Page 74 - Yahwehs Book

Nehemyah for Nehemiah
Mattithyahu for Matthew
Yohanan for John

With these renderings, the Hebrew character of these names are preserved. Additionally, one can
easily see how the name “Yah” and the Hebrew word “El” were constituent parts of many
individual’s names. Yah is an abbreviated form of Yahweh that occurs 49 times in the Old
Testament, and a great many more times as a part of an individual’s name. The word “El” is
translated into English as “God.”

The names of Biblical characters are pregnant with meaning, and for this reason they should be
clarified rather than obscured. Surely Satan has worked hard to sow confusion into the pages of
Scriptures that truth might be hidden from the eyes of Yahweh’s people. Following are some Bible
names and their meanings.

Nehemyah/Nehemiah: comforted by Yahweh
Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah: Yahweh has uplifted
Obadyah/Obadiah: Servant of Yahweh
Shemu’el/Samuel: El (God) has heard
Yehezqel/Ezekiel: El (God) strengthens

This small sampling of names reveals the great importance of Biblical names. The names of men and
women oftentimes bore testimony of some aspect of God’s character, or of man’s relationship to his
Creator. Many names were prophetic. Ancient cultures set great importance upon names. This is why
we observe men like Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael being given new names by the King
of Babylon when they were taken into captivity. Their Hebrew names were laid aside and new names
honoring the gods of Babylon were assigned to them.

Daniel, whose name meant “(El) God is my judge,” had his name changed to Belteshazzar which
means “Bel (Baal) is the keeper of secrets.” Hananiah, whose name meant “Yah has graciously
given” had his name changed to Shadrach which is possibly derived from Shudur Aku meaning
“command of Aku (the moon god).” Azariah, whose Hebrew name meant “helped of Yah” had his
name changed to Abednego which means “servant of Nebo.” Mishael, whose Hebrew name meant
“Who is like (El) God,” had his name changed to Meshach which means “who is what Aku is?” We
see in these names that both the Hebrews and the Babylonians were fond of choosing names that
honored their deity/deities.

The study of Biblical names can be highly rewarding. What is certain is that most of the English
Bibles today have hindered, rather than helped, students of the Scriptures to discover the wealth of
insight to be gleaned from Biblical names.