Ponder Scripture Newsletter

 

 

ith the seemingly endless array of Bible-based articles, newsletters and other publications currently available on the Internet, there is a veritable "information overload" of sorts when it comes to searching for various Bible-related topics.  Since there is already an abundance of Bible-related topics to choose from, you can well imagine that one could devote his or her full time to reading these studies.  June and I have added our share of studies to cyberspace, some of which are very lengthy.  Indeed, some topics require lengthy explanations to provide in-depth answers.  On this page, however, we want to keep things as "short and sweet" as possible.  While we primarily gear our writings to those who share our understanding that the Torah is relevant for believers today, anyone is welcome to read and offer feedback; however, due to our schedules, we cannot guarantee a quick turn-around response time.  We invite you to direct all correspondence to seekutruth at aol dot com.

 

Archived Newsletters

 

Newsletter #11: Should We Translate Names?

IMPORTANT NAMES

By Larry & June Acheson, with contributor Kathy Stewart

11/09/2013

ne of the great mysteries in life, to me at least, is how we can live in a world that, for the most part, does not call upon the Creator by the name He gave to Himself.  While June and I are persuaded that the name our Heavenly Father gives to Himself is Yahweh, there are others who refer to Him as “Yahwah,” “Yahuwah,” “Yehovah,” etc.  Such a controversy wouldn’t exist if the “Ineffable Name Doctrine” had not been perpetrated.  The “Ineffable Name Doctrine” is promoted by Judaism and holds that the Almighty’s name is “too sacred to pronounce.”  It is not a Scriptural doctrine, especially when one considers the fact that the name Yahweh (יהוה) is used some 6,823 times in what is known as the Old Testament.  It only makes sense that those who love the Almighty and seek to have a relationship with Him would also want to know and use His name in a reverent way.  Nevertheless, this is not what is being promoted by today’s churches and assemblies.  Instead of teaching that the name “God” was rendered “demon” by the Hebrew scholars who translated the Septuagint text of Isaiah 65:11 in the 3^rd century BCE, today’s churches would have their members believe that the Creator’s actual name is “God.”  I know because that’s what I was taught by my parents, who in turn had the blessing of the Methodist Church to do so.  It is true that some of the more learned laity do know that “God,” as used in most Bibles, is actually used to translate a title (“Elohim”), yet even these more learned churchgoers have no problem whatsoever if you use “God” as a proper noun in reference to the Creator of the Universe. 

      From my own experience, I have often asked people, “Can you think of a better name to call on than the name the Creator gave to Himself?”  I have never had anyone come up with a better name, nor has anyone even tried.  Yet, those same people, upon learning that the name He gave to Himself is “Yahweh,” then proceed to continue referring to Him as “God.”  Call it a case of “old habits dying hard” or to borrow the expression used by Winston Churchill, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”   

      Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. like our friend, Kathy.  When we first met Kathy, she referred to the Almighty as “God.”  One thing led to another, and we shared with her our reasons for referring to Him as “Yahweh.”  Kathy is one of those rare types who was not only able to follow our line of reasoning, but she performed her own research into the matter and reached the same conclusion that we arrived at many years ago – that referring to Yahweh as “God” dishonors Him.  Moreover, within a very short span of time (a few weeks), Kathy had all but removed the name (and title) “God” from her vocabulary.

 

People Understand that Names Are Not Translated

      As a general rule, our culture understands that names are not translated.  For example, no one attempts to translate the name of the Taliban terrorist, Osama bin Laden, into another language.  Rather, it is transliterated, which means the pronunciation is retained from one language to another, even if different characters are used to convey the correct pronunciation.  My own name is an example of this.  Back in 1990, I spent a month of study in Spain.  While I was there, I made several friends, and they all made earnest efforts to know and properly vocalize my name.  The first thing I did was write out the spelling of my name as follows: “L – a – r – r – y.”  Those who understand Spanish phonetics will immediately recognize that a Spanish-speaker who has never seen that name before would pronounce it “Lah’ rrree.”  While I had no problem with their slight mispronunciation, I nevertheless repeated my name back to them with the long vowel “a” in the first syllable.   They repeated it back to me with ““Lah’ rrree” again.  I then decided to try something different.  I spelled my name as “L – e – r – i.”  To my amazement, they immediately began pronouncing it with near-100% accuracy!  This is an example of a transliterated name.  The only way they could pronounce my name accurately was by spelling it in a different way.  

      Please observe that my Spanish friends made no attempts to “translate” my name!  No one said anything like, “Oh, yes!  The English name ‘Larry’ is translated ‘Lorenzo’ in our language.”  Nor does anyone ever say, “‘Osama’ is translated as ‘Oscar’ in English!    Rather, they transliterate his name with an English spelling that best reflects the original Arabic pronunciation. 

      Now let’s think a moment about the original Hebrew pronunciation of our Heavenly Father’s name.  According to ancient Greeks, who overheard Hebrew-speaking Samaritans speaking the name, it was pronounced “Yahweh.” The way they transliterated it into Greek was “IAUE,” which, in English, is pronounced “Yahweh.”  If English-speaking people don’t make any attempt to “translate” or otherwise change the pronunciation of Osama bin Laden’s name, then why would they consider doing such a thing to the name of the Creator of the universe?  Yet, that is exactly what most of this world’s believers do. 

      Our friend Kathy readily understood the above “double standard” and began referring to our Creator as “Yahweh.”  However, Kathy soon experienced the same roadblock that June and I have encountered so many times:  People just don’t “get it.”  She told us about having tried in vain to persuade her mother of the truth that names should be transliterated, not translated.  Her mother insisted that names are translated from one language to another.  One day, during a conversation with Kathy, I told her about the famous Italian composer named Giuseppe Verdi.  If one were to translate his name into English, it would be “Joseph Green.”  Yet no one does this.   He remains known as Giuseppe Verdi, even in the United States of America.   

      Kathy recently decided to share this example with her mother, and the result was simply unbelievable!  Kathy’s mother, during that exchange, was compelled to admit to Kathy that “important names you do not have to translate.”  I asked Kathy to compose the details of the conversation that she had with her mother, and here is what she wrote: 

I was having dinner with my mom last Tuesday (11/05/2013), when I felt compelled to ask her a question. The same question was asked of me a couple of weeks ago, at the Feast of Tabernacles, by Larry.  Following is my conversation with Mom:

 

Kathy: “Mom do you know who Giuseppe Verdi was?”

Mom: “Oh, YES! He is one of my favorite composers!”

Kathy: “Was he French or Italian?”

Mom:  “Italian.  Most of the great composers were Italian.”

Kathy: “Well, what is his name in English?”

Mom paused, so I continued:

Kathy: “Wouldn’t his name be Joseph Green?”

Mom: “Well, yes, that would be correct.”

Kathy: “But we don’t call him that.”

Mom: “Well, important names you don’t have to translate.”

Kathy: “No names are supposed to be translated.”

Mom: “Where did you get that idea?”

Kathy: “From Larry.”

Mom: “Oh, Larry!”

Kathy: “Well, it’s true.”

 

Unfortunately, I missed an important opportunity to ask her if our Heavenly Father’s name was important enough not to need translating.

          While Kathy may have missed an opportunity to share that our Heavenly Father’s name is far more important than Giuseppe Verdi’s name will ever be, her experience is nevertheless one that we can all learn and grow from because missed opportunities are often capitalized on in future experiences.  Who knows?  Maybe you, who are reading this, had never really given much consideration to the name that our culture as a whole uses in reference to our Creator, but now you are able to see that our reasoning is not some “passing fancy” or whim, but rather a heartfelt desire to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father – a relationship founded on more than just knowing Him by His character, His infinite mercy and lovingkindness, but also by knowing Him by His name.

__________________________________________________

 

Back to Ponder Scripture Newsletter Archives