NationStates Jolt Archive

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Why is it that when the Bible is set in Galilee and that sort of area that the Gospels have names like Matthew?

Surely they weren't the names used in those times. So why have they been named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Not to mention Peter, Simon, Thaddeus...

One word: "Translators"

Lol, did you stop to think that lots of English names come from the Bible? They WERE Galileean names, then became popular in other places e.g. Britain with Christianity. :)

Edit: But Zebedee never seemed to catch on...

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Why is it that when the Bible is set in Galilee and that sort of area that the Gospels have names like Matthew?

Surely they weren't the names used in those times. So why have they been named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Not to mention Peter, Simon, Thaddeus...

Translation, I believe. Familiar names in one's own language allow the reader to focus more on the meaning of the text rather than constant foreign words that appear. Unfortunately, place names are not translated as well. :(

Translation, I believe. Familiar names in one's own language allow the reader to focus more on the meaning of the text rather than constant foreign words that appear. Unfortunately, place names are not translated as well. :(
But if that were purely the case, why not translate all the names, like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednigo, Marhashalahashbaz? (I know I spelt those wrong, but hey). I think you'll find that the root of the frequency of those names in the West is a result of the Bible, and particularly the gospels (hence it only being some of the names), and not the other way around.

But if that were purely the case, why not translate all the names, like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednigo, Marhashalahashbaz? (I know I spelt those wrong, but hey). I think you'll find that the root of the frequency of those names in the West is a result of the Bible, and particularly the gospels (hence it only being some of the names), and not the other way around.

It's not purely the case. Though with regard to the names of the names of the people the Gospels were attributed to and the disciples...I seriously doubt that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are purely Hebrew names. From what I've seen of Hebrew, those names would probably require serious spelling and pronunciation alterations in order to make sense in the Hebrew language.

You are correct that the Bible has influenced naming patterns, however. Actually, I and my siblings were all named after biblical figures. :)

But if that were purely the case, why not translate all the names, like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednigo, Marhashalahashbaz? (I know I spelt those wrong, but hey). I think you'll find that the root of the frequency of those names in the West is a result of the Bible, and particularly the gospels (hence it only being some of the names), and not the other way around.

Because there is no english translation for those names. They only translate names when there is a translation available. They dont want to make up new names, just translate them to your language. Jesus is really Yeshua for example.

PS. Pick up a bible in another language and you'll find that the names are translated to that language. In a Spanish bible you will not find Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you will find Matteo, Marcos, Lucas, and Juan.

It's not purely the case. Though with regard to the names of the names of the people the Gospels were attributed to and the disciples...I seriously doubt that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are purely Hebrew names. From what I've seen of Hebrew, those names would probably require serious spelling and pronunciation alterations in order to make sense in the Hebrew language.

You are correct that the Bible has influenced naming patterns, however. Actually, I and my siblings were all named after biblical figures. :)

Okay, cool, I stand corrected :) (To LazyHippies too). Yeah, my siblings were named after Biblical characters too. But when they got to me (the youngest), they just gave up and gave me a 5 syllable weird name. Go figure.

well.....those weren't their names...i know of a few of their real names off the top of my head...

Peter - Cephas
Jesus - Yeshua
Jacob (the patriarch) - Yeshua

Because there is no english translation for those names. They only translate names when there is a translation available. They dont want to make up new names, just translate them to your language. Jesus is really Yeshua for example.

But, as you just pointed out, there is always the possibility of transliteration. For the record, John translates to Yochanan, Matthew to Mattiya, related to Matthias. But, then again, considering that the NT is translated from Greek, not Hebrew, the non-Hebraicization of the names of the Apostles and the books isn't very surprising.

Many of the Apostles, it should be noted, do not have Hebrew names. Mark, Luke, Peter, and Thaddeaus are Latin names. Andrew, Thomas and Philip are Greek. This has given rise to theories that some of the apostles may not have been Jewish: (http://www.levitt.com/essays/luke.html), but others argue that this is indicative of the cross-cultural exchange that was taking place in Israel during this time period- perhaps some of the apostles were from assimilated or secular families, etc... And there is, of course, the possibility that the original names were at one point lost or changed, either before or after the activities described in the NT. It is, however, true that the original Greek/Latin forms of many of the above names are different than their English equivalents (Mark is Marcus, for instance). The change probably occured when the NT was first translated into English, and the Anglicization stuck. If you think about it, there's no real reason to not have a Bible with the "original" names as they appear in the Septuagint; there's probably just a very low demand for it. Some people would probably also find it a bit odd to be reading about the adventures of Yeshua, Yaacov, Marcus, Andros, Lucas, etc... ("Now everyone, let's turn to the Book of Yochanan.")

Incidentally, for the curious, Simon (Shimon), Judas (Yehuda), James (related to Ya'acov), and Bartholomew (!) are Hebrew names.

well.....those weren't their names...i know of a few of their real names off the top of my head...

Peter - Cephas
Jesus - Yeshua
Jacob (the patriarch) - Yeshua

Source?

Isn't Yeshua, the Greek term for Joshua? Or am I just dillusional?

Isn't Yeshua, the Greek term for Joshua? Or am I just dillusional?

Yes. Jesus is a variant form. Yehoshua is the long form. As far as I know, there's no real reason to assume he went by "Yeshua" anymore than "Yeshu" or "Yehoshua" (I think they're all spelled the same in the text, but I can't say for sure). I suspect Yeshua is most popular with Christians because it's the most similar to the popular "Jesus".

I prefer John, Paul, George and Ringo.

JOHN m English, Biblical
English form of Johannes, which was the Latin form of the Greek name Ioannes, itself derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan meaning "YAHWEH is gracious"

MATTHEW m English, Biblical
English form of Matthaios, which was a Greek form of the Hebrew name Mattithyahu which meant "gift of YAHWEH"

MARK m English, Russian, Biblical
Familiar form of MARCUS...

LUKE m English, Biblical
From the Greek name Loukas which meant "from Lucania"

Source: http://www.behindthename.com

JESUS
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Theology, Biblical
Pronounced: JEE-zus [key]
Extra Info: Popularity, Related Names, Namesakes, Websites
Options: Contribute Information
English form of Iesous, which was the Greek form of the Aramaic name Yeshua. Yeshua is itself a contracted form of Yehoshua (see JOSHUA). Yeshua ben Yoseph, better known as Jesus Christ, was the central figure of the New Testament and the source of the Christian religion. The four Gospels state that he was the son of God and the Virgin Mary who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. He preached for three years before being crucified in Jerusalem.

I seriously doubt that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are purely Hebrew names. From what I've seen of Hebrew, those names would probably require serious spelling and pronunciation alterations in order to make sense in the Hebrew language.

Ignoring the fact that Jesus and his pals would have been speaking Aramic here, which makes reference to Hebrew somewhat less relevant than you might think.

Isn't Yeshua, the Greek term for Joshua? Or am I just dillusional?

oops..forgive..it's joshua is yeshua....it was almos midnight here when i posted it....and i had been up since 3....

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Why is it that when the Bible is set in Galilee and that sort of area that the Gospels have names like Matthew?

Surely they weren't the names used in those times. So why have they been named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Not to mention Peter, Simon, Thaddeus...

They Orignally were not named, the names where added much later by the Church, no one really knows why. These names are Hebrew Names though.

well.....those weren't their names...i know of a few of their real names off the top of my head...

Peter - Cephas
Jesus - Yeshua
Jacob (the patriarch) - Yeshua

Actually Jesus is Jesus unless the Quran is wrong too?

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Why is it that when the Bible is set in Galilee and that sort of area that the Gospels have names like Matthew?

Surely they weren't the names used in those times. So why have they been named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Not to mention Peter, Simon, Thaddeus...
This is a classic case of "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Those names are now popular names because they were used in the Bible, not the other way around. For some reason, my children named all my grandsons after characters from the Bible: Samuel, Jonathan, Benjamin, Joseph and Caleb.

keneth would have been a good name for a diciple or prophrt...dont ya think?

This is a classic case of "which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

The egg. Lizards were laying eggs for millions of years before the chickens raised their ugly heads.

The egg. Lizards were laying eggs for millions of years before the chickens raised their ugly heads.

true..and even if he only meant chicken eggs..the egg would have come first

All of these names are Anglicanized forms of Latin names (eg. Jesus in Latin would be Iesus, hence INRI on the cross).

true..and even if he only meant chicken eggs..the egg would have come first

I think chickens evolved from reptiles, so in theory the egg came first because the mutations required to evolve had to come at birth.

All of these names are Anglicanized forms of Latin names (eg. Jesus in Latin would be Iesus, hence INRI on the cross).



I think chickens evolved from reptiles, so in theory the egg came first because the mutations required to evolve had to come at birth.


indeed.
as the creature that laid the egg of which the first chicken hatched was not a chicken

Actually Jesus is Jesus unless the Quran is wrong too?

Well Quran is in Arabic. So in Arabic, they call Yeshua Jesus I guess.

Actually Jesus is Jesus unless the Quran is wrong too? Well Islam was founded during the fourth and fifth centuries, by then the word "Jesus" may have become the most common to describe the Messiah. That's a gap of over 500 years.

Well Quran is in Arabic. So in Arabic, they call Yeshua Jesus I guess.

Arabic Name: Isa
English Equivalent: Jesus.

I got this straight out of the Qur'an

Ignoring the fact that Jesus and his pals would have been speaking Aramic here, which makes reference to Hebrew somewhat less relevant than you might think.

names for the jewish people were still given in hebrew, since names were representive of who you are and such. Also, just because the spoken language was more aramic, doesn't mean hebrew names are gone, example, look at the modern jewish world, do they just use english words, nope.

oh and

jacob = ya'akov
matthew = mattityahu
john = jochanan
jude = y'hudah
peter = kefa
james = ya'akov

my bible doesn't latinize them out.

All of these names are Anglicanized forms of Latin names (eg. Jesus in Latin would be Iesus, hence INRI on the cross).




Note: somewhere sometime i read that INRI meant ....
I = inela
N= natura
R= renovatum
I= ignatia
Some people immediately say that it MEANS "King of the Jews", ("yes, but it's WORTH ten! ;)
I came to understand it as "all of nature is renewed by fire". I could be wrong.
If I = Iesus, then N = Nazareth? What does that mean?

Note: somewhere sometime i read that INRI meant ....
I = inela
N= natura
R= renovatum
I= ignatia
Some people immediately say that it MEANS "King of the Jews", ("yes, but it's WORTH ten! ;)
I came to understand it as "all of nature is renewed by fire". I could be wrong.
If I = Iesus, then N = Nazareth? What does that mean?

Jesus of Nazareth?

INRI:
Iesus Nazereorum Rex Iudeorum

At least tht's how I think it is in Latin.

(savagly beats paulie in a back ally)

DO NOT QUESTION THE FAITH! THE BOOK! THE TRINITY!

(continues to beat him)

SINNER! SINNERRRRRRRR!!!!

Actually, I and my siblings were all named after biblical figures. :)Yes, I always enjoyed the story about Hotrodder bathing in the river Jordan.

(Sorry.)

I prefer John, Paul, George and Ringo.
I prefer them too. I wonder why they didn't just name them that? Then all the Beatles would get a good rep 'cos they were named after Bible figures. :D

I prefer them too. I wonder why they didn't just name them that? Then all the Beatles would get a good rep 'cos they were named after Bible figures. :D

ah yes, but the beatles did say they were bigger than jesus. a bit of a contradiction isn't it?

Ignoring the fact that Jesus and his pals would have been speaking Aramic here, which makes reference to Hebrew somewhat less relevant than you might think.

It was Aramaic, as I recall. Not "Aramic". :)

And for the rest of your point...I believe Slinao already addressed it. :)

names for the jewish people were still given in hebrew, since names were representive of who you are and such. Also, just because the spoken language was more aramic, doesn't mean hebrew names are gone, example, look at the modern jewish world, do they just use english words, nope.

oh and

jacob = ya'akov
matthew = mattityahu
john = jochanan
jude = y'hudah
peter = kefa
james = ya'akov

my bible doesn't latinize them out.

INRI:
Iesus Nazereorum Rex Iudeorum

At least tht's how I think it is in Latin.
Thanks! I can see that now .... someone else told me this one too, i'd just forgotten the Iudeorum. *bows*

Thanks! I can see that now .... someone else told me this one too, i'd just forgotten the Iudeorum. *bows*

No problem. :)