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This website uses simplified, non-academic transliterations of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Those who can't read the original alphabets need to know how to simply pronounce the words. The academic symbols are too complicated and put barriers before general readers. The transcription symbols are also impossible to reproduce with HTML codes. In time, as the Unicode system becomes the standard character set for all browsers, such symbols can be easily displayed and read. But even then it will be necessary for readers to learn a whole new script to interpret the transliterations. My suggestion for those who want transliterated editions of the Hebrew Bible or Greek New Testament is, instead, to learn some Hebrew and Greek. Using crutches prevents confident, independent walking. The investment of a little money and time will last a lifetime. Here are reliable books (pick one for each language). The old classics are marked *: • J. Weingreen. A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew *
Hebrew & Aramaic
See the table of academic and non-academic symbols: Hebrew & Aramaic Transliteration (PDF). See the table of three transliterated passages from the Hebrew Bible: Numbers 6:22–27, Isaiah 55:8–11, Psalms 103:8–14 (PDF). See Aaron's Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) (HTML) in Hebrew, English, and English transliteration. Compare the Dead Sea (Qumran) Scroll Scripts (HTML) for alphabetic samples of ancient scribal art. Compare the text of Isaiah 40:3 (PDF) in Qumran, Medieval, and Modern Hebrew scripts. Consider the spellings and uses of the divine name, HaShem (YHVH), and its substitutions (Adonai, Adonim), and the ancient scribal renderings of The Name at Qumran (PDF). See the page on the Hebrew roots of the name "Jesus." Consider the Messianic Kiddush in Hebrew, English transliteration and translation. [Top]
Greek See the table of Koiné Greek Transliteration (PDF).
Hebrew & Greek Fonts
Online Hebrew Bibles [Top]
Certain Proper Names Some "Hebrew roots" or "Sacred Name" websites promote the name "Yahshua," instead of "Yeshua." But there is no linguistic or historical validity for that spelling. Other groups promote the form "Y'shua." But it is incorrect because it assumes there is a sheva under the yod, though throughout the Hebrew Bible and in Modern Hebrew NTs the name has a tzerei under the yod, thus "e"; Ezra 3:2; Neh 8:17. This site also employs the word Messiah in place of Christ. Christ comes into English from the Greek Christos, an adjectival noun used in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) for men and things that were "anointed." In the Greek New Testament, (the) Christos became so linked with Yeshua that it began to serve as a proper name. "Messiah" itself is an Anglicized (English) form of the Greek word Messias which is a Hellenized form of the Hebrew word Mashiach, and possibly the Aramaic Meshichah.Thus:
1 Used only at John 1:41; 4:25
No Magic, Just Restored Links I want to use Hebrew names in order to reestablish broken connections between the two parts of Scripture and modern English-speakers. There is a wealth of untapped spiritual truth and blessing when the New Testament (especially) is re-Hebrewized. [Top]
Jewish Apostles Not Wanted (in Church) (1) James. There is no linguistic basis for English Bibles to use the name "James." The Greek New Testament spells his name either as Yakob or Yakobos (Hellenized form); both of which simply imitate the Hebrew name Ya'akov ("Jacob"). Neither the Hebrew nor Greek forms of the name have an "m" or "e," so the English "James" is not linguistically related. Given the long history of anti-Judaism in the medieval English church, it's easy to see why "Jacob" would be offensive to Christians. There was no way a key apostle, brother of Jesus, and author of a Christian epistle, would ever be allowed to bear the name "Jacob" in an English NT. So translators invented a solution. They simply substituted "James" (the name of several English kings) in place of "Yakob" in their NTs. (2) Jude. The short letter of Jude is a different case. His NT Greek name is spelled "Youda" and "Youdas." In the Middle Ages the English name "Jude" was pronounced "Yudeh." The "j" was spoken as "y" and "e" was voiced. Youda is a shortened Hellenized form of the Hebrew "Yehudah" ("Judah"). In Nazi Germany, the yellow Jewish stars were emblazoned with the name "Jude" — pronounced in English "Yudeh." The early English translators weren't trying to Gentilize Jude's Jewish name. The pronunciation, not the spelling, simply changed over the centuries and inadvertently obscured a Hebrew/Jewish original. [Top]
Discussed: For passages in the Hebrew Bible, I check with the NJV (New Jewish Version). This is actually the Jewish Publication Society's Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures (1985), which is a revision of the JPS The Holy Scriptures of 1917. NJV is quite readable (better than the Protestant NASB), but it masks much of the Hebrew and Aramaic substrata by being too idiomatic. And at times it deliberately diverts (Jewish) readers away from making possible Christian interpretations. Like some Christian translations, it is a theologically-protected document, not a free rendering of the original. I have not spent time with the recent translations of Everett Fox (The Five Books of Moses, 2000) or Robert Alter (The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary, 2004; The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 & 2 Samuel, 2000). Unlike the devotees of German higher criticism, Alter believes the Torah is a cohesive literary unity. Early Jewish versions in English: The Holy Bible by Rabbi Isaac Lesser (1806–1868) was the first American Jewish translation of the Hebrew Bible (1845). That same year Leeser founded the Jewish Publication Society in Philadelphia. In 1917 the Society put out its committee-done The Holy Scriptures, which mirrored the Elizabethan dialect and renderings of the King James Version Old Testament of 1611. This is not a surprise, since the KJV was then the standard Bible in the English-speaking world. In 1905 the Hebrew Publication Society of New York put out Joseph Magil's Linear School Bible. It's a 2-column parallel Hebrew/English Torah (Chumash) for high school students. (It was my first Hebrew Bible.) [Top]
Discussed: Because the articles on this website focus on more literal translation of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words, it is important to use what is called a "direct" or "transparent" translation of the Bible in English. In some cases, I provide my own translations and mark them so. But I usually follow a standard English translation available to all. Of those in print I've found the New American Standard Bible (NASB) to be the most "direct." Originally published in stages in 1960–73, it was updated in 1995 and the editors removed its Elizabethan "thine's" and "thou's." It's often criticized for being too literal, mechanical or wooden. This can be true. But it's much easier to tell what lies behind it in the original texts. I don't always agree with its translations or its capitalization of certain words. Nor do I always accept its editors' choices of Greek manuscript readings. And when I quote from it I substitute "Messiah" for "Christ" and "Yeshua" for "Jesus" in most passages. But overall the NASB-1995 Update is superior, and its editors weren't bending to politico-cultural pressures. Currently, the most popular translation among Protestant evangelicals is the New International Version (NIV) (1973, rev. 1984). It uses "dynamic equivalence" or "thought-for-thought" instead of "direct" translation methodology. It's easy to comprehend, but you can't always decipher what the underlying Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek wording is. And many times the editors impose doctrinal opinions that aren't supported by the original. In my opinion, it isn't as useful for language or indepth theological studies. The NIV's new face is Today's NIV (TNIV, 2002). One good thing about the TNIV is that it often uses the name "Messiah," "where the term is clearly used to designate the God-sent deliverer of Jewish expectation (primarily in the Gospels and Acts)" [from Introduction]. Most other Protestant and Catholic translations do not use "Messiah" in place of "Christ." [Top]
One-Person Versions Joseph Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible (1872-1902). He was one of the first translators to consistently use the ineffable name of God ("Yahweh") in his Old Testament portion. He also pointed out a theological bias in older English versions involving "Holy Spirit" versus "Holy Ghost." Arthur Way, The Letters of Paul with the Letter to the Hebrews (1901). A British scholar of Classical Greek, Way used the name "Messiah" instead of "Christ" because (as he wrote) "it tends to bring the modern reader nearer to the attitude of the ancient." David H. Stern, The Jewish New Testament and The Complete Jewish Bible: An English Translation of the Tanakh and B'rit Hadasha. Dr. Stern is an Israeli Messianic translator who employs spellings, terms, and phrases familiar to Jewish readers. For example: Yeshua, Messiah, Adonai, Torah, talmidim, P'rushim, shabbat, Pesach. Though his work is a paraphrase, it reminds readers that the New Testament came from a Jewish world context, not a Western European one. [Top]
Discussed:
• The Greek New Testament (UBS) Hebrew Bible Texts Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim (Jerusalem: Koren Publishing, 1983). Beautiful Hebrew font. This is also available with a facing English translation and is published as The Jerusalem Bible (not to be confused with the version of the same name by Roman Catholic scholars). Verify if it is by "Koren." It is the Masoretic or traditional text, with major marginal variants found in the Masorah (e.g., changes done by the Soferim). The Jewish Publication Society also has a Hebrew-English edition using the Koren text and its own 1985 Tanakh. Biblia Hebraica Leningradensia (the Leningrad Codex or "L"; the oldest dated ms. of the complete Hebrew Bible; edited by Aron Dotan; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2001). This is not a photographic reproduction, but a reprinting of the text with modern Hebrew fonts. It's an excellent desk tool, and it's much cheaper than BHS (next entry). Hendrickson recently published it with the King James Version on facing pages, which is not very helpful to those learning Hebrew, as the KJV is 400 years old. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (an eclectic edition for text critical issues; edited by Elliger, Rudolph, & Weil; 5th edition; Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1997). It's the standard reference in academic biblical studies. It contains variants from non-Masoretic Hebrew manuscripts, as well as variants in the Qumran biblical scrolls, the Septuagint, Samaritan, Syriac and Latin texts. [Available from The Bible Society >Buy Bibles>Academic Resources>Hebrew Bible] [Top]
Interlinear Hebrew-English Editions Currently (2008) there are two popular interlinears available in English. The Hebrew words have literal English word translations underneath and an English translation in the margin (KJV or NIV). John R. Kohlenberger III, Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing, 1993). One volume, 2,340 pages. Based on the Hebrew text of BHS, including variant readings and textual conjectures in the footnotes. Has the New International Version (NIV). Jay P. Green, The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-Greek-English (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2005). 976 pages. Based on the Masoretic text. The words are keyed to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. The print is much smaller than Kohlenberger and the translation is not as accurate. Volume also contains a Linear Greek New Testament. But the most reliable interlinear New Testament was done by the late Alfred Marshall, a British scholar. His original 1959 editon has been republished and printed as The Interlinear NASB–NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987).
Modern Hebrew Bibles in the Works Scholars have been working on the Hebrew University Bible (HUB) for decades. It incorporates scriptural readings from previously untapped text sources (Cairo Geniza, rabbinic literature). The books of Isaiah and Jeremiah were published in 1995 and 1997 by Magnes Press at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, though their website strangely does not list them. Under the auspices of the German Bible Society, a consortium of scholars has been working on the Biblica Hebraica Quinta (BHQ), which will succeed the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS). Currently only the books of Deuteronomy, Megilloth (Five Scrolls), Ezra-Nehemiah, and a series Introduction are available. (These volumes are expensive and are available from The Bible Society >Buy Bibles>Academic Resources>Hebrew Texts.) A translation of the Hebrew Bible into Modern Hebrew is also in the works in Israel. Surprising? Israelis read the ancient Hebrew as well as most English speakers can read Shakespeare. (And few English speakers today could fluently read an original edition of the 1611 King James Version because of its spellings. KJVs published recently have been modernized in many ways throughout.) [Top]
Greek New Testament The Greek New Testament (4th revised edition; edited by B. Aland, K. Aland, B. Metzger, et al.; Stuttgart: German Bible Society and United Bible Society, 2007). Used primarily by translators. Contains many new features over previous editions. [Available from The Bible Society >Buy Bibles>Academic Resources]. The 5th edition is currently (Feb. 2008) in the works. Novum Testamentum Graece (27th edition; 8th corrected edition w/ papyri 99-116 added; edited by E. Nestle, K. Aland, et al.; Stuttgart: German Bible Society). The standard academic reference. [Available from The Bible Society >Buy Bibles>Academic Resources]. The 28th edition is currently (Feb. 2008) in the works.
Modern Hebrew translations of the New Testament [from Greek originals] Isaac Salkinson (1820–1883), HaBrit HaHadashah (1883, edited by C. D. Ginsburg) (out of print). A Jew from Belorussia, he "converted to Christianity" at the age of 29. "Despite his conversion Salkinson regarded himself as a Jew. . . . He believed [Hebrew] should replace Latin as the sacred language of Christianity" (Encyclopædia Judaica 14:687). Franz Delitzsch (1813–1890), HaBrit HaHadashah (ten editions from 1877–1890; available bound with Hebrew Bible/OT text from United Bible Societies). German Protestant theologian, Bible and Judaica scholar. HaBrit HaHadashah (1976, revised 1991; The Bible Society in Israel, PO Box 44, Jerusalem 91000). Israelis have told me this version uses more basic vocabulary and literary style than does Delitzsch, and is similar to English versions such as the Good News Bible or The Living Bible. [Available bound with BHS Hebrew Bible from The Bible Society >Buy Bibles>Academic Resources>Hebrew Bible (Next page).]
You may purchase many of the above named books using our Hebrew Streams/Amazon.com link, at no additional cost. [Top]
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