Why are Names in the Bible Translated?
Christians all over the world worship “Jesus Christ.” Yet, he originally had a different name. So, why was it changed?
The process of name translation in the Bible is a journey that spans languages and cultures, reflecting the rich history of biblical texts and their transmission through time. One of the most notable examples is the name we know as Jesus.
This name began its journey from the Aramaic ‘Yeshua,’ a common name during the time Jesus lived. It was then adapted into the Hebrew ‘Yehoshua,’ which further transformed into the Greek ‘Iēsous.’ The Greek rendition was later Latinized to ‘Iesus,’ which eventually became ‘Jesus’ in English.
This sequence of transformations highlights the linguistic shifts that occurred as the Bible was translated and disseminated across different regions and peoples.
Similarly, other biblical names have undergone their own unique journeys. For instance, the Hebrew name ‘Moshe’ is known as ‘Moses’ in English, a change that occurred through Greek and Latin translations. Each step in the translation process was influenced by the phonetic and linguistic rules of the language into which the name was being translated, leading to the versions we are familiar with today.
