# Why the different names in the old to new testament's?



## Free Christian (Sep 27, 2013)

Hi everyone. Here's something I have sometimes wondered about. In the King James you have names that change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Like in Mathew 2 v 17 it is Jeremy instead of Jeremiah? Or in Mathew 11v 14 it is Elias instead of Elijah?
Why was this done please?


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## PuritanCovenanter (Sep 27, 2013)

That is a question I have never heard before. I always assumed it had to do with transliteration. One being from Hebrew and the other being from Greek. Another example would be Joshua is Hebrew and Jesus is Greek.

Transliteration refers to the method of mapping from one system of writing to another based on phonetic similarity.


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## Free Christian (Sep 27, 2013)

Thanks Randy. It has often made me wonder. Its not a problem with me concerning the King James, just that I am curious about it as it stands out at me each time I read a passage that has that. For some reason I find myself when reading out aloud, say in a Bible reading at home with my wife, saying Jeremiah instead of Jeremy. Or I might first read Jeremy then follow it with Jeremiah! Finding myself doing that I suppose has prompted me to ask the question.


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## Peairtach (Sep 28, 2013)

You also have John instead of Johannan, Jude instead of Judah, Timothy instead of Timotheus, etc.


How Jacob became James is quite an interesting study.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk 2


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## irresistible_grace (Sep 28, 2013)

When I raised a similar question I found the responses helpful...
http://www.puritanboard.com/f63/booz-jeremy-77340/
You might want to take a look at that thread (less than 20 post)


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## Free Christian (Sep 28, 2013)

Thanks for the link to that post Jessica. It helped. It would be helpful also perhaps after all this if in the front of the KJV's that are printed these days there was a page explaining that with the name changes. For people like myself that are left wondering. Some may think it an insignificant thing but it would make things easier. Especially for those without the means to find out why like I did here.
Thanks again.


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## MichaelNZ (Sep 29, 2013)

Even the English forms of many Biblical names differ to the actual Hebrew. Isaac, for instance, is 'Yitz'khak' in Hebrew, Rebekah is 'Rivkah' and the Hebrew form of Isaiah is 'Yesha'yahu'. If you use a Messianic Jewish translation such as the Complete Jewish Bible you will find the names transliterated from the original Hebrew.

Here is Genesis 35:22-26 from the Complete Jewish Bible:

"Ya‘akov had twelve sons. The sons of Le’ah were Re’uven Ya‘akov’s firstborn, Shim‘on, Levi, Y’hudah, Yissakhar and Z’vulun. The sons of Rachel were Yosef and Binyamin. The sons of Bilhah Rachel’s slave-girl were Dan and Naftali. And the sons of Zilpah Le’ah’s slave-girl were Gad and Asher. These were Ya‘akov’s sons, born to him in Paddan-Aram."


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## Free Christian (Oct 2, 2013)

It is funny how a name can be in another language. I had a friend years ago who was Yugoslav and could never pronounce my name so called me Barretta.


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