Brownie points for calling God by Hebrew name? Why do folks do it?

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savedNblessed

Guest
#41
I notice some Christians call God by a Hebrew name instead of God/Jesus/etc.

Do people get brownie points if they don't refer to God in their native tongue's name for God?

Why do people insist on saying God's Hebrew name?

Am I missing something?
I came across a picture in one of the threads here and it had two columns, one titled ”Yeshua” and other titled ”Jesus”. Basically it differentiated Hebrew Jesus from the English one and in the end there was a question posted for the readers which read, which one do you believe in? I smiled and thought ”Yeshu (Jesus in my native language) I know You hear me whichever name I address You with or no name at all at times.”
 
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jimmydiggs

Guest
#42
My observation is that it often is a matter of pride, for those who press it. A person becomes spiritually superior in their own minds.
 
D

Donkeyfish07

Guest
#43
I'm pretty sure it's because there isn't a J or the "J" sound in Hebrew. People tend to think holy names shouldn't be transliterated the same way other things are. I don't think they do it for brownie points, I think it's more out of respect for the name itself
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,235
6,530
113
#44
I like to call Jesus Yeshua, but Jesus is just alright with me too. He is King of the Jews, and for some reason, this having been inscribed in three languages over His head, means a lot to me and many.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,235
6,530
113
#45
I did not credit the song. "Jesus Is Just Alright With Me" the Doobie Brothers.

I like to call Jesus Yeshua, but Jesus is just alright with me too. He is King of the Jews, and for some reason, this having been inscribed in three languages over His head, means a lot to me and many.
 

dliz

Filipino Room/Forum Moderator
Jun 13, 2012
1,004
8
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#47
I dont know, it's all Greek to me.

Hebrew: (Christians say "Yeshua, ישוע"; Jews say "Yeshu, ישו")
English: Jesus
French: Jésus
German: Jesus
Swahilli: Jesus
Arabic: Isa
Greek: Ιησούς
Chinese (Simplified Han): 耶稣
Italian: Gesù
Japanese: イエス・キリスト
Korean: 예수
Russian: Иисус
Spanish: Jesús
Bulgarian: Исус
Czech: Ježíš
Dutch: Jezus
Estonian: Jeesus
Haitian Creole: Jezi
Hungarian: Jézus
Romanian: Isus
Thai: พระเยซู
Turkish: Isa


or there is the Unknown G_d

i'm sorry i'm tired

I thought the spanish word for God/Lord/Jesus is Dios... :)
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,235
6,530
113
#48
If you read the thread, you will see it has been made clear there is no commandment to call the Only Begotten Son of the Most High God, Yeshua.

By the same token, there is absolutely no commandment to call Him Jesus.

I call Him both, and He always knows I am addressing Him, as I am certain He knows all who love Him are calling on Him.

Frankly, the night I was drawn to Him, I prayed and fasted not believing any god or religion, and I prayed saying, "You are Who You are!" There was much more to that night than this, but He answered me, and as long as you are talking to God, He really does not mind being called by any of His names, with all respect and giving Him all glory. So why should any man worry about what another calls Him?
 
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didymos

Guest
#49
Now there are two topics being discussed here: the name of God and the name of Jesus...

Even if God was called by some name in ancient times, like 'Yahweh' or 'Yehovah' or whatever, the fact is the jews themselves haven't called Him by that name since early biblical times. With good reason, because you kind of 'own' anything or anyone you know the name of, knowing the name gives you 'power' over someone: just think of the fairy tale of
Rumpelstiltskin. However, we don't 'own' God in any way, and shouldn't think we get 'power' over Him by knowing His proper name. I think it suffices to call Him 'God,' or 'Lord,' and that's exactly what the jews have been doing for centuries.
Ofcourse, the letters of the tetragrammaton 'JHWH' are to be found in the hebrew bible, but the jews used to vowels of the word 'Adonai' to vocalize it, making it impossible to pronounce it. So now they just say 'Adonai' instead, whenever they see the letters 'JHWH' appear in the text. Facts is we don't even know HOW that word was pronounced in the first place, because the original hebrew didn't have vowels. Maybe it's just more interesting, to some people at least, to call God 'Yahweh' or 'Jehovah.' Fact is those names are just wild guesses to what the name originally must have been. Both names are also NOT in accordance with how the jews pronounce it. If you feel a strong affiliation with the jewish faith and love Israel, you should by no means call God anything else than 'Lord.'

About Jesus: could be that His original hebrew or arameic name was Yeshua, but I came to know him as 'Jezus,' and normally I see no reason to call Him anything else. Ofcourse, I call Him 'Jesus' here, but that's because most of the people here came to know Him by THAT name. Only If I talked about Him with Israelis, in Ivrit, I would probably call him 'Yeshua.' So the name we use for 'Jesus' is determined by the linguistic context; to facilitate the discussion about Him, and by nothing else.
Maybe the same that is true for calling God 'Yahweh' also applies here: it's SO much more interesting, for some people, to call Jesus 'Yeshua,' I mean, it's such a GREAT way to show off your knowledge. Interesting question: if you DO call Jesus 'Yeshua,' shouldn't you call Joshua 'Yeshua' aswell? And while you're at it, call all the people in the Bible by their proper hebrew names too?


In short: just call God 'Lord' and Jesus 'Jesus,' no need to make things more complicated than they are. And if you think the name doesn't matter, that anythings goes, then you don't take 2000 years of christian tradition and history, and at least 1000 years more of jewish tradition seriously. Hey, then there's nothing stopping us from calling God or Jesus whatever we want. But will people even know who we're referring to when we use such interesting names? There's another reason why we should call God and Jesus by their(for us) appropriate names; to make it possible for us to talk about God, to freely preach and evangelize in the name of Jesus etc, without any unnecessary confusion about their names.