"Name" -- Part Two -- New Testament Names
In an earlier article, we discussed how the Greek word for “name,” onoma, was an identifier used in a culture where personal reputation was more important that it is today. However, it was also a culture where duplicate formal names were very common. In this article, we focus on how these differences affect the names we see in the English Bible. In the translation of names, we wouldn’t expect to see the common problems of converting from one language to another, but we do.
We can understand the Gospel writers’ desire to use formal names because of the importance of those names in family lineage. In Jesus’s era, people know the formal names of their forebearers. The nature of a name as a reputation made lineage more important at that time because reputation was passed from generation to generation.
The Weirdest Translation
The worst mistake is translating a name as something completely unrelated to its meaning. Names, like all words, have a meaning. Many of these meanings come from history, in this case, Judean history. Yet, the name we read as “James,” the name of two apostles is unrelated to their monikers. What was that name? “Jacob.” One of the most important names in Judean history, the original name of Israel, from whom the people were all descended.
Nor is this name’s translation consistent. The Greek word for both is Iakob (Ἰακώβ). When Iakob is translated as referring to the Old Testament figure, it becomes “Jacob.” Only when it is translated to refer to New Testament figures is it translated as “James.”
Nor is “James” the closest English name to “Jacob.” If the Gospel translators wanted to separate New and Old Testament “Jacobs,” “Jack,” would have been better. You have probably already figured out the reason for the use of “James.” What is the first English Bible called? The King “James” Version. If it had been created during the reign of King Henry, some apostles probably would have ended up named “Henry,” no matter what their real name was.
The Duplicates
In Judea, many of the people shared the same “first” names. Why? Many men shared the names of the sons of the Hasmonean (Maccabees), the family who won back Judea from their Greek rulers. The names Simon, Judah, John, and Matthew were all Hasmonean. Among his followers, Jesus had two Simons, two Jacobs, and two Judahs. Jacob was also the name of the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. There were also two Johns, John the Apostle and John the Baptist.
Then we had the female name, “Mary.” In the New Testament, there are seven women named “Mary”: the mother of Jesus, Magdalene, the wife of Clopas, the wife of Alphaeus, the mother of James and Joses, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and the mother of Mark. The mother of Jesus and the mother of James and Joses could be the same person. The wife of Clopas, and the wife of Alphaeus could also be the same person, and she could be the mother of James and Joses. Some claim that one of these Marys was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. To me, this seems unlikely because it would lead to constant confusion within the famil.,
Why so many Marys? They were named after the last member of the Hasmonean dynasty, the wife of Herod the Great named Mariamne, “Maria” for short. The actual Greek name was Maria (Μαρία) as it is in most countries today. Mariamne was said to be the most beautiful woman of the era.
There were probably even more duplications than we can know from the text of the Bible. As discussed, some of the names used there were not the individual’s given names, but untranslated descriptions. Since a “name” was a person’s reputation, unique identifiers were necessary, if only to simplify the work of the local gossips or, as we call them today, “news broadcasters.” Events in the New Testament often become confusing because the Gospel writers used people’s formal names rather than what they were called on a daily basis. We can see this confusion, for example, when trying to figure out which and how many Marys were at the crucifixion.
Relationship Names
People were often identified by their relationships with others. If a person grew up in a village, the most common way of separating them from others with the same name was using their father’s name. This is, of course, the source of many English last names: Johnson, Peterson, and so on. Simon Peter was known as Simon Barjona, that is, Simon, the son of Jonah. Nathanael was also known as Bartholomew, the Son of Thomas. the “bar” in both of these names is the untranslated Aramaic word meaning “the son of.”
Women often came into their village by marriage. So, they were known by their husband’s names. One Mary is described as the wife of Clopas, another as the wife of Alphaeus. Some claim that Clopas and Alphaeus are the same person with both a Greek and Aramaic name. This is unlikely, but people did have Aramaic names and Greek nicknames.
Nicknames
Simon nicknamed Peter is the best known, but other names that we read are actually not names as all, but nicknames. It is likely that, in terms of day-to-day use, these nicknames were preferred to their formal names because they were more unique. Technically, Peter” is an untranslated Greek word, but that word is a name. The Greek word translated as “Peter” is petros (Πέτος). This is not the word for “rock,” as we are told. The Greek word “rock” is a feminine noun petra, (πέτρα). The name of Peter is a masculine version used as a nickname, much like the modern nickname of “Rocky.”
The name “Thomas” is also not a name, but a nickname. in Aramaic, it means “Twin.” The apostle, “Thomas,” also had a Greek nickname, Didymus, which means “twin” in Greek. This means that Bartholomew as a son of Thomas was the son of a twin.
Another common nickname was the place name describing the village when a person was born. The most famous of these is, of course, Mary Magdalene. This identified her as coming from the fishing village of Magdala. In daily use, she was more likley called “Magdalene” than “Mary.” Judas, who was actually one of the many "Judahs,” was known as “Iscariot,” which describes him as from Kerioth.
Nicknames also came from association with various groups and activities. Simon the Zealot is an example of a group member. John the Baptist was associated with a unusual activity, where “baptist” is an untranslated Greek word that means “dunker.” In daily use, “Simon” was probably called “Zealot” and "John,” “Dunker.” because those names were more unique. Naming after activities is common through history. If the village ironsmith carried a common name, he was likely known as “Smithy,” the source of our last name, “Smith.”
The Importance of Uniqueness
Many people today have the same first name, but we have last names that identify us. Personal identity as a reputation was even more important in Jesus’s era so it required ways to uniquely identify people in the absence of last names. However, the Gospel’s use of formal names, rather than people’s day-to-day nicknames makes identification of people difficult.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Jesus’s formal name was not “Jesus.” It was actually “Joshua.” “Jesus” is from the Greek Iesous (Ἰησοῦς). This is the same name used in the Greek Old Testament for the leader, Joshua. The mane we call “Jesus” was know as “Joshua” to those who heard him. As I said, names have historical meaning. Historically, Joshua led people into the promised land. This historical echo is lost in translation.