let us preach our foolishness & watch the millions come to Christ. “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised…For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” 1Corinthians 4:10-20, KJV
