One thing that has always intrigued me about the English version of the Old Testament were how the names, the Hebrew names, were modified away from a Hebrew pronunciation. Sometimes the names are close and sometimes not even. The key to pronouncing a Hebrew name or any Hebrew word is that he accent is always syllable .
In some cases, a Greek/Latin pronunciation is used, in others, Middle English.
Here are some examples.
|Testament name||Language||Hebrew Transliteration||Other|
|Abram (Abraham)||Hebrew||Av-ram (Av-ra-hahm)|
|Isaac||Latin from Greek||Yitz-chak|
|Jacob||Latin from Greek||Ya-ah-kov|
|Joseph||Latin from Greek||Yo-sef|
|Moses||Latin from Greek||Mo-sheh|
|Aaron||Latin from Greek||Ah-ha-ron|
|Samuel||Latin from Greek||Schmu-el|
|Saul||Latin from Greek||Sha-ool|
|Jeremiah||Latin from Greek||Yirm-ya-hoo|
It seems the furthest one away from the original is EVE. Her Hebrew name is Chavah (yes, like Fiddler on the Roof) and it means “Giving Life.” Because she is the “Mother of all living.” (Gen 3:20). Some have said that Eve was chosen because it is close to EVIL.” And early Christian belief is that the fall brought evil into this world and it was Eve’s fault. And we, as Latter-Day Saints know, nothing could be farther from the truth.
The rest seem nothing more than differences in transliteration from one language to another. However, the other set of names that has always amused me is Elijah and Elisha. People always seem to mix them up because in English pronunciation the names are similar, yet in Hebrew, it is very easy to tell them apart. Eliyahoo versus Elisha.