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The origin of name replacement started with the Hellenistic Jews.
During the Babylonian captivity the Hebrew language spoken by the Jews was replaced by the Aramaic language of their Babylonian captors.
Aramaic was closely related to Hebrew and, while sharing many vocabulary words in common, contained some words that sounded the same or similar but had other meanings.
In Aramaic, the Hebrew word for “blaspheme” used in Leviticus 24:16, “Anyone who blasphemes the name of YHWH must be put to death” began to be interpreted as “pronounce” rather than “blaspheme”.
When the Jews began speaking Aramaic, this verse was (mis)understood to mean, “Anyone who pronounces the name of YHWH must be put to death.”
Since then, observant Jews have maintained the custom of not pronouncing the name, but use Adonai (“my Lord”) instead.
This also lead to some believing that God's name is not pronounceable.
It was the Hellenistic Jews who started this practice centuries ago. They started a doctrine believing that the name of God was to sacred or holy to be pronounced. By the time of Yahshua's arrival in the Second Temple Era, they had begun to change traditional Hebrew names that contained even part of the name of God (these are called Theophoric names). So Yahshua's name became shortened to Yeshua because it started with the first two consonant letters of YHWH.
"Yeho" prefixes changed to "Yo" prefixes
In the table below, 13 theophoric names with "Yeho" prefixes have corresponding forms (in bold type) where the letters "eh"' have been omitted.
[Note that theophoric names with "יוֹ" [i.e. "Yo"] are written in bold letters.]
After the Roman conquest of Greece in the first century BC, Latin adopted the Greek letters Y and Z. It was not until the Middle Ages that the letter W (originally a ligature of V and V) was added to the Latin alphabet, to represent sounds from the Germanic languages which did not exist in medieval Latin, and only after the Renaissance did the convention of treating I and U as vowels, and J and V as consonants, become established. Prior to that, the former had been merely allographs of the latter.
About the eighth century AD the Hebrew Waw was abandoned for Vav, possibly as a Germanic influence upon the Hebrew language.
During the Babylonian captivity the Hebrew language spoken by the Jews was replaced by the Aramaic language of their Babylonian captors.
Aramaic was closely related to Hebrew and, while sharing many vocabulary words in common, contained some words that sounded the same or similar but had other meanings.
In Aramaic, the Hebrew word for “blaspheme” used in Leviticus 24:16, “Anyone who blasphemes the name of YHWH must be put to death” began to be interpreted as “pronounce” rather than “blaspheme”.
When the Jews began speaking Aramaic, this verse was (mis)understood to mean, “Anyone who pronounces the name of YHWH must be put to death.”
Since then, observant Jews have maintained the custom of not pronouncing the name, but use Adonai (“my Lord”) instead.
This also lead to some believing that God's name is not pronounceable.
It was the Hellenistic Jews who started this practice centuries ago. They started a doctrine believing that the name of God was to sacred or holy to be pronounced. By the time of Yahshua's arrival in the Second Temple Era, they had begun to change traditional Hebrew names that contained even part of the name of God (these are called Theophoric names). So Yahshua's name became shortened to Yeshua because it started with the first two consonant letters of YHWH.
"Yeho" prefixes changed to "Yo" prefixes
In the table below, 13 theophoric names with "Yeho" prefixes have corresponding forms (in bold type) where the letters "eh"' have been omitted.
There is a theory by Christian Ginsburg that this is due to Hebrew scribes omitting the "h", changing Jeho (יְהוֹ) into Jo (יוֹ), to make the start of "Yeho-" names not sound like an attempt to pronounce the Divine Name. Table of theophoric names with "Yeho" and "Yo" prefixes
[Note that theophoric names with "יוֹ" [i.e. "Yo"] are written in bold letters.] | Strong's # | Hebrew word | Strong's Transliteration | Strong's Words Compounded | English Spelling |
3059 | יְהוֹאָחָז | Yehow'achaz | Jehovah & achaz [# 270] | Jehoachaz |
3099 | יוֹאָחָז | Yow'achaz | "a form of 3059" | Joachaz |
3060 | יְהוֹאָש | Yehow'ash | Jehovah & 'esh [# 784] | Jehoash |
3101 | יוֹאָש | Yow'ash | "a form of 3060" | Joash |
3075 | יְהוֹזָבָד | Yehowzabad | Jehovah & zabad [# 2064] | Jehozabad |
3107 | יוֹזָבָד | Yowzabad | "a form of 3075" | Jozabad |
3076 | יְהוֹחָנָן | Yehowchanan | Jehovah & chanan [# 2603] | Jehochanan |
3110 | יוֹחָנָן | Yowchanan | "a form of 3076" | Jochanan |
3077 | יְהוֹיָדָע | Yehowyada | Jehovah & yada [# 3045] | Jehojada |
3111 | יוֹיָדָע | Yowyada | "a form of 3077" | Jojada |
3078 | יְהוֹיָכִין | Yehowyakiyn | Jehovah & kuwn [# 3559] | Jehojakin |
3112 | יוֹיָכִין | Yowyakiyn | "a form of 3078" | Jojakin |
3079 | יְהוֹיָקִימ | Yehowyaqiym | Jehovah & quwm [# 3965] | Jehojakim |
3113 | יוֹיָקִימ | Yowyaqiym | "a form of 3079" | Jojakim |
3080 | יְהוֹיָרִיב | Yehowyariyb | Jehovah & riyb [# 7378] | Jehojarib |
3114 | יוֹיָרִיב | Yowyariyb | "a form of 3080" | Jojarib |
3082 | יְהוֹנָדָב | Yehownadab | Jehovah & nadab [# 5068] | Jehonadab |
3122 | יוֹנָדָב | Yownadab | "a form of 3082" | Jonadab |
3083 | יְהוֹנָתָן | Yehownathan | Jehovah & nathan [# 5414] | Jehonathan |
3129 | יוֹנָתָן | Yownathan | "a form of 3083" | Jonathan |
3085 | יְהוֹעַדָּה | Yehow'addah | Jehovah & 'adah [# 5710] | Jehoaddah |
3087 | יְהוֹצָדָק | Yehowtsadaq | Jehovah & tsadaq [# 6663] | Jehotsadak |
3136 | יוֹצָדָק | Yowtsadaq | "a form of 3087" | Jotsadak |
3088 | יְהוֹרָם | Yehowram | Jehovah & ruwm [# 7311] | Jehoram |
3141 | יוֹרָם | Yowram | "a form of 3088" | Joram |
3092 | יְהוֹשָפָט | Yehowshaphat | Jehovah & shaphat [# 8199] | Jehoshaphat |
3146 | יוֹשָפָט | Yowshaphat | "a form of 3092" | Joshaphat |
After the Roman conquest of Greece in the first century BC, Latin adopted the Greek letters Y and Z. It was not until the Middle Ages that the letter W (originally a ligature of V and V) was added to the Latin alphabet, to represent sounds from the Germanic languages which did not exist in medieval Latin, and only after the Renaissance did the convention of treating I and U as vowels, and J and V as consonants, become established. Prior to that, the former had been merely allographs of the latter.
About the eighth century AD the Hebrew Waw was abandoned for Vav, possibly as a Germanic influence upon the Hebrew language.