Sacred name Bibles
Encyclopedia
The term Sacred Name Bibles and the term sacred-name versions are used in general sources to refer to editions of the Bible that are usually connected with the Sacred Name Movement
. A specific definition of Sacred Name Bibles is Bible "translations that consistently use Hebraic forms of God's name in both the Old and New Testaments"
The term is not used in general sources to refer to mainstream Bible editions such as the Jerusalem Bible which employs the name "Yahweh" in the English text of only the Old Testament, where traditional English versions have "LORD".
Most "Sacred Name" versions also use a Semitic
form of the name Jesus
. The Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation also employs "Jehovah", a form of Yahweh, in New Testament verses which quote the Old Testament, but does not do this throughout, and is not considered a "Sacred Name Bible" by the above definition or either in Sacred Name Movement
nor Watchtower Society
sources, though some authors have noted a connection. None of these Sacred Name Bibles "are published by well-established publishers. Instead, most are published by the same group that produced the translation. Some are available for download on the Web."
among the Dead Sea Scrolls
.
Although the Greek forms Iao and Iave do occur in magical inscriptions, generally Hellenistic Jewish texts, such as the works of Philo, Josephus and the New Testament, use the word Kyrios, "Lord", when citing verses where YHWH occurs in the Hebrew. Translators of Sacred Name Bibles argue that Sacred Name Bibles are about restoring the original Name back to the text, usually because of a desire to know Yahweh. For centuries, Hebrew-language editions of the New Testament have included in their text ha-Shem "the Name" or the Tetragrammaton rather than "Lord" or similar.
For centuries, Bible translators around the world did not transliterate or copy the tetragrammaton in their translations. For example, English Bible translators (Christian and Jewish) used "LORD" to represent it. Many authors on Bible translation have explicitly called for translating it with a vernacular word or phrase that would be locally meaningful. The Catholic Church has formally called for translating the Tetragrammaton into other languages rather than attempting to preserve the sounds of the Hebrew.
But a few other Bible translators, with varying theological motivations, have taken a different approach to translating the Tetragrammaton. In the 1800s–1900s at least three English translations contained a variation of the Name In some cases, these translations were of only a portion of the New Testament; they did not represent a stated effort to restore the Name throughout the body of the New Testament. However, in the twentieth century the first translation to employ a full transliteration of the Tetragrammaton was the Rotherham's Emphasized Bible
, but his translation only does so in the Old Testament. Angelo Traina
's translation, The New Testament of our Messiah and Saviour Yahshua in 1950, then The Holy Name Bible containing the Holy Name Version of the Old and New Testaments in 1963 was the first to systematically use a Hebrew form for sacred names throughout the New Testament, the first complete Sacred Name Bible. The Jerusalem Bible
in 1966 and over a dozen other translations in the years since used the name "Yahweh" in the Old Testament.
, or at least significant portions of it, were originally written in a Semitic language, Hebrew or Aramaic, from which the Greek text is a translation, seen as deficient in not having preserved the Hebraic forms of names, particularly sacred names. This view is colloquially known as "Aramaic primacy", and is also taken by some academics, such as Matthew Black.
Therefore, translators of Sacred Name Bibles consider it appropriate to use Semitic names in their translations of the New Testament, which they regard as being intended for use by all people, not just Jews (The Sacred Name 2002: 89ff). Though no early manuscripts of the New Testament contain these names, some Hebrew translations from the Latin did use the Tetragrammaton in part of the Hebrew New Testament. Sidney Jellicoe in The Septuagint and Modern Study (Oxford, 1968) states that the name YHWH appeared in Greek Old Testament texts written for Jews by Jews, often in paleo-Hebraic square script to indicate that it was not to be pronounced, or in Aramaic, or using the four Greek letters PIPI (Π Ι Π Ι that physically imitate the appearance of Hebrew YHWH), and that Kyrios was a Christian introduction. Bible scholars and translators such as Eusebius and Jerome
(translator of the Latin Vulgate) consulted the Hexapla
, but did not attempt to preserve sacred names in Semitic forms. Justin Martyr
(second century) argued that YHWH is not a personal name, writing of the “namelessness of God”.
George Lamsa
, the translator of The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts: Containing the Old and New Testaments
(1957) believed the New Testament was originally written in a Semitic language (the terms Syriac and Aramaic are not always clearly differentiated by some). However, despite his adherence to a Semitic original of the New Testament, Lamsa translated using the English word "Lord" instead of some Hebraic form of the divine name.
with where it occurs in the Old Testament and do not transliterate (“bring over the sound”) into the English. These same patterns are found in languages around the world, as translators have translated sacred names without striving to preserve the Hebraic forms, often using local names for the creator or highest deity, conceptualizing accuracy as semantic rather than phonetic.
The limited number of Sacred Name Bibles suggests that phonetic accuracy is not considered to be of importance by mainstream Bible translators. The translator Joseph Bryant Rotherham
lamented not making his work in to a Sacred Name Bible by using the more accurate name Yahweh in his translation (pp. 20 – 26), though he also said, "I trust that in a popular version like the present my choice will be understood even by those who may be slow to pardon it." (p. xxi).
or Yeshua
. These Bibles apply this to both the names of the Father and Son, both of which are considered to be sacred.
translation. A French translation, by André Chouraqui
, also uses Hebraic forms in the Old and New Testaments.
Sacred Name Movement
The Sacred Name Movement is a movement within Adventism in Christianity, propagated by Clarence Orvil Dodd from the 1930s, that claims to seek to conform Christianity to its "Hebrew Roots" in practice, belief and worship. The best known distinction of the SNM is its advocacy of the use of the...
. A specific definition of Sacred Name Bibles is Bible "translations that consistently use Hebraic forms of God's name in both the Old and New Testaments"
The term is not used in general sources to refer to mainstream Bible editions such as the Jerusalem Bible which employs the name "Yahweh" in the English text of only the Old Testament, where traditional English versions have "LORD".
Most "Sacred Name" versions also use a Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
form of the name Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. The Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation also employs "Jehovah", a form of Yahweh, in New Testament verses which quote the Old Testament, but does not do this throughout, and is not considered a "Sacred Name Bible" by the above definition or either in Sacred Name Movement
Sacred Name Movement
The Sacred Name Movement is a movement within Adventism in Christianity, propagated by Clarence Orvil Dodd from the 1930s, that claims to seek to conform Christianity to its "Hebrew Roots" in practice, belief and worship. The best known distinction of the SNM is its advocacy of the use of the...
nor Watchtower Society
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a non-stock, not-for-profit organization headquartered in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses to direct, administer and develop doctrines for the religion...
sources, though some authors have noted a connection. None of these Sacred Name Bibles "are published by well-established publishers. Instead, most are published by the same group that produced the translation. Some are available for download on the Web."
Historical background
The Tetragrammation (Hebrew YHWH) occurs in the Hebrew Old Testament, and also (written in Hebrew within the Greek text) in a few of the manuscripts of the Greek translation of the Old Testament, found at QumranQumran
Qumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli settlement and kibbutz of Kalia...
among the Dead Sea Scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
.
Although the Greek forms Iao and Iave do occur in magical inscriptions, generally Hellenistic Jewish texts, such as the works of Philo, Josephus and the New Testament, use the word Kyrios, "Lord", when citing verses where YHWH occurs in the Hebrew. Translators of Sacred Name Bibles argue that Sacred Name Bibles are about restoring the original Name back to the text, usually because of a desire to know Yahweh. For centuries, Hebrew-language editions of the New Testament have included in their text ha-Shem "the Name" or the Tetragrammaton rather than "Lord" or similar.
For centuries, Bible translators around the world did not transliterate or copy the tetragrammaton in their translations. For example, English Bible translators (Christian and Jewish) used "LORD" to represent it. Many authors on Bible translation have explicitly called for translating it with a vernacular word or phrase that would be locally meaningful. The Catholic Church has formally called for translating the Tetragrammaton into other languages rather than attempting to preserve the sounds of the Hebrew.
But a few other Bible translators, with varying theological motivations, have taken a different approach to translating the Tetragrammaton. In the 1800s–1900s at least three English translations contained a variation of the Name In some cases, these translations were of only a portion of the New Testament; they did not represent a stated effort to restore the Name throughout the body of the New Testament. However, in the twentieth century the first translation to employ a full transliteration of the Tetragrammaton was the Rotherham's Emphasized Bible
Emphasized Bible
Rotherham's Emphasized Bible is a translation of the Bible that uses various methods, such as "emphatic idiom" and special diacritical marks, to bring out nuances of the underlying Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts...
, but his translation only does so in the Old Testament. Angelo Traina
Angelo Traina
Angelo Traina , also known as A. B. Traina, was a Biblical scholar, best known for his emphasis on restoring "Semitic proper names to their Aramaic and Hebrew forms"....
's translation, The New Testament of our Messiah and Saviour Yahshua in 1950, then The Holy Name Bible containing the Holy Name Version of the Old and New Testaments in 1963 was the first to systematically use a Hebrew form for sacred names throughout the New Testament, the first complete Sacred Name Bible. The Jerusalem Bible
Jerusalem Bible
The Jerusalem Bible is a Roman Catholic translation of the Bible which first was introduced to the English-speaking public in 1966 and published by Darton, Longman & Todd...
in 1966 and over a dozen other translations in the years since used the name "Yahweh" in the Old Testament.
Aramaic Primacy
Some translators of Sacred Name Bibles hold to the view that the New TestamentNew Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, or at least significant portions of it, were originally written in a Semitic language, Hebrew or Aramaic, from which the Greek text is a translation, seen as deficient in not having preserved the Hebraic forms of names, particularly sacred names. This view is colloquially known as "Aramaic primacy", and is also taken by some academics, such as Matthew Black.
Therefore, translators of Sacred Name Bibles consider it appropriate to use Semitic names in their translations of the New Testament, which they regard as being intended for use by all people, not just Jews (The Sacred Name 2002: 89ff). Though no early manuscripts of the New Testament contain these names, some Hebrew translations from the Latin did use the Tetragrammaton in part of the Hebrew New Testament. Sidney Jellicoe in The Septuagint and Modern Study (Oxford, 1968) states that the name YHWH appeared in Greek Old Testament texts written for Jews by Jews, often in paleo-Hebraic square script to indicate that it was not to be pronounced, or in Aramaic, or using the four Greek letters PIPI (Π Ι Π Ι that physically imitate the appearance of Hebrew YHWH), and that Kyrios was a Christian introduction. Bible scholars and translators such as Eusebius and Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
(translator of the Latin Vulgate) consulted the Hexapla
Hexapla
Hexapla is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions. Especially it applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by Origen of Alexandria, which placed side by side:#Hebrew...
, but did not attempt to preserve sacred names in Semitic forms. Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
(second century) argued that YHWH is not a personal name, writing of the “namelessness of God”.
George Lamsa
George Lamsa
George M. Lamsa was an Assyrian author. He was born in Mar Bishu in what is now the extreme east of Turkey. A native Aramaic speaker, he translated the Aramaic Peshitta Old and New Testaments into English.-History and views:Lamsa was a member of the Assyrian Church of the East...
, the translator of The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts: Containing the Old and New Testaments
Lamsa Bible
Formally titled The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts, the Lamsa Bible first appeared in 1933...
(1957) believed the New Testament was originally written in a Semitic language (the terms Syriac and Aramaic are not always clearly differentiated by some). However, despite his adherence to a Semitic original of the New Testament, Lamsa translated using the English word "Lord" instead of some Hebraic form of the divine name.
Accuracy or popularity
Sacred Name Bibles are not used frequently within Christianity, even less (if at all) in Judaism. Similarly, only a few translations replace Jesus with Semitic forms such as Yeshua or Yahshua. Most English Bible translations translate the TetragrammatonTetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
with where it occurs in the Old Testament and do not transliterate (“bring over the sound”) into the English. These same patterns are found in languages around the world, as translators have translated sacred names without striving to preserve the Hebraic forms, often using local names for the creator or highest deity, conceptualizing accuracy as semantic rather than phonetic.
The limited number of Sacred Name Bibles suggests that phonetic accuracy is not considered to be of importance by mainstream Bible translators. The translator Joseph Bryant Rotherham
Joseph Bryant Rotherham
Joseph Bryant Rotherham was a British biblical scholar and minister of the Churches of Christ. He was a prolific writer whose best-known work was the Emphasized Bible, a new translation that used "emphatic inversion" and a set of diacritical marks to bring out shades of meaning in the original...
lamented not making his work in to a Sacred Name Bible by using the more accurate name Yahweh in his translation (pp. 20 – 26), though he also said, "I trust that in a popular version like the present my choice will be understood even by those who may be slow to pardon it." (p. xxi).
Complete Sacred Name Bibles
The following versions are Bibles which systematically use some transliteration the Tetragramamton (usually "Yahweh") in both the Old and New Testament as well as a Semitic form of the name of Jesus such as YahshuaYahshua
Yahshua is an argued transliteration of the original Hebrew or Aramaic name of Jesus commonly used by individuals in the Sacred Name Movement....
or Yeshua
Yeshua
Yeshua, was a common alternative form of the name Joshua "Yehoshuah" in later books of the Hebrew Bible and among Jews of the Second Temple Period...
. These Bibles apply this to both the names of the Father and Son, both of which are considered to be sacred.
- The New Testament of our Messiah and Saviour Yahshua (1950)
- Holy Name Bible (1963)
- The Sacred Scriptures Bethel EditionSacred Scriptures Bethel EditionThe Sacred Scriptures Bethel Edition is a Sacred Name Bible which uses the names Yahweh and Yahshua in both the Old and New Testaments . It was produced by Jacob O. Meyer, based on the American Standard Version of 1901 and it contains over 977 pages. The Assemblies of Yahweh printed 5,500 copies...
(1981) - The Book of Yahweh: The Holy Scriptures (1987)
- Sacred Scriptures, Family of Yah Edition (2000)
- The Word of Yahweh (2003)
- Hebraic Roots Bible (2009)
- The Restoration Study Bible (2011)
- Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible (1970)
Tetragrammaton Sacred Name Bibles
The following versions of Sacred Name Bibles only contain the Tetragrammaton without any vowels so that the reader is unable to read the Name except by pronouncing each of the four letters in English or in Hebrew. They follow this practice in both the Old and New Testaments (though some translations are not complete).- The Scriptures '98 Version (1998)
- Hebraic-Roots Version "New Testament" (2001)
- Hebraic-Roots Version (2004)
- Zikarown Say'fer Memorial Scroll (2004)
- Restoration Scriptures: True Name Edition (2004)
- Sacred Name King James Bible (2005)
- The Seventh Millennium Version (2007)
- The Aramaic English New Testament (2008)
- Abrahamic Faith Nazarene Hebraic Study Scriptures (2010)
- His Name Tanakh (In Progress)
- The Human Instruction Manual (In Progress)
- Halleluyah Scriptures: Free Restored Name Scriptures (2011) A translation copied from the 1993 THE SCRIPTURES, translated by Institute for Scripture Research, with minor changes, and footnotes removed.
- The Besorah (2008)
Limited Sacred Name Bibles
The following versions are those where either "Yahweh" or "Jehovah" is limited to use in the Old Testament. Unlike other Sacred Name Bibles, these are usually published by general publishers.- Young's Literal TranslationYoung's Literal TranslationYoung's Literal Translation is a translation of the Bible into English, published in 1862. The translation was made by Robert Young, compiler of Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible and Concise Critical Comments on the New Testament. Young produced a "Revised Version" of the translation in...
- American Standard VersionAmerican Standard VersionThe Revised Version, Standard American Edition of the Bible, more commonly known as the American Standard Version , is a version of the Bible that was released in 1901...
(1901) - Rotherham's Emphasized BibleEmphasized BibleRotherham's Emphasized Bible is a translation of the Bible that uses various methods, such as "emphatic idiom" and special diacritical marks, to bring out nuances of the underlying Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts...
(1902) - Bible In Basic EnglishBible in Basic EnglishThe Bible In Basic English is a translation of the Bible into Basic English. The BBE was translated by Professor S. H. Hooke using the standard 850 Basic English words. 100 words that were helpful to understand poetry were added along with 50 "Bible" words for a total of 1,000 words total...
(1949/1964) - Amplified BibleAmplified BibleThe Amplified Bible is an English translation of the Bible produced jointly by The Zondervan Corporation and The Lockman Foundation. The first edition was published in 1965. It is largely a revision of the American Standard Version of 1901, with reference made to various texts in the original...
(1954/1987) - New World Translation (1961), and "Jehovah" also in New Testament Old Testament quotes
- Jerusalem BibleJerusalem BibleThe Jerusalem Bible is a Roman Catholic translation of the Bible which first was introduced to the English-speaking public in 1966 and published by Darton, Longman & Todd...
(1966) - Anchor Bible
- New Jerusalem BibleNew Jerusalem BibleThe New Jerusalem Bible is a Roman Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd and Les Editions du Cerf, and edited by the Reverend Henry Wansbrough.- Contents :...
(1985) - New English BibleNew English BibleThe New English Bible is a translation of the Bible into modern English directly from the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts . The New Testament was published in 1961...
(NT 1961, OT 1970) - Living BibleThe Living BibleThe Living Bible is an English version of the Bible created by Kenneth N. Taylor. It was first published in 1971. Unlike most English Bibles, The Living Bible is a paraphrase. Mr...
(1971) - New Living TranslationNew Living TranslationThe New Living Translation is a translation of the Bible into modern English. Originally starting out as an effort to revise The Living Bible, the project evolved into a new English translation from Hebrew and Greek texts...
(1996/2004) - Holman Christian Standard BibleHolman Christian Standard BibleThe Holman Christian Standard Bible is a modern English Bible translation from Holman Bible Publishers. The first full edition was completed in March 2004, with the New Testament alone having been previously published in 1999.- Beginnings :...
(1999/2002) (Sporadically, e.g. Jer. 14:16) - World English BibleWorld English BibleThe World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...
(WEB)
Other
In addition to these English translations, an Indonesian translation produced by the Sacred Name Movement, Kitab Suci, uses Hebraic forms of sacred names in the Old and New Testaments (Soesilo 2001:416), based on Shellabear'sWilliam Shellabear
William Girdlestone Shellabear was a "pioneer" scholar and missionary in Malaysia. He was known for both his appreciation of Muslim society and also his translation of the Bible into the Malay language...
translation. A French translation, by André Chouraqui
André Chouraqui
Nathan André Chouraqui was a French lawyer, writer, scholar and politician.Chouraqui was born in Aïn Témouchent, Algeria...
, also uses Hebraic forms in the Old and New Testaments.
Footnotes in the Bible
Though not Sacred Name Bibles themselves, there are many Bibles which in their footnotes or preface, though not in the scriptural texts, indicate the original Hebrew form of the Tetragrammaton in the Old Testament, but never make any suggestions of the Tetragrammaton being used or hinted at in the New Testament.- The New American Standard BibleNew American Standard BibleThe New American Standard Bible , also informally called New American Standard Version , is an English translation of the Bible....
(1971, updated 1995). - The Bible in Today's English (Good News BibleGood News BibleThe Good News Bible , also called the Good News Translation , is an English language translation of the Bible by the American Bible Society, first published as the New Testament under the name Good News for Modern Man in 1966...
),(1976). In its preface and a footnote to - The New International VersionNew International VersionThe New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:...
(1978 revised 2011). Footnote to - The New King James VersionNew King James VersionThe New King James Version is a modern translation of the Bible published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. The New Testament was published in 1979. The Psalms in 1980. The full Bible was published in 1982. It took a total of 7 years to complete...
(1982), in adds a note: "Hebrew YHWH, traditionally Jehovah" - The God's Word Translation (1985)
- The New Century VersionNew Century VersionThe New Century Version of the Bible is a revision of the International Children's Bible. The ICB was aimed at young readers and those with low reading skills/limited vocabulary in English. It is written at a 3rd grade level and is both conservative and evangelical in tone. The New Testament was...
(1987, revised 1991) - The New International Reader's VersionNew International Reader's VersionThe New International Reader's Version is an English language translation of the Christian Bible. Translated by the International Bible Society on the same philosophy as the New International Version, but written in a simpler form of English, the NIRV seeks to make the Bible more accessible for...
(1995) - The English Standard VersionEnglish Standard VersionThe English Standard Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It is a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version...
(2001). Footnote to
External links
- The Restoration Study Bible online Yahweh's Restoration Ministry