Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Americans really thinking the Messiah Christ had an English name

King James Version of the Bible
King James Version of the Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is incredible how many Anglophone people we encounter who really think the Messiah had an English name.

We even find Americans like Dan Popp who find it foolishness that Americans don't need to learn anything about the Jewish history or culture, and find it ridiculous that there are folks who go around substituting "Yeshua" for "Jesus". He thinks they are are  not just harmless know-nothings, but it may be that they're trying to re-Jewify something that God has made universal.

He is afraid that the "Yeshua" people are in the process of falling into the first error – trying to mash up Law and Grace.

He really seem to think all the New Testament authors wrote "Jesus" rather than "Yeshua" in the Holy Scriptures. This gives the impression that he is really convinced that the Greek writers used the English translation for the real name of the Nazarene man who gave his life for all living people.

He also does not seem to see that the Apostles wrote "Yeshua" or "Jeshua" in modern spelling or in the spelling of other languages (like in English, Dutch, French) He also seem to think that the master teacher whom he considers also to be God gave Simon Bar-Jonah a Greek name but says it was "Peter". Peter is not at all a Greek name and in other languages we may find his name also be translated as "Peter" but totally differently pronounced than English speaking people do. In other languages they may say Petrus, which Paul freely converted to its Hebrew form, Cephas.

Then Dan Popp says
 No such translation was ever done with the name of Christ in the New Testament. {It's Jesus, not Yeshua}
He also does seem to forget how the names where altered at the time of Constantine, whose real name was also  not Constantine but Constantinus. Though lots of English people do want all other people having the name how they want to pronounce it in their language.

In 325 was decided to agree to let the God of the followers of Christ be part of the godcircle of the Romans and the Greek. some also started to consider Jesus as a god and as such several could agree for a three headed god like in the Roman and Greek culture. those who wanted the Nazarene teacher to be their god did find they had to be the 'upper god' and as such was chosen for the name 'Hail Zeus' or 'Issou' which you can find in many translations of the Scriptures. This Issou became in several languages Jesu or Chesu and in English first Iesus and later Jesus.

Dan Popp questions:
What if God wanted to present His Son as more than just the parochial savior of the Jews? What if He wanted to impart more than the mere sound of the name – what if He wished the Gentile listener to understand the meaning of the name ("The Salvation of Yahweh" or "Yahweh is Salvation.") What if He wanted to crush faux Jews who run around gushing about "Yeshua?" {It's Jesus, not Yeshua}
Again he does not seem to see what Jeshua or Joshua really means and what Issou or Iéssou really means. Jehovah saves, or that the child was given the name as signification, like Joshua, that God was  with it and which parents gave also to honour the God Who brought salvation. Jehovah God is the One God of gods Who took care that this child was born. He was it Who demanded to give the child the name Jeshua and not 'Hail Zeus' or Jesus.

Dan Popp writes further:
So, back to the Yeshua-ites. If the Holy Spirit knows Christ best, never makes a mistake, and has a purpose (though it may be obscure to us) for identifying the Second Person of the Trinity as "Jesus," what kind of malfunction would we be experiencing to try to correct Him? {It's Jesus, not Yeshua}
Here again we do see that he does not want to accept what the Holy Spirit brings over to the world. Nowhere in the Bible you shall find the word 'Holy Trinity', neither shall you be finding that there is a three-godhead, or three-union god. Clearly in the Bible is indicated that God is an eternal Spirit who can not be seen by man and Who does not tell lies. that God told clearly about that man in the river Jordan who was seen by many, that it was his son. God never told it was Him standing there. God also told he could not be tempted, but after his baptism Jesus was tempted more than once. did Popp's god make than mistakes or said confusing things, though Popp himself says that the Holy Spirit, Who is God, does not make mistakes.

Could it not be that lots of Americans and lots of English speaking people are mistaken to think that all those Biblical characters had English names?

The translation of names happened. So we do not say it has to be turned back. But we have to be honest and have to accept that the characters in the time of Jesus did not have English names and even did not speak English at all. Therefore English people should also accept that others use the real name of those characters or even also use translations to their language of those characters. Also for the way of writing the English people should accept that the way of writing the sounds has changed by the time passing and that we may accept a new modern spelling, but always shave to remind of the old ways.

It is the same for lots of English speaking people who contestate that only the King James version is the True Bible and is the only bible which should be used, as if in the other language or even in English there is no other right translation. Typically of those who so strongly debate for the only use of the King James version is that they often use one of the man versions and never use the original King James translation. And what for use would it be to use the old first translation to reach people and to get them interested in the word of God?

But let us remember that in that Bible is clearly written that there is only One true God and that Jeshua (Iesus or Jesus) is His only begotten son.
Isa 42:8 KJV-1611  I am the Lord; that is my name, and my glory will I not giue to another, neither my praise to grauen images.
Exo 20:7 KJV-1611  Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vaine: for the Lord will not holde him guiltlesse, that taketh his Name in vaine.
Luk 1:30-35 KJV-1611  And the Angel said vnto her, Feare not, Marie, for thou hast found fauour with God.  (31)  And behold, thou shalt conceiue in thy wombe, and bring forth a sonne, and shalt call his name Iesus.  (32)  He shall be great, and shall be called the sonne of the Highest, and the Lord God shall giue vnto him the throne of his father Dauid.  (33)  And hee shall reigne ouer the house of Iacob for euer, and of his kingdome there shall be no end.  (34)  Then said Marie vnto the Angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?  (35)  And the Angel answered and said vnto her, The holy Ghost shall come vpon thee, and the power of the Highest shall ouershadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall bee borne of thee, shall bee called the sonne of God.
 Luk 3:21-23 KJV-1611  Now when all the people were baptized, and it came to passe that Iesus also being baptized, and praying, the heauen was opened:  (22)  And the holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a Doue vpon him, and a voice came from heauen, which said, Thou art my beloued sonne, in thee I am well pleased.  (23)  And Iesus himselfe began to be about thirty yeeres of age, being (as was supposed) the sonne of Ioseph, which was the sonne of Heli,

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Find the article spoken off:  It's Jesus, not Yeshua

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Thursday 4 April 2013

Christadelphians or Messianic Christians or Messianic Jews

File:Thoerl Pfarrkirche St Andrae Passion 15 Auferstehung 08022013 276.jpg

Those who believe in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, should accept that at first he was dead. When he would not have died, his standing up from his position in the grave would not be so spectacular or so important for humankind.

God can not die because He is an eternal spirit, which mean He did not have a beginning, no mother where He came from, and has no end, shall never die.

Some centuries ago God His Voice came down from heaven and said about the Nazarene man Jesus, who was been baptised by his nephew John the Baptist: "This is my beloved son."

And having been immersed, יהושע (Jehsua) went up immediately from the water, and see, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of Elohim descending like a dove and coming upon Him, and see, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I did delight.”
(Matthew 3:16-17 The Scriptures 1998+)
“See, My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My being did delight. I shall put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall declare right-ruling to the nations. “He shall not strive nor cry out, nor shall anyone hear His voice in the streets. “A crushed reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench, till He brings forth right-ruling forever.1 Footnote: 1This is according to the Shem-Tob Hebrew text. However, this passage is a quote from Isa. 42:1-3 where it reads right-ruling unto truth. “And the nations shall trust in His Name.”
(Matthew 12:18-21 The Scriptures 1998+)
We should trust in the name of Jesus, the son of man and son of David, who said he could do nothing without his Father, who is greater than him.

But  יהושע {Jeshua}answered them, “My Father works until now, and I work.” Because of this, then, the Yehudwere seeking all the more to kill Him, ‘because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He also called Elohim His own Father, making Himself equal with Elohim.’ Therefore יהושע {Jeshua} responded and said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is able to do none at all by Himself, but only that which He sees the Father doing, because whatever He does, the Son also likewise does. “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all that He Himself does. And greater works than these He is going to show Him, in order that you marvel. “For as the Father raises the dead and makes alive, even so the Son makes alive whom He wishes. “For the Father judges no one, but has given all the judgment to the Son, that all should value the Son even as they value the Father. He who does not value the Son does not value the Father who sent Him. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me possesses everlasting life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of Elohim. And those having heard shall live. “For as the Father possesses life in Himself, so He gave also to the Son to possess life in Himself, and He has given Him authority also to do judgment, because He is the Son of Aḏam.
(John 5:17-27 The Scriptures 1998+)
Wherever you may live, whichever language you may speak and in which culture you were brought up shall determine how you shall  pronounce the name of that Nazarene man יהושע :  Jeshua, Jehushua, Issoua,  Issou, Jesus (in different tongues with different sounds), Jezus, Chesu, Isi, etc..

What is most important, though we know that the name "Jesus" comes from "Hail Zeus" and was not the proper name of the Messiah, though we still use it know because it is the most common known form to indicate that man who is called son of God who is the promised Messiah.

This Messiah bit is very important. Accepting that the Nazarene, born in Bethlehem, from the tribe of David, is the promised Saviour, the Christos (Christus) or Christ.

When Jesus was alive he gave already the task to go out and preach in his name. After his death, he was resurrected by God and was some time again with his disciples.
And the eleven taught ones went away into Galil, to the mountain which  יהושע {Jeshua} had appointed for them. And when they saw Him, they bowed to Him, but some doubted. And יהושע {Jeshua} came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Therefore, go and make taught ones of all the nations, immersing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Set-apart Spirit, teaching them to guard all that I have commanded you. And see, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Am
(Matthew 28:16-20 The Scriptures 1998+)
Those who would like to follow יהושע {Jeshua}and share his love with each other should feel as brethren and sisters. They should get to know the teachings of Jeshua or Jesus Christ and keep to them.

Getting to know those teachings comprehends also getting to know the Torah or the Law of God, because to Jesus this Law was sanctified. Also for us this Law should be set-apart or holy. the Word of God should be what we want to follow like Jesus followed the Word of God and did not want to do something different than the Will of God.

When you follow the Messiah or you then a Messianic?  a Messianic Jew or a Messianic Christian?

Are you following  main Christianism? Are we following main Christianism?

Brethren and sisters in Christ do want to 'be in Christ'; Carry the armour of Christ. They do not want to accept the Holy Trinity and other dogmatic teachings of many Christian denominations.

It may look like those small groups of fraternal Christians do want to reform the traditional teachings. (?)

The Christadelphians dare to challenge the idea’s of their present reality in light of the ancient paths. For we are to restore the ancient paths. We are truly seeking a restoration of the ancient paths. We are not truly intending to Reform “Christianity” or “Catholicism.”

In case our goal would be Reformation we will fail by remaining connected to those institutions that refuse to change or jeopardize their mission, message or money trail. To see the Restoration of the Kingdom of David and help usher in the Millenial Kingdom, we must Repair the breach, Rebuild that which is fallen, and Restore that which is lost. Our goal should be to keep Covenant Fidelity. That way we may usher in the Messianic Redemption.

As such some may consider us as "messianic people" and we should say that we believe strongly in the messianic message and the return of Christ  to install the Kingdom of God. Our eyes are directed to that return of Christ, in which we have put our hopes.

Mankind wants freedom from oppression  Our goal should be liberation with respect and co-operation with willing parties. We must engage in healthy and academic dialogue but never to the demise of doctrine or tenant of this intended revolution. Christadelphians do not love doctrinal teachings. We are liberated by Christ, so we should not look for boundaries by people in this world today.

We must not make doctrines out of our frustration with the reality of this world which loves traditions or out of pressure from these institutions. We should not close our eyes for them or do if they do not exist any more. No, they are a everyday reality, which we have to consider. All the gentiles we have to try to reach, and we better do that in a language they understand. But that does not mean that we may not try to open their eyes for other languages and other traditions. By showing how we understand the world and understand the Words in the Holy Scriptures, we can get them also to learn new names, terms and let them see what is really written in the Bible and what the Will of God is.

We have to embrace that we are all together different, but also that our mission is different. There mission is the simple message of salvation, the entry point of the discussion. We seek to teach the full journey into discipleship under the Messiah Christ Jesus (Jeshua) as well as the study of sacred text in a scholarly fashion.

We seek unity in identity and fellowship with like-minded believers who accept Jesus for what he is. We also want to follow those things the Jew Jesus thought were important to do, had to and have to be done.

Those living in a country where we have contacts with many Jews, like in Belgium and Holland, should open their arm to them and dare to use the words Jesus spoke and the Jews today still use as well. Having several nationalities with different languages we should be prepared to offer the Bible in their language and use words which are commonly understood by many of them.
For that reason it is also often better not to translate names of persons and places into your own language but use the name of the person or the place how he or she is really called.

In Belgium we do have to encounter so many languages that sometimes we prefer to use the most common name for the different languages, which may mean that we do not use the English word, because out of English their are many more languages spoken by our brethren and sisters. In our country we do have to come to consensus and try to use also names which can be understood by those we do want to reach, no Christians and the many Muslims (25% of the population). Offering writings which names which are also familiar for them can bring them to know more about those persons and to see them in a different light than their own traditional Islamic teachings.

When we use the Islamic names or the Jewish names that does not mean we are Muslim or Jew, but we cannot detract from the roots many of our inhabitants have. Language is a means to communicate and we should try to communicate with as much people as possible, bringing over the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

As lovers of Jesus and lovers of God, we should be lovers of all those around us, no matter from which origin they may be, or whatever language they may speak. We have to go to them and reach them in a language they might understand and could be able to learn to talk about the same things with others.

We should make room for the process in love, or charity and grace.

Is there is an expression of faith in the Jewish Mashiach or Messiah, unconnected to Jewish expression, do we endorse it or allow it? Of course we allow it, we can’t stop it. We should seek to set up our own revolution in uniqueness and covenant fidelity while engaging the realities in our lives in ministries.

We should avoid the ostrich with its head in the ground mindsets. We should watch the News with bible in hand as the saying goes. We are living in this world, so we can not avoid being elements in this world who have to take in consideration what happens.

To others we may let them see we are ordinary citizens, people like 'you and me'. People who have their ups and downs, but who are willing to help each other to make the best of this life in the world we do have to live in.

As long as Jesus did not return we should take care of all around us so that they can come to get to know Jesus the Messiah and his Father, the Only One God, Jehovah the Elohim.

The Jews are the chosen people by God. They shall inherit the Land of God. By the death of Christ all people from all sorts, cultures, countries, became partakers of the Grace and can become partakers of the promise made to Abraham, looking forward to the Kingdom of God.

That we all make sure that we shall be able to enter that small gate, as brethren and sisters in Christ.

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Read also:

Not all christians are followers of a Greco-Roman culture

Friday 2 December 2011

November 2011 Articles to read

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In the
Weekly World Watch 30th Oct - 5th Nov 2011‏ Preparations are under way to attack Iran. What will Israel and America do? > CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEKS WWW

6th - 12th Nov 2011‏ Still not sure if Israel attack Iran ... Speculation mounts that they will.... CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEKS WWW

13th - 19th Nov 2011‏ It's all talk of war - even nuclear.... CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEKS WWW

20th - 26th Nov 2011‏
Syria threatens Israel...
CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEKS WWW

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The last few weeks we can see that more social workers do come under attack and that older people do become more fragile in their environment. In several countries the home carers are independent, voluntary, or working in the not-for-profit and statutory sectors who are under grated and not as such respected for what they have to do. A model for monitoring the supply and demand of social workers in England was been made public at the National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCAS) in October > Home care industry not valued.
The financial markets got out of hands and pulled down many countries.Several people felt it in their pocket and found it high time to react.  Many got panicking over the state of the economy and the effect it might have on their money if the country’s banking system would collapse and went to collect their money, which made it worse. collapses While some people thought it best to transfer their money to an other bank, an Occupy Movement came as a virus over the world and is obviously growing into a bigger social revolution. But those acting upon their desire for significant, positive change in a broken system were being physically attacked for their non-violent resistance. The world got a 'New Spring' revolt in the Arabic countries and undignified ‘Los Indignados’ went from Portugal and Spain to Belgium to let Europe hear that it could not go on like this. People questioned if they could belong to one or an other group but saw that there is a major group of 99% against 1% or another 53% (Tot de 99% of de 53% behorende +Oprukkende armoede in Noord Amerika  Onderbroeken, vreemdelingen en rechtsstaat + Occuppy Acties en Sociaal Engagement)

With all those problems people wondered who could bring them safety. The world could also wonder how far they want to go in their solidarity.When we look at President Obama how he has to fight against a brick wall to get some social measure to protect the fragile you can wonder.
> Voice for the plebs + Oproep van president Obama om stem te laten horen +

Steering captain Obama + Occuppy Acties en Sociaal Engagement + Violence or an other way to win + Justififiable anger or just anarchism + Banktransfer to one bank bad idea + Shame on American police
In a certain way people can find solutions to have an reasonable good life. Some crisis brought the country were people were living in such danger that it either broke down and became part of an other country or it grew stronger and became more united. But at the moment the world should note that several people are deprived of the necessary materials to stay in life. too many people are dying from bad conditions created by other human beings.

Kwetsbare mens in het Europa van morgen #1 Colloquium +

Kwetsbare mens in Europa van morgen #2 Te veel mensen gaan kapot aan deze samenleving +

Nearly 50 milion poor North Americans + Ecological economics in the stomach #1 Alarmbell + Ecological economics in the stomach #2 Resources + Ecological economics in the stomach #3 Food and Populace + Ecological economics in the stomach #4 Water + Ecological economics in the stomach #5 Right to food + Stimulating ideas on how to re-engineer our monetary systems + Ability for a community to come back from a crisis +


Sense or nonsense of “Human Fragility” should make us think about the situation now and about the future. As Christians we should be aware that we do have to take the right attitude in all of this.


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In November we looked at the language of the Holy Scriptures and looked forward to celebrations people hold to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Another way looking at a language #1 New Year, Books and Words

Posted on November 13, 2011
Another way looking at a language 1. New Academic Year = New books Every new academic year we go over to use another Bible translation in our ecclesia, to keep the minds going and to give opportunities to hear another voice or see another angle of lightning. It is a way of broadening the horizon. [...]

Another way looking at a language #2 Meanings

Posted on November 15, 2011.
Another way looking at a language 4. Changing meaning In Dutch we could find that when we would take a translation of the 1970ies the same word would have just the opposite meaning in the 2010′s. It can happen that at a certain time one word can have the opposite meaning depending whom it is [...]

Another way looking at a language #3 Abraham

Posted on November 17, 2011.
Another way looking at a language 8. Proverbs and verbatim As today in Dutch ( Nederlands), and probably also in other languages as in English, we can find a lot of words which got a totally different or new extra meaning, so it happened in the early centuries of our Contemporary Timetable as well. Though [...]

Another way looking at a language #4 Ancient times

Posted on November 18, 2011.
Another way looking at a language 11. Misreading in early times Already in early centuries of our current time we got some misreadings in the most ancient Greek manuscripts (Second and Third Centuries of the Common Era) could only have happened by misunderstanding a Peshitta-exclusive reading. How careful translators and readers of translations have to [...]

Another way looking at a language #5 Aramic, Hebrew and Greek

Posted on November 20, 2011
Another way looking at a language 13. Aramaic Aramaic is to believed to be originated in what is modern-day Syria. Between 1000 and 600 BCE it became extremely widespread, spoken from the Mediterranean coast to the borders of India. Its script, derived from Phoenician and first attested during the 9th century BCE, also became extremely [...]

Another way looking at a language #6 Set apart

Posted on November 22, 2011
Another way looking at a language 18. The Church The second biggest teaching in Scripture is that our Creator and Saviour are building a “Set Apart Nation” (“church” never occurs in Scripture!) never heard of in modern Christianity before, called “YAsarel” (Almighty YAH Reigns)! It may be a chock to some not to find anywhere [...]

Another way looking at a language #7 Lingua Franca

Posted on November 23, 2011
Another way looking at a language 20. Aramaic or Greek Lingua Franca All of Rav Shaul’s epistles (with the possible exception of Philemon since it was sent through a Roman contact, then to the assembly) were sent to Synagogues that contained Jewish and Gentile believers whose halakha (legal faith practices) were governed by Ya’akov HaTzadik [...]

Jesus begotten Son of God #1 Christmas and Christians

Posted on November 28, 2011
The Anointed begotten Son of God 1.     Jesus and Christians All Christians think they do know Christ Jesus. We as Christians can only do hope that those who want to become a Christian and those who call themselves Christian sincerely would be willing to investigate who that Jesus from Nazareth, who was called the Messiah, [...]

Jesus begotten Son of God #2 Christmas and pagan rites

Posted on November 29, 2011
6. Interweaving with heathen or pagan rites We as sincere Bible Students and followers of Christ should take the Words of God into account and should know that God does not like us to interweave with heathen happenings and idolatrous things. Christmas time is not a season of revival and up-building in the Church of [...]

Jesus begotten Son of God #3 Messiah or Anointed one

Posted on November 30, 2011
The Anointed begotten Son of God   9. Messiah or Anointed one As Christians we do speak about Jesus Christ the Messiah. The term Messiah is derived from the Hebrew root word mashiach. The verb is used when an object, an altar for example, was consecrated for a sacred purpose. The noun mashiach is used [...]

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Kerstmis, Katholicisme en heidense feesten

Op   stond een artikel waar men het ook over de Christelijke feestdagen heeft en de Thora.

Wij gaan niet akkord met alles wat in het artikel staat maar willen het u wel even voorleggen als stof tot nadenken:

Christian holidays are based on the sun/son god Ra which is the secret reason Christians switched to a calendar based on sun cycle, Chri-smass (callout.sun). Sun-Day celebrates the Sun/son god Ra/Yhwh. It also explains the meaning of the words Vatican beti.can = my-house.here and Catho.lic = This-sect.for-me. Together Jews and Christians worship the mysterious Yhwh a.k.a Tho & Ra. Hanukah called the “Holiday of Light”, like Christmas celebrates the “god of Light” (light = Or) the god Ra.

Lees verder:

A Newly Developed Language Decoder Reveals the Torah is the Lost Book of Thoth Who is Hebrew God Yhwh-Elohim

In his upcoming book the Keys to the library, Joe Lanyadoo reveals a new decoder that offers a new understanding of the Torah, the origin of language and the origin of the human race. Using the decoder reveals that all religious writings tell the same story and were written by the same deity. The Tho-Ra was given to Moses 3500 years ago by its author Yhwh, E.l.h.i.m אֱלֹהִים who is none other than the Egyptian Moon god Thoth, the god of all knowledge and all writing who Lanyadoo claims wrote all religious myths.


> Torah is the Lost Book of Thoth

Accuracy, Word-for-Word Translation Preferred by most Bible Readers

Survey: Bible Readers want Accuracy, Word-for-Word Translation

A new study from LifeWay Research reveals some key findings on what distinctives Bible readers desire for their Bible. A total of 2,000 Bible readers participated through a demographically representative online panel, but to qualify, participants had to read the Bible in a typical month either by themselves or as part of a family activity and not merely in a church or corporate group setting.


Most American Bible readers prefer word-for-word translations of the original Greek and Hebrew over thought-for-thought translations and value accuracy over readability.
That is the finding of a new LifeWay Research study of a total of 2,000 Bible readers who participated through a demographically representative online panel. To qualify, participants had to read the Bible in a typical month either by themselves or as part of a family activity and not merely in a church or corporate group setting.
When asked whether they prefer “word-for-word translations, where the original words are translated as exactly as possible” or “thought-for-thought translations, where the translators attempt to reproduce the intent of the original thought rather than translating the exact words,” 61 percent chose word-for-word.
That includes 33 percent who strongly prefer word-for-word translation and 28 percent who somewhat prefer it. In contrast, 20 percent prefer thought-for-thought, including 6 percent with a strong preference and 14 percent who somewhat prefer it. Fourteen percent say both translation philosophies are equally fine, and 5 percent are not sure.
Regarding accuracy, respondents were asked, “In general, what is more important to you in a Bible: total accuracy to the original words, or easy readability?” Three out of four (75 percent) opt for total accuracy, with 43 percent saying accuracy is much more important and 32 percent saying it is somewhat more important.
Fourteen percent say easy readability is somewhat more important, and 8 percent say it is much more important. Three percent are not sure.
“It is interesting to note that Bible sales do not necessarily follow these preferences,” said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. “Those reading the Bible each month represent only a portion of all Bible purchasers.
“Bible readers can share their preferences for different translation principles but may not be aware of which characteristics are present in specific translations – even the ones that they own. Without specific instruction most readers will not notice when a translation moves away from a literal or word-for-word translation.”
Respondents hold a variety of opinions regarding the style of language they prefer in a Bible translation for personal reading. Among them:
– 68 percent want language to be simpler to understand while 7 percent want it to be more difficult to understand.
– 81 percent say it should be more enjoyable to read while 4 percent prefer it to be more of a chore to read.
– 27 percent favor contemporary language while 46 percent want traditional language.
– 36 percent want more modern language while 37 percent favor more old-fashioned language.
– 19 percent feel understanding the language should require a higher level of education while 49 percent say it should not require a higher level of education.
– 63 percent believe it should be simple for anyone to understand while 14 percent say the language should be meant more for people who have a lot of experience with the Bible.
– 40 percent prefer more formal language while 26 percent say should be more informal.
– 22 percent want language more for casual reading while 44 percent say it should be designed more for in-depth study.
“In the same way drivers want big, powerful, fuel-efficient vehicles, Bible readers want word-for-word translations that are easy to understand,” said McConnell. “As translators try to cross the globe and two millennia, fully accomplishing both is not always possible.”
The survey also asked about translation of God’s name. Though many Bible versions translate God’s name in the Old Testament as “the LORD,” others prefer using what is believed to be the original pronunciation, “Yahweh.”
Nearly eight in 10 Bible readers (79 percent) prefer the traditional translation “the LORD” over the original pronunciation “Yahweh.” That includes 51 percent who strongly prefer “the LORD” and 27 percent who somewhat prefer it. Seven percent somewhat prefer “Yahweh” while 6 percent strongly prefer it. Eight percent are not sure which they favor.
The vast majority of Bible readers do not prefer gender-inclusive translation approaches. A full 82 percent prefer a literal translation of masculine words that describe people in general rather than a more inclusive translation like “humankind” or “person.”
Study participants were told: “Bible translators have to make choices regarding gender issues. For example, the original Greek and Hebrew often uses masculine words such as those literally meaning ‘man’ to describe people in general. Some translators think these should be translated literally as ‘man’ while others think they should be translated into gender-inclusive terms such as ‘humankind,’ ‘human being,’ ‘person’ or ‘one.’ Which do you prefer?”
A majority (53 percent) strongly prefer literal translation while 29 percent somewhat prefer the literal rendering. Only 9 percent somewhat prefer gender-inclusive translation, and 3 percent strongly prefer it. Six percent are not sure.
Bible readers are even more adamant about not making references to God gender-inclusive.
They were told, “Another issue Bible translators face relates to references to God as ‘father’ in the Greek and Hebrew. Some translators think these should be translated literally as ‘father’ while others think they should be translated into gender-inclusive terms such as ‘parent.’ Do you prefer the literal or more gender-inclusive?”
In response, 89 percent want a literal translation of gender-specific references to God, including 68 percent who strongly prefer literal translation and 21 percent who somewhat prefer literal translation. Five percent somewhat prefer gender-inclusive translation, and 2 percent strongly prefer gender-inclusive translation. Four percent are not sure.
“The places in the Bible in which the inspired writers used masculine words for God, a large majority of Bible readers want translators to use masculine words as well,” noted McConnell. “This is true regardless of whether the reader describes their own spiritual beliefs as liberal or conservative.”
Methodology: The LifeWay Research survey was conducted in August 2011 via online panel. A representative sample of U.S. adult population was invited to participate. Two thousand people who read the Bible once a month or more qualified for the study. Only people who read the Bible personally (outside of group activities) or as part of a family activity were included. The sample of 2,000 provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed + 2.2 percent.
- Nashville, Tenn. - PRWEB -  October 03, 2011

Hebrew, Aramaic and Bibletranslation

Every academic year we do like to swap Bibletranslation to keep our minds alert to what is written and meant in the Holy Scriptures.

Most of us do not speak Hebrew or even do not know to speak or read the language. Having no knowledge of the language in which most of the Books of the Bible are written does not make it easy to come to the full understanding of those Hebrew words.

We do have to depend on translations which can be very strict in their translation or take a lot of freedom to translate what is written with a few words but gives a whole (long) meaning. Having no vowels or "the" "a" or "an" at certain places can create a certain confusion.


The Hebrew language  (/ˈhbr/) (עִבְרִית, Ivrit, About this sound Hebrew pronunciation ) is a Semitic language of the Northern Central (also called Northwestern) group or Afroasiatic language family, closely related to Phoenician and Moabite, with which it is often placed by scholars in a Canaanite subgroup.
Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such as the Samaritans. Most of the Samaritans went to use modern Hebrew or Arabic as their vernacular.

Spoken in ancient times in Palestine, Hebrew was sup­planted by the western dialect of Aramaic which Jeshua (Jesus) also spoke, during the 3rd century BCE; the language con­tinued to be used as a liturgical and literary language, however. It was revived as a spoken language in the 19th and 20th centuries CE and is the official language of Israel.

The history of the Hebrew language is usually divided into three major periods:
 1.Biblical Hebrew is often looked at as a dialetic form of Classical Hebrew The Biblical Hebrew according to scholars flourished around the 6th century BCE, around the time of the Babylonian exile. Classical Hebrew was used until c. 3rd century BCE, in which most of the core of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) or Old Testament is written. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon HaKodesh (לשון הקודש), "The Holy Language", since ancient times.
 2. Mishnaic or rabbinic Hebrew, the language of the Mishna (a collection of Jewish traditions), written c. CE 200 (this form of Hebrew was never used among the people as a spoken language);
 and 3. Modern Hebrew, derived from the word "ʕibri" (plural "ʕibrim") one of several names for the Jewish people, the language of Israel in modern times.

In the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit (יהודית) because Judah (Yәhuda) was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation, late 8th century BCE (Isaiah 36, 2 Kings 18). In Isaiah 19:18, it is also called the "Language of Canaan" (שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן).

Scholars generally agree that the oldest form of He­brew is that of some of the Old Testament po­ems, especially the "Song of Deborah" in chapter 5 of Judges. The sources of borrowed words first appearing during this period include the other Canaanite languages, as well as Akkadian and Aramaic. Hebrew also con­tains a small number of Sumerian words borrowed from an Akkadian source. Few traces of dialects exist in Biblical Hebrew, but scholars believe this to be the result of Masoretic editing of the text. In addition to the Old Tes­tament, a small number of inscriptions in He­brew of the biblical period are extant; the earliest of these is a short inscription in Phoenician characters dating from the 9th century BC. During the early Mishnaic period, some of the guttural consonants of Biblical Hebrew were combined or confused with one another, and many words, among them a number of adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, were borrowed from Aramaic. Hebrew also borrowed a number of Greek, Latin, and Persian words. Use of the language declined from the 9th century until the 18th century. Modern Hebrew, based on the biblical lan­guage, contains many innovations designed to meet modern needs; it is the only colloquial speech based on a written language. The pronunciation is a modification of that used by Jhe Sefardic (Hispano-Portuguese) Jews rather than that of the Ashkenazic (East European) Jews. The old guttural consonants are' not clearly distinguished or are lost, except by Oriental Jews. The syntax is based on that of the Mishna. Characteristic of Hebrew of all stages is the use of word roots consisting of three consonants, to which vowels are added to derive words of different parts of speech and meaning. The language is written from right to left in a Semitic script of 22 letters.

Hebrew alphabet, either of two distinct Semitic alphabets-the Early Hebrew and the Classical, or Square, Hebrew. Early Hebrew was the alphabet used by the Jewish nation in the period before the Babylonian Exile -i.e., prior to the 6th century BCE - although some inscriptions in this alphabet may be of a later date.

Several hundred inscriptions exist. As is usual in early alphabets, Early Hebrew exists in a variety of local variants and also shows development over time; the oldest example of Early Hebrew writing, the Gezer Calendar, dates from the 10th century BCE, and the writing used varies little from the earliest North Semitic alphabets. The Early Hebrew alphabet, like the modern Hebrew variety, had 22 letters, with only consonants represented, and was written from right to left; but the early alphabet is more closely related in letter form to the Phoenician than to the modern Hebrew. Its only surviving descendant is the Samaritan alphabet, still used by a few hundred Samaritan Jews.

Between the 6th and 2nd centuries BCE, Classi­cal, or Square, Hebrew gradually displaced the Aramaic alphabet, which had replaced Early Hebrew in Palestine. Square Hebrew became established in the 2nd-1st centuries BCE and developed into the modern Hebrew al­phabet over the next 1,500 years. It was ap­parently derived from the Aramaic alphabet rather than from Early Hebrew but was nonetheless strongly influenced by the Early Hebrew script.

Classical Hebrew showed three distinct forms by the 10th century CE: Square Hebrew, a formal or book hand; rabbinical or "Rashi-writing," employed by medieval Jewish scholars; and various local cur­sive scripts, of which the Polish-German type became the modern cursive form.

Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, corresponding to the Hellenistic and Roman Periods before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and represented by the Qumran Scrolls that form most (but not all) of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Commonly abbreviated as DSS Hebrew, also called Qumran Hebrew. The Imperial Aramaic script of the earlier scrolls in the 3rd century BCE evolved into the Hebrew square script of the later scrolls in the 1st century CE, also known as ketav Ashuri (Assyrian script), still in use today.

The son of Myriam (Mary/Maria) and Joseph (Josef/Jozef) from the tribe of Daniel, also known as Jeshua, Jesus Christ the Messiah, spoke the Aramaic language which also belongs to the Semitic languages of the Northern Central or Northwestern group or to the Afroasiatic language phylum.The name of the language is based on the name of Aram,  an ancient region in central Syria.(Oxford English dictionary, http://oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/10127)

During its 3,000-year written history, Aramaic has served variously as a language of administration of empires and as a language of divine worship. It was the day-to-day language of Israel in the Second Temple period (539 BCE – 70 CE) The difficulty with this language is that Aramaic's long history and diverse and widespread use has led to the development of many divergent varieties which are sometimes called as dialects, though they are quite distinct languages. Therefore, there is no one singular Aramaic language.

In the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, it gradually supplanted Akkadian as the lingua franca of the Near East and later became the official language of the Persian Empire. Aramaic replaced Hebrew as the language of the Jews; portions of the Old Testament books of Dan­iel and Ezra are written in Aramaic, as are the Babylonian and, Jerusalem Talmuds.

Jesus and the Apostles also spoke this language. Its period of greatest influence extended from c. 300 BC until c. AD 650; it was supplanted by Arabic.

In the early Christian era, Aramaic divided into East and West varieties. West Aramaic dialects include Nabataean (formerly spoken in parts of Arabia), Palmyrene (spoken in Palmyra, which was northeast of Damascus), Palestinian-Christian, and Judeo-Aramaic. West Aramaic is still spoken in a small number of villages in Lebanon. East Aramaic includes Syriac, Mandaean, Eastern Neo-Assyrian, and the Aramaic of the Babylonian Talmud.

One of the most important of these is Syriac, which was the language of an extensive literature between the 3rd and 7th centuries. Mandaean was the dialect of a Gnostic sect centred in lower Mesopotamia. East Aramaic is still spoken by a few small groups of Jacobite and Nestorian Christians in the Middle East.

Modern Aramaic is spoken today as a first language by many scattered, predominantly small, and largely isolated communities of differing Christian, Jewish and Mandean ethnic groups of West Asia. (Heinrichs 1990: xi–xv; Beyer 1986: 53.)
Today we can find it by the Assyrians (also known as Chaldo-Assyrians) in the form of Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic.

File:Syriac Sert book script.jpg


Looking into those ancient languages we do want to follow their way of thinking, understanding how the thoughts are blended into words and phrases full of verbatim and proverbs which we do have to try to see and understand in the light of the way of thinking at that time.

To give a simple example, a few weeks ago when somebody said he was "mad about his apartment" the American listener thought he had become crazy or out of mind because of his apartment. Though the speaker meant just the opposite, namely that he was in love with his apartment. He did not detest it in such a way that he became insane of it, but he came into the clouds living there. (Not meaning that he really went up into the clouds, high in sky.) I use this simple example in the hope everyone can understand how we have to follow the way of saying and have to be careful not to take a proverb literally. Because that happens a lot today when folks read the Bible. As Bible readers we have to transpose ourselves in the time when it was written and how the people thought at that time.

Further we have to take into account how we are going to or how Bible-translators did  translate the The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי‎‎, Alephbet 'Ivri).

By using the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, it has to be taken into account how it is spoken out and how one word is written against an other. Best it can be compared to other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic.

There have been two script forms in use. The original old Hebrew script is known as the paleo-Hebrew script (which has been largely preserved, in an altered form, in the Samaritan script), while the present "square" form of the Hebrew alphabet is a stylized form of the Aramaic script, which has its alphabet adapted from the Phoenician alphabet and became distinctive from it by the 8th century BCE. The letters all represent consonants, some of which are matres lectionis, which also indicate long vowels.
The Aramaic alphabet is historically significant, since virtually all modern Middle Eastern writing systems use a script that can be traced back to it, as well as numerous Altaic writing systems of Central and East Asia. This is primarily due to the widespread usage of the Aramaic language as both a lingua franca and the official language of the Neo-Assyrian, and its successor, the Achaemenid Empire. Among the scripts in modern use, the Hebrew alphabet bears the closest relation to the Imperial Aramaic script of the 5th century BCE, with an identical letter inventory and, for the most part, nearly identical letter shapes.
Aramaic alphabet, major writing system in the Near East in the latter half of the 1st mil­lennium BC. Derived from the North Semitic script, the Aramaic alphabet was developed in the 10th and 9th centuries BC and rose into prominence after the conquest of the Aramaean states by Assyria in the 9th and 8th centuries BC. The Aramaic language and script were used as a lingua franca over all of the Near East, and documents and inscriptions in the Aramaic alphabet have been found in Greece, Afghanistan, India, northern Arabia, and Egypt. The oldest inscription in Aramaic script yet discovered dates from approximately 850 BC.
The Aramaic alphabet is a writing system of 22 letters, all indicating consonants, and it is written from right to left. It is ancestral to Square Hebrew and the modern Hebrew al­phabet, the Nabataean and modern Arabic scripts, the Palmyrene alphabet, and the Syriac, as well as hundreds of other writing sys­tems used at some time in Asia east of Syria. Aramaic also has been influential in the devel­opment of such alphabets as the Georgian, Armenian, and Glagolitic.
Various "styles" (in current terms, "fonts") of representation of the letters exist. There is also a cursive Hebrew script, which has also varied over time and place.

When we want to use names of persons and places we should carefully look how they are written and spoken. When we transfer certain letters into our language into a consonant we should do that for all the words the same way. In English translations we can often find irregularities in that. For example do we not find Yona, but Jonah, Joshua, and Jeruzalem for Yerusalem, but for Yeshua they write Jesus and for Yahuhwah they suddenly go from three syllables to two syllable and write for the Yod an Ypsolom giving God the Name Yahweh instead of the better translation, keeping to the three original syllables, Jehovah and speaking it better not as Americans with an "Dzee" but with an "Yea".

This year we shall become more confronted with those Aramaic names and also will see that in the original writings of the Scriptures they used different words for slightly different things. In such a way we shall wonder if we not better take those different meanings also in our language as different words so that we clearly shall be able to see if there is been spoken off of a direct pupil of Jeshua (Jesus),  or one of the many disciples or the special pupils or sent ones (Shlichim) or one of the seventy.

By checking if the Beth, Daleth, Gimel Heth, Kaf, Qof and the vowels tërë and bireq are translated into the other languages we shall see where there was no consistency and which one we better should follow.

We do know that within a Hebrew name the aleph represents a smooth breathing, and for practical purposes may be considerd a 'silent' letter, but because it gives a softer sound than without putting the 'h' on top of it we do prefer to use the 'h' as well in Dutch, though the Language Commision gives it without an 'h'. The Governemental Dutch language regulation, by the Dutch Language Union and the Spellingraad (Spelling Committee and Dutch Spelling Council) indicate that we should write Jehova in Dutch for the Hebrew Name of God, but there we prefer to use the International used form of Jehovah to have uniformity on our websites in the different languages (and giving more possibilities to have it spoken out as in Hebrew with the soft h-ending. )


For this article is made use of the Encyclopaedia Britannica where you can find more:

Encyclopaedia Britannica Macropaedia: Major re/. 1:621 b ·alphabetical order antiquity 1:619d . Semitic calligraphy development 3:662b . signs and English equivalent, table 3 8:594 . vowel indication methods 19: 1038c; table 1035 . Yiddish adaptation 8:26c

 alphabet origins and standardization 1:621 b; table 620 . alphabet and English equivalent, table 3 8:594 'alphabetical order antiquity 1:619d ·English vocabulary borrowings 6:879a ·Hamito-Semitic languages map 8:590 ·Israel's revival of common language 9: 105ge ·Jewish liturgical use and status 10:297c . Karaite impetus to 9th-century studies 10:318f ·medieval belief in aboriginality 10:643h ·naming patterns 12: 818f ·origins, development, and literary use 10: 196d 'preservation and educational respect 6: 322f 'punctuation and pointing since 800s 15:276g 'relationships, writing, and phonology 8:592d passim to 595c . sacral status as biblical language 7:60h 'U.S. parochial education curriculum 6:42ge ·Yiddish formative influences 8:25h
 
See also Syriac language. 'ancient spread and influence 17:942g +
 Major re/. 1:619h . calligraphy style and development 3:662b ·Iranian varieties and adaptations 9:456d . origins, spread, and influence 17:942g ·vowel indication methods 19: 1038c; table 1035

RELATED ENTRIES in the Ready Reference and Index: Armenian alphabet; Brahml; Georgian alphabets; Greek alphabet; Hebrew alphabet; Kharo~!l; Klik Turki alphabet; Nabataean alphabet; Pahlavi alphabet; Palmyric alphabet; Samaritan alphabet; Syriac alphabet

Saturday 8 October 2011

Obstacles to effective evangelism

Dave Burke his twin brother has compiled a list of obstacles to effective evangelism which currently plague the Christadelphian community:

* Use of the KJV or any Bible translation earlier than the 1970s
* Failure to demonstrate practical positive life benefits to believing and living the gospel
* Failure to demonstrate practical outcomes of doctrinal differences between ourselves and other Christian groups
* Failure to differentiate between the needs of Christians and non-Christians
* Failure to understand what non-Christians are looking for
+ David adds:

 Failure to understand why other Christians go to church
* Use of jargon in our literature
* Lack of literature for non-English speaking people
* Lack of literature for people with English as a second language
* Lack of attention to pressing social issues
* Insistence that visitors adhere to specific in-group rules
* Failure to demonstrate that we actually care about the community in which we live


These problems have been perpetuated for decades, largely because they are not recognised as problems.

+
Effective evangelism has wider implications than the conversion of non-Christadelphians. It also improves the health of our community by building up our young people (themselves a prime audience for Christadelphian evangelism) and our 'less comely members' (I Corinthians 12:14-25). For some Christadelphians the internet is seen as a viable alternative to real life community. This is inherently problematic and potentially damaging.

***
Luckily there are also ecclesiae which use contemporary versions of the Bible.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Speaking in tongues

So often we do hear that we as Christians do have to speak in tongues. those who are not able to speak in tongues, what they ever may mean by it, would not be real believers endowed with the new born life.

According to me speaking in tongues is not speaking in gibberish or not uttering words which make no sense for others.
In the early centuries of Christianity and today to speak in tongues or languages was and is only useful when preaching in a foreign country where that language was or is spoken..

It is probable that the apostles were able to bestow Spirit gifts for as long as they lived (Acts 8:14-17); by which time the Christian Church would have attained maturity.
One may wonder how long the ministration of the Spirit gifts would continue.
This being so, any claim in later times to the possession of Holy Spirit gifts, especially speaking in tongues, does not agree with what we have found in the foregoing Scriptures and therefore should not be accepted as valid.

Read more about it in:

The Gifts of the Spirit – Speaking in Tongues


Thursday 21 April 2011

Forbidden fruit

Most of us do know about 'forbidden fruit' (Genesis 3:) and don't want to be a 'scapegoat' (Levites16:8,10:26). We all want to be in the 'the land of the living' (Psalms 27:13, 142:5; Isaiah 53:8) and 'from strength to strength'  (Psalms 84:7) we want to go forwards, sometimes hoping that it would be 'for ever and ever' (Psalms 45:1-2, 21; Daniel 2:20; Revelation 11:15). But  how we turn it we are often 'lost sheep' (Matthew 10:6, 15:25) who need their 'daily bread' (Luke 11:3) as 'busybodies' (2 Thessalonians 3:11; 1 Timothy 5:13) we are not 'lukewarm'  (Revelation 3:16) to find the 'tree of life'  (Revelation 22:2).
Psalm 137
Psalm 137 (Photo credit: Mouse)


Can you find the phrases which are word for word as they appear in the KJV Bible?

Have a look and find out more phrases which we use in our common language who were used many years ago in the Word of God.

Find out more: The Bible said it first

 
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