Bible Translation Decisions - Names

This is the first on what I hope will be several blog entries related to English Bible Translation Decisions. I hold a high view of the authority of scripture and hope that these entries are taken in a way that honors the Bible. This entry deals with names.

In English translations of the New Testament, names of cities match the names given in the Old Testament. Jerusalem is still Jerusalem, Bethlehem is still Bethlehem, etc. I am glad about this. I wish that the same thing had been done with names of people, but it was not. I do also think it is understandable that we use English pronunciations rather than Hebrew originals (Jerusalem is from the Hebrew Yerushalayim), as this is standard practice in the English language when dealing with foreign names.

Because the New Testament comes to us in Greek and the Old Testament in Hebrew, the New Testament (NT) names are often Greek transliterations of a Hebrew name, so they end up sounding different, even though they are really the exact same name. For example, Simon (NT) is Simeon (OT). Judas (NT) is Judah (OT). Also, Judas is the same name as Jude, the book before Revelation. Mary (NT) is Miriam (OT). A few names have carried over: Joseph is still Joseph. A strange one is that James (NT) = Jacob (OT). That switch seems different from the others, because James is not a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Jacob. This not due to the influence of King James, as both Tyndale and Wycliffe translated using James before King James was born. I've read that it is due to a roundabout Latin and French influence.

When the New Testament references Old Testament characters, the English Bible translations keep the Old Testament names, which is good because if it didn't it would really be confusing. Jacob is still Jacob in the New Testament, as long as the Jacob in question is Isaac's son/Abraham's grandson.

The name of Jesus is a special case, since Jesus is the Hebrew "Yeshua," which is a short form of Joshua, the son of Nun. The longer form "Yehoshua" is used throughout the Old Testament, except for one entry in Chronicles, which shortens it to "Yeshua." So I do think it is understandable that Jesus is not translated as Joshua, since the New Testament name is not the same name as the one usually used in the Old Testament.

If we understand that the New Testament uses many of the same names as Old Testament characters, it may increase our understanding of the unity of all scripture, both Old and New Testament.