Although it was the New Testament writers who first "Greco-sized" their fellow Jews' names, most of the biblical names we know today went through most of their transformation during their centuries of "exile" in Europe. Whatever the reasons were for all of these changes, we can now reconnect those original Hebrew names with our faith today. Finally, biblical names - the way they heard them!
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Traditional English
Pronunciation
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True Hebrew Pronunciation
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| Jesus (JEE-zus) a.k.a. Joshua | Y'shua (ye-SHUA) |
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Simon Peter
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Shimon Kefa (shee-MON KEh-fah)
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James, a.k.a. Jacob
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Ya'akov (YAH-kov)
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Bartholomew
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Bartalmai (Bar-Taal-Maayee)
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Thomas (TOM-us)
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Toma (TOW-ma)
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Matthew (MAT-thew)
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Mattityahu (ma-tit-YAH-hoo)
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Thaddaeus
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Taddai
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Saul
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Sha'ul (shah-OOL)
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Moses (MO-zus)
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Moshe (MO-sheh)
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Jeremiah (je-re-MY-uh)
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Yirmiyahu (yeer-mee-YA-hoo)
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Isaiah (eye-ZAY-uh)
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Yeshayahu (ye-sha-YA-hoo)
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Ezekiel
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Yechezkel
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Samuel
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Shmuel (shmoo-EL)
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Isaac (EYE-zik)
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Yitzchak (YEETZ-chaak)
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Lazarus (LAZ-uh-russ)
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E'lazar
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Joseph
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Yoseph
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Mary
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Miriam
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Judas, a.k.a. Judah
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Yehuda (ye-HOO-da)
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