Neon Genesis Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 One thing I don't get is why do English translations of the bible sometimes keep the original names of bible characters but in other places they'll change the name to an English name when English didn't even exist during the bible times? Like the disciples for instance, some of them will keep their original names like Judas, but others will have them changed to English names like Peter or John. And why do English translations of the bible change Yeshua's name to Jesus when that's not his actual name? I just don't understand what the point of these name changes are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 One thing I don't get is why do English translations of the bible sometimes keep the original names of bible characters but in other places they'll change the name to an English name when English didn't even exist during the bible times? Like the disciples for instance, some of them will keep their original names like Judas, but others will have them changed to English names like Peter or John. And why do English translations of the bible change Yeshua's name to Jesus when that's not his actual name? I just don't understand what the point of these name changes are. Judas can be seen in Greek as Ioudan. John is IÅannÄ“n. Jesus is IÄ“sous. The transliterations of the above work out to roughly what you know (Judah, John and Jesus). One the other hand James is really Jacob (IakÅbon) but I've never bothered to find out why it isn't. What is jesus' actual name? The Greek has "IÄ“sous" as I said. It transliterates to "Jesus" so to change it to "Yeshua" or some variant wouldn't be true to the text (at least as far as I know). I'm sure someone who knows more about this can correct me though. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosonator Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I think it's fairly common for people to modify words and names when taking them into their own tongue. The funniest one I've come across is the various words for "German", actually: German - "Deutsche" English - "German" Italian - "Tedesco" French - "Allemand" I mean, come on please! This may be a cynical interpretation of the situation, but maybe people need to make that which is foreign more like themselves before they can accept it, like fitting a word/name into your own language? Maybe that's why religions need to make their gods violent, vengeful, mean, judgemental... just to reflect the darkness within themselves. "Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sbwilley Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 One thing I don't get is why do English translations of the bible sometimes keep the original names of bible characters but in other places they'll change the name to an English name when English didn't even exist during the bible times? Like the disciples for instance, some of them will keep their original names like Judas, but others will have them changed to English names like Peter or John. And why do English translations of the bible change Yeshua's name to Jesus when that's not his actual name? I just don't understand what the point of these name changes are. Judas can be seen in Greek as Ioudan. John is IÅannÄ“n. Jesus is IÄ“sous. The transliterations of the above work out to roughly what you know (Judah, John and Jesus). One the other hand James is really Jacob (IakÅbon) but I've never bothered to find out why it isn't. What is jesus' actual name? The Greek has "IÄ“sous" as I said. It transliterates to "Jesus" so to change it to "Yeshua" or some variant wouldn't be true to the text (at least as far as I know). I'm sure someone who knows more about this can correct me though. mwc I think it really was "Hey-zoos" all along. He was a dude from East LA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Yeshua is a modern name manufactured for the denomination that believes Jesus had a Hebrew name of Yeshua. Iesous is the name of Jesus from the Greek text which is all we have. His 'real' name could have been Irving for all we know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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