Subject: Jesus , the Messiah - Yeshua ha Mashiach |
Bible Note: Dear Cheri, Wouldn't consistency require that you also call God "Yahweh" and the Holy Spirit "Kodesh Ruach?" ;-) I am Jewish by birth as well. There are several ways to pronounce Jesus' name in Aramaic beyond the ones you have used, depending on the area at the time of His life. Our ancient Greek brethren chose to transliterate Jesus' name. Actually, they retained the sound of the name pretty well. It was just that the I -- for various historical reasons I can't quite recall -- gradually shifted to J. Consequently, Iesous, became Jesous. Tyndale spelled it Jesus, and that was picked up in the Geneva and later KJV translations. My Hispanic in-laws, in Spanish, pronounce Jesus' name differently than they do in English. I have a Portuguese friend who pronounces it even differently than that! In Hebrew the word for name is shem; i.e., what a person is called. But it is a bit different than the English word name, since it also contains the idea of the character and nature of the person or thing being identified. It isn't the sounds that are so important when we speak of the Persons of our Triune God. Rather, it is their unique nature, character, authority, etc. I have to admit, though, that the Russellites make such a point of all this that it puts a sour taste in my mouth. If for no other reason, than that, I think the old Phil Keaggy song says it well, "Jesus is Jehovah to me!" In Him, Doc |