Names in the Bible - Pronunciation, spelling and meaning of Old Testament Biblical Place Names and Personal Names

These errors originated before the publication of the King James Version, but one of the rules adopted by the translators was to retain the "vulgar" or common pronunciations, thereby perpetuating distorted pronunciations such as Jehosaphat for Yehoshaphat.

Very often, the biblical name of a place or person has a meaning in the context of the story being told, as names of persons were often assumed names or nicknames. These meanings are often lost in translation and transliteration. Sometimes the original is unintelligible from the English transcription, which came by way of Latin and Greek.

In some cases, we do not know the original meaning of a name for certain, and we do not even know if it had a meaning. However such meanings were often attached as "explanations" or "glosses" and gained credence by force of tradition.

The following will give some idea of the distortions and how to restore the original.

Letter J - Hebrew has no letter "J." In all names having a "J" in them, the J should be pronounced as "Y" or sometimes to i at the beginning of the syllable. For example:

Adonijah should be Ahdoneeyah (meaning, "My lord is God")

Jedediah should be Yehdeedyah  (meaning, "Friend of God")

Jeremiah is Yehrmiyahu in Hebrew.

Joel is Yo El in Hebrew (meaning "Jehovah is God")

This error was transmitted indiscriminately, even when the Hebrew spelling was Aleph Yud rather than Yud:

Job should be iyohv.

Jezebel should be eezehvehl. The name means "pile of garbage" in Hebrew, and was certainly not the real name of the Queen taken to wife by King Ahab. She was given that name because of her idolatrous practices, and because the compilers of the Bible and the book of Kings obviously did not like her. It is not clear what the actual name should be, or what she was called in her lifetime by her subjects.

The name Yeh'hehzkehl (God will strengthen) was transmuted to "Ezekiel" in English.

The name Yishahyahu (probably God will save) was transmuted to "Isaiah" in English.

Letter S - The letter "S" is often used instead of the Hebrew or Semitic "Shin" which is pronounced as "sh". Thus, for example:

Jerusalem is Yerushalayim in Hebrew (Meaning "City of Peace" perhaps originally "Yeru Shalem or Ur Salem")

Jehosaphat (or Jehoshapat) is Yeho-Shahfaht (meaning "God Judged").

Letters B and V - In the middle or end of a syllable, the Hebrew Bet (B) is always "soft" and is pronounced as "v." Thus for example:

Abigail is Avigahyil in Hebrew.

Abinadab is Avinahdahv in Hebrew.

Abimelech is Avi Melech in Hebrew (meaning "Father of a king")

Ebenezer is Evehn ehzehr in Hebrew (not "Ebuneezer").

Jeraboam is Yerahvahm in Hebrew. It probably means, "May the nation increase."

Jerubaal is Yerubaal in Hebrew because the "B" in Baal begins a new syllable and is therefore a hard "B." The name means "Fears (worships) Baal (the god of the Canaanites).

Joab is Yoav, meaning perhaps "God is the father."

Letters th - The th dipthong combination was often used to signify the letter "taf" in the middle or end of a syllable, where it is softer than "T." In modern Hebrew these are not distinguished. Thus, "Jonathan" is "Yohnahtahn" (God Gave) in Hebrew.

Common components of biblical names - Some commonly used components of biblical names and their meaning:

Ahvi - Father. Always transliterated incorrectly as "Abi" in the King James version.

Mehlehch - King.

Ehl - God

Yah - God. Usually transliterated as JA in the King James Bible.

Yahu - God

Yo - God

Nahtahn - gave

Rahm - mighty. Abram (av ram) may have meant "mighty father," or "father of the mighty."

Tsehdehk - Justice. Melkizedek (pronounced Mehlkitsehdehk) = My king is justice.

Nouns mistaken for names and incorrect plurals - The translators sometimes mistook ordinary nouns for names of nations. Thus, for example, Anahkim means giants. It is the plural of Anahk. The translators apparently took "Anahkim" to be the name of a people, and therefore added an "s" at the end and rendered it as "Anakims." Likewise, Seraphim (plural of Saraph) is rendered in English as "Seraphims." These renditions are rather comical to speakers of modern Hebrew.

Ami Isseroff