While listening to yet another argument over the name of Jesus (there being no letter "J" until the 16th Century), my mind drifted in desperation to the question of what my name would have been before the J was invented (discovered, developed, created???). This is what I found:Ya'aqov (יעקב)-- Hebrew (Old Testament), Jacob
Iakobos -- Greek(Iάκωβος) (New Testament), Jacob
Jacomus -- Late Latin (pre-Romanesque languages)
Gemmes -- French variation of Jacomus
James <-- Hey, it's me!!!!!
Driving this whole idea completely into the ground (sorry), this is who I would have been to my ancestors:
German ==> Jakob
Scottish Gaelic ==> Seumas (anglicized as Hamish)
Irish ==> Séamas (anglicized as Shamus)
5 comments:
I'm interested to know where you found that history of your name. (Asking the obvious,) was it a website? Also, is it just a history of first names, or are surnames included?
One more thing, how'd you work it so you could respond to a comment within that comment? That's nifty.
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Stan -- search "Etymology of Stanley" in Google --
I had already added "Edit Comments in Blogger" to my template, it just occurred to me yesterday that it would be a good way to answer comments -- here are the instructions INSTRUCTIONS-- you have to fins the right spot in your template to add the code -- this adds "Edit Comment" to each comment when you look at the page for each post (not the comment page) -- let me know if you have any questions -- Jim
ps -- this is what I found --
From a surname meaning "stone clearing" in Old English.
Means "camp glory" or "government glory" from the Slavic elements stan meaning "government" or "camp" combined with slav "glory". It can also be used as a Polish form of STANLEY. Two kings of Poland have borne this name.
The Jewish community has claimed the name of Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshu, the traditional Jewish spelling of Jesus. Some others spell Jesus as Yeshua with four letters or as Yehoshua with five.
The sixth book of the Old Testament is called "Joshua", appropriately named after its central figure whose original name is Hoshea ("Salvation"). Moses evidently changes it to Yehoshua, ("Jehovah/God is Salvation"). He is also called Yeshua, a shortened form of Yehoshua. This is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Iesous (Jesus).
research on that name. There is a great deal that depends on this simple question.
(Guy Cramer)
Dr. James Price, professor of Hebrew, writes "Two things indicate that Yehoshua is the proper Hebrew name for Jesus:
(1) In the Greek Translation of the OT known as the Septuagint (LXX), the name Joshua is rendered *Iasous* = Jesus.
(2) In the NT, Joshua is mentioned twice (Acts 7:45; Heb 4:8), and in both places the Greek NT spells the name *Iasous* = Jesus.
"Thus the Greek *Iasous* is the equivalent of Hebrew *Yehoshua*"
Sorry Jim, but Jesus is Joshua, not James.
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Andrew -- we need to add that many people believe that "Jesus" is a unique name, and indeed it might have been, or it might have been a misspelling that was done on purpose later as a sign of respect (the way the Spanish mispronounce St. James as a sign of respect), and that we are in no way contradicting their beliefs.
The English name "Jesus" comes from the Latin translations of the Bible, where the Greek Ιησούς (Iēsoûs) of the originals becomes the Latin Iesus.
The earliest use of Iēsoûs is found in the Septuagint*, where it is a transliteration** of the Hebrew name Yehoshua (יהושע — known more commonly in English as Joshua), and also its short form Yeshua (ישוע).
* The Septuagint is the oldest and most important complete version of the Old Testament and predates the Hebrew, or Masoretic, text by as much as 1,000 years -- it is written in Greek.
**transliteration is complex method of mapping one language to another (not easy, ancient Greek had no Y or H).
Joshua has to become Iēsoûs in Greek because "ua" would be a feminine form -- so the masculine ending "us" was added -- in effect, Yeshua becomes Yeshus becomes Iesus become Jesus when J's are introduced.
ODD footnote: Julius, as in Julius Caesar would be IVLIVS, since Latin had neither a J or a U.
Jim
This is fun that we have a researching pastor amongst our blogbuddies! I'd also thought the origin of "Jesus" was "Joshua", but maybe "James" is somehow connected to "Joshua"...
All I know is that there is no "Meagan" in the Bible. :-(
love meagan
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Meagan -- James comes from Jacob, that is what the post is about --
MEGAN, the Welsh version of MARGARET which is from the Greek name Margaron meaning either PEARL or CHILD OF LIGHT. is a variant form of MARGIAD
Variant spellings - MAEGAN - MEAGAN - MEAGHAN -MEGEN - MEGHAN - MEGHANN - MEGHANNE
Hebrew eqivalent - Dara - Bat Or
The letters in Hebrew are MEM GIMEL NUN. Taken together and reading from right to left, they spell MEGAN. This name has been transliterated into the Hebrew phonetically. The transliterated letters - MEM GIMEL NUN - really mean SHIELD in Hebrew. JIM
That's fascinating stuff. All I know is that my first name, Jason, is Greek for "healer." People that know me think it's sarcasm.
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Phoenix -- why "The Phoenix" ????????
masc. proper name, from Gk. Eason, from Heb. Yehoshua, a common name among Hellenistic Jews (see Joshua). In Gk. mythology, son of Aeson, leader of the Argonauts, from L. Jason, from Gk. Iason, perhaps related to iasthai "to heal." The names were somewhat merged in Christian Gk.
Jim
Oooh, and we hear The Phoenix's first name for the first time.
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