Understanding the English and Greek New Testament
in the Light of Yahweh's Language, which is 'Hebrew'
(Rotherham Emphasized Bible, Our Rosetta Stone)
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We must realize that throughout our English Bibles there are thousands of linguistic errors, due to our fathers who came before us. We can choose to imitate our forefathers by carrying on their errors to the next generation or we can correct these linguistic errors so our children, a new generation, can walk in truths unknown to our forefathers.  The Creator, our Father whose name is Yahweh, has unveiled himself to us by his creation and by his written words. His words are Hebrew words, which require us to enter the Hebrew world in order that we may fully receive his revelation that was poured out unto us over thousands of years. All of the writers of the Word of Yahweh were Hebrew prophets. Yahoshua, the only-begotten Son of Yahweh, was a Hebrew; his twelve Apostles were Hebrews; the Apostle Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Yahoshua spoke to Saul, the future Apostle Paul, on the road to Damascus in the Hebrew language not the Greek language. The sign posted on our Lord's cross was in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Why is this important? The New Testament (that we have today) is written in the Greek language, which has been translated to us in English. Unlike the Hebrew language, the Greek and English languages were not founded upon Yahweh and his teachings; they lack equivalent terms when it comes to Yahweh's revelation. The majority of people are presently reading an English Bible that was poorly translated (the Rotherham Bible being an exception) from three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; Hebrew came first, Greek came second and English came third. When the Word of Yahweh is read, the English words in our Bibles must always be submissive to the Greek and Hebrew words of our Father; the Greek words must be submissive to the Hebrew words. The Hebrew language, as used in the Word of Yahweh, is our foundation upon which we must build our foundation of truth.

(This article's purpose is to enlighten our eyes even more to the truths that set men free, beholding indescribable wonders and beauties that exist in the Word of Yahweh. We must understand that people do not need the entire book to receive salvation. A person could learn about Yahweh, the creation, the fall of man, the Savior of man, the salvation of man and the reinstatement of man upon a New Earth with a book that would consist of the first three chapters of Genesis, the first two chapters of Acts and the last three chapters of Revelation; an eight chapter book with a compilation of 6,693 words. The total Word of Yahweh, I am told, consists of 774,746 words. This article is for those who desire more than eight chapters; those that desire every last one of Yahweh's words unveiled in their true light as Yahweh meant them to be understood.)

Hebrew (sabbath), Greek (apostle) and English are the languages we use to communicate Yahweh's truths. Most Christians only read their English Bible which can cause many problems because most English translations are not literal and they have been corrupted in order to please man. What is needed to correct these linguistic corruptions is a Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granite stone inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis, Egypt in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek. Because it presents essentially the same text in all three scripts (with some minor differences between them), it provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Rotherham's Emphasized Bible, along with Hebrew and Greek materials, such as Strong's Concordance, TWOT and TDNT, are acting as our Rosetta Stone, unlocking the true meaning of our Father's Glorious Revelation. For example, we read in Acts 2:34, "For, David, hath not ascended into the heavens; but he saith, himself,––Said the Lord unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand," which is a quote from Psalms 110:1. The phrase, 'Said the Lord unto my Lord,' appears to be confusing. We examine the Greek text and it says basically the same thing by saying, 'Said the kurios unto my kurios,' kurios meaning lord. We then look at Psalms 110:1 in the popular Bibles and it reads, 'The LORD said to my Lord,' which has not answered our question. We then check our Rosetta Stone (the Rotherham Bible) it reads, 'The declaration of Yahweh to my Lord,' which then answers our question. Our Hebrew study aids and text will confirm that Rotherham has translated correctly. The Greek text said 'kurios,' in Acts 2:23 but what is meant in its first usage is 'Yahweh,' as seen in Psalms 110:1.

Another example would be Psalms 23, 'The Lord is my Shepherd.' If you ask other Christians, who is the shepherd in this Psalm, they will say Jesus, but this is incorrect. The Rotherham Bible reads, 'Yahweh, is my shepherd––I shall not want,' which is confirmed by the Hebrew text. An additional example would be John the Immerser when he was proclaiming in Matthew 3:3, "...prepare ye the way of the Lord." The majority of Christians will say that this lord is Jesus, when in fact it is not the word 'lord,' at all but rather the Hebrew word is, 'Yahweh.' Isaiah 40:3 states, "...prepare ye the way of Yahweh." Christians then may say, well, 'Jesus is Yahweh,' which is also incorrect. Psalms 110:1 states, "The declaration of Yahweh to my Lord––Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool;" Yahoshua is sitting at the right hand of Yahweh; Yahweh is not sitting at Yahweh’s right hand. Yahweh is Yahweh and his Son, who he named, 'Yahoshua,' is Yahoshua. Psalm 2:7 decalres, "Let me tell of a decree,––Yahweh, hath said unto me, My son, thou art, I, today, have begotten thee." Yahoshua is not Yahweh, his own Father but rather he is the Son of Yahweh.

The first record, that we are aware of, of Yahweh writing Hebrew words, was on the table of stones on the mount. In order to fully understand our Father's Word, we must enter the world of the Hebrews. Robert Young, the author of Young's Concordance and Young's Bible, stated, "There are two modes of translation which may be adopted in rendering into our own langu­age the writings of an ancient author; the one is, to bring him before us in such a manner as that we may regard him as our own; the other, to transport ourselves, on the contrary, over to him, adopting his situation modes of speaking, thinking, acting,—peculiarities of age and race, air, gesture, voice, etc. Each of these plans has its advantages, but the latter is incomparably the better of the two, being suited—not for the ever-varying modes of thinking and acting of the men of the fifth, or the tenth, or the fifteenth, or some other century, but—for all ages alike. All attempts to make Moses or Paul act, or speak, or reason, as if they were Englishmen of the nineteenth century, must inevitably tend to change the translator into a  commentator, characters which, however useful, stand altogether apart from that of him, who, with a work before him in one language, seeks only to transfer it into another."

The Hebrew and Greek language are similar when it comes to expressing the Creation, such as words for the sun, moon, sea, donkey, sister, water etc. etc. The Hebrew word for sun is shemesh while the Greek word is helios. They both refer to our English word sun and there is nothing lost in the translation from Hebrew to Greek to English or to any other language. A problem occurs when a Hebrew word is translated into Greek and the Greek language has no equivalent word, such as in the case of the Hebrew word, 'Sheol.' The Greeks, being a heathen nation, had no Sheol in their language. The closest word they had to Sheol was Hades but Hades in no way expresses the concept of Sheol. Hades is a Greek god who rules the Greek underworld. His abode was also called Hades. The word Hades is used eleven times in the Greek New Testament but when we compare these usages with the Hebrew Old Testament we discover that the New Testament writers were actually meaning Sheol and not Hades, as can be seen below:

"For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol, neither wilt thou suffer thy man of lovingkindness, to see corruption:" (Ps. 16:10)

"Because thou wilt not abandon my soul unto hades, neither wilt thou give thy man of lovingkindness to see corruption;" (Acts 2:27)

When reading the New Testament, we should say the Hebrew word Sheol when we see the Greek word Hades, because that is what is meant. Sheol is a Hebrew word from Yahweh while Hades is a Greek word dealing with Greek gods and Greek mythologies created by men. Revelation 20:14 meaning should be, "And, death and Sheol [and not hades], were cast into the lake of fire. This, is, the second death––the lake of fire." Death and Sheol are used together many times in the Old Testament as they are in the New Testament.

Our Creator's name, 'YAHWEH,' was used over six thousand times in the Hebrew Old Testament, which occupied a period of approximately four thousands years. The Greek New Testament has no record of his name but rather Yahweh is now addressed as 'Theos,' (God) or 'Kurios' (Lord).This should have caught our attention immediately but the popular translations erased Yahweh from the Old Testament a hundred years ago, allowing the error to go unnoticed. Theos and kurios are common and not proper nouns.  The Greek word, 'theos,' means, "a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities" and the Greek word, 'kurios,' means, "he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord."  The Hebrew name, 'Yahweh,' is a proper noun and has nothing to do with the above two Greek words. Yahoshua quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 in Matthew 22:37  when he said,"...Thou shalt love the Lord [kurios] thy God [theos]––with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," which is Greek but the Hebrew in Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "Thou shalt therefore love Yahweh thy Elohim,––with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” We must agree that when Matthew 22:37 says kurios what is meant is Yahweh and when it says theos what is meant is Elohim.   

Acts 2

Acts chapter two is full of these examples because the Hebrew Old Testament is quoted throughout this chapter; this is one of our Rosetta Stone examples easily seen when using the Rotherham Bible.  Acts 2:17 quotes Joel 2:27-28, which states, "…I, Yahweh, am your Elohim...I will pour out my ruah [spirit] upon all flesh..." The Greek word used in Acts for ruah (spirit) is pneuma. Yahweh poured out his ruah on the day of Pentecost according to Joel but Acts says, 'God [theos], will pour of my pneuma [spirit] upon all flesh." What Acts 2:17 meant was Yahweh and not theos and ruah and not pneuma. Ruah and pneuma have similar qualities but they are not equivalent. Ruah is Yahweh's language while pneuma is Greek. Joel continues in verse thirty-one by saying, "The sun, shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,––before the coming of the great and awful day of Yahweh," while Acts 2:20 says, "before the coming of the day of the Kurios [Lord]." This event is always called the day of Yahweh in the Hebrew Old Testament, and never the day of the Lord [adon]. The Greek New Testament will always say 'the day of the Lord' or the Lord's day but what is meant is 'the day of Yahweh,' a period of judgment, as recorded in the Old Testament. Acts 2:21 reads, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of Kurios [the Lord], shall be saved," but in Joel 2:32, the Hebrew text reads, "And it shall come to pass, whosoever, shall call on the name of Yahweh, shall be delivered." We must remember that Yahweh is a proper noun (name) while Kurios is not. Most Christians would understand Acts 2:21 to be referring to Yahoshua when it is in fact referring to his Father, Yahweh.

People make the same mistake with Acts 2:25, which states, "I foresaw Kurios [the Lord] before me continually, because he is, on my right hand, that I may not be shaken," but the Hebrew text of Psalms 16:8, from which Peter is quoting, reads, "I have set Yahweh before me continually, because he is on my right hand, I shall not be shaken!" As we continue in Peter's speech, we read in verse twenty-seven, "Because thou wilt not abandon my psuche [soul] unto hades [hades], neither wilt thou give thy man of lovingkindness to see corruption." This section of scripture is from Psalm 16:10, which reads, "For thou wilt not abandon my nephesh [soul] to Sheol, neither wilt thou suffer thy man of lovingkindness, to see corruption." Yahweh's nephesh is not equivalent to the Greeks, psuche. The Greeks taught that the psuche leaves the body upon death, while Yahweh's nephesh has no such characteristic. Nephesh’s first usage is in Genesis 1:20. When we read the Greek word, 'psuche,' what is meant is the Hebrew word, 'nephesh.'  (For more information on nephesh (soul), read the article ‘Spirit & Soul,’ in Vol. 2 of the Teleios book.)

No place in the Hebrew Old Testament is found the phrase, Adon Elohim (Lord God,) which is a phrase commonly used today. The Hebrew text says Yahweh Elohim, Adonai Yahweh and Yah Yahweh, which many Bible translations write as Lord God but the phrase Lord God is an Englishman's concoction. Lord is not a proper noun and neither is God. Our Creator gave himself proper names, which are Yahweh, Adonai, Yah and Shaddai, which are absent from the majority of all Bibles.

Ahab (love) verses Agape

Reexamining Matthew 22:37, which is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:5, we discover that the Greek word 'agape' is used in the verse;  "...Thou shalt love [agapao] the Lord [kurios] thy God [theos]––with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," while the Hebrew word, 'ahab' is what is actually used in Deuteronomy 6:5. This instructs us that when we read the word love in the New Testament it usually is the Greek word agape, which is not what is meant but rather it represents the Hebrew word, ahab. Yahweh's word is ahab, which has a different meaning than agape. The Greeks had four words for love, which are agape, eros, philia and storge but Yahweh only has one word, which is ahab (hesed not to be included). Yahweh's ahab includes all three meanings of the Greek words agape, eros and philia. (For more information on ahab, read the article, 'A Time to Love,' in Vol. 1 of the Teleios Book.)

Ruah (spirit) of Yahweh or Holy Pneuma (spirit)

Most Christians know the phrase, ‘holy spirit (pneuma),’ but they do not know the phrase, ‘the ruah (spirit) of Yahweh, which existed thousands of years before the Greek New Testament. According to the Old Testament, Yahoshua was immersed, by John the Immerser, with the ruah of Yahweh. Yahweh instructed us in Isaiah 11:1-2, that his Son would receive the ruah of Yahweh; "But there shall come forth a shoot from the stock of Jesse,––And, a sprout, from his roots, shall bear fruit; And the ruah [spirit] of Yahweh shall rest, upon him,––The ruah of wisdom and understanding, The ruah of counsel and might, The ruah of knowledge, and reverence of Yahweh." Isaiah 61:1 reaffirms this by saying, "The ruah of Adonai Yahweh, is upon me,––Because Yahweh, Hath anointed me..." Luke 4:18 is a record of Isaiah 61:1 which in the Greek text reads, "The pneuma [spirit] of the Kurios [Lord], is upon me, because he hath anointed me..." The phrase, "the ruah of Yahweh" is used twenty-four times in the Hebrew Old Testament. We need to understand Yahweh's ruah rather than the Greeks pneuma. (For more information on ruah (spirit), read the article, 'Spirit & Soul,' in Vol. 2 of the Teleios Book.)

Yahoshua (yeh-ho-shoo’- ah) or Jesus

A few names in our Bibles are correct such as Adam, David and Moses, but for some unknown reason many of the Hebrew names were not transliterated correctly into English by the Bible translators. For example, Jeremiah, in Hebrew is pronounced yir-meh-yaw’- hoo; Isaiah as yesh-ah-yaw’- hoo; Elijah as ay-lee-yaw’- hoo and Joshua as  yeh-ho-shoo’- ah. The Greek New Testament text also did not transliterate the Hebrew, which can be seen in the KJV of the Bible. This translation transliterated the Greek names into English. Jeremiah in Greek is called Jeremy; Isaiah is Esaias; Elijah is Elias and Joshua is Jesus. Joseph and Mary's real Hebrew names are Yowceph and Miriam and their first born son's name is not Jesus but Yahoshua.  If a person wants to retain the incorrect name of our Lord as Jesus, it should be their duty to inform others that even though they say Jesus, his name is actually not Jesus but Yahoshua, the same name as Yahoshua (Joshua) the servant of Moses (Num. 13:16).

Yahweh saying or Holy Spirit saying

Hebrews 10:15-16 says, "But even the holy spirit beareth us witness; for, after having said––This is the covenant which I will covenant unto them after these days, saith the Lord [kurios],––Giving my laws upon their hearts, upon their understandings also, will I inscribe them... but this is a quote from Jeremiah 31:32-33 which states, "...Declareth Yahweh. For, this, is the covenant which I will solemnize with the house of Israel, after those days, Declareth Yahweh, I will put my law within, them, Yea, on their heart, will I write it,––So will I become their, Elohim, And, they, shall become my, people." The Greek text of Hebrew 10:15-16 reads holy spirit but what is meant is Yahweh as can be seen in the Hebrew text of Jeremiah 3:32-33.

The Word of Yahweh said or the Holy Spirit said

A very common phrase in the Hebrew Old Testament is, "the word of Yahweh came saying...;" "After these things, came the word of Yahweh unto Abram, in a vision, saying,––Do not fear, Abram, I, am a shield to thee, thine exceeding great reward" (Gen. 15:1). The phrase, 'the word of Yahweh came saying,' paints a picture in motion, as if the word of Yahweh was its own entity; a separate being apart from Yahweh, but this is not the case, as illustrated in Jer. 1:11-12, which states, "Moreover the Word of Yahweh came unto me, saying, What canst thou see, Jeremiah? And I said, A twig of an almond–tree, can I see. Then said Yahweh unto me––Thou hast rightly seen,––for, keeping watch, am I, over my word, to perform it." The word of Yahweh came saying is equivalent to saying Yahweh said. The phrase, 'the word of Yahweh came saying,' does not exist in the Greek text of the New Testament.

If you ask most Christians where the Bible came from they will quote 2 Peter 1:21, which says, "for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy spirit" (NKJV). What they should have said is that the Bible came from the 'mouth (peh) of Yahweh. The Old Testament also states that the prophets were instructed by the word of Yahweh, as illustrated in 1 Kings 18:1, which states, "And it came to pass, after many days, that, the word of Yahweh, came unto Elijah, in the third year, saying,––Go, shew thyself unto Ahab, that I may send rain upon the face of the ground." The Greek text of Acts 13:2 states, "And, as they [prophets and teachers] were publicly ministering unto the Lord and fasting, the holy spirit said––Separate forthwith unto me, Barnabas and Saul, unto the work whereunto I have called them." What is meant by 'the holy spirit said,' is 'the word of Yahweh came saying,' or 'Yahweh said.' The phrase 'Yahweh said,' is used over one hundred times in the Hebrew Old Testament. Yahweh spoke directly to Adam and Eve, to Cain, to Noah, to Abram, to Moses etc. etc. In the Greek New Testament, the phrase, 'the word of Yahweh came saying' or 'Yahweh said' does not exist.

The book of Revelation is full of accounts that read, 'the pneuma (spirit) is saying,' which is unique to this book only. For example, Revelation 2:7 says, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what, the pneuma (spirit), is saying unto the assemblies." We can reference 2 Samuel 23:2-3, which expresses a similar idiom; "The ruah [spirit] of Yahweh, spake in me [David],––And, his word, was on my tongue; Said the Elohim of Israel, Unto me, spake the Rock of Israel...(2 Sa. 23:2-3). This verse gives us three references to who was speaking to David; the ruah of Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel and the Rock of Israel, in other words, Yahweh, who is the Elohim of Israel and is also the Rock of Israel, was speaking to David, by way of ruah. Yahweh is not in the New Testament but we can understand what is meant when the phrase, 'the pneuma (spirit) is saying,' is used, which is 'the ruah of Yahweh is saying,' or 'the word of Yahweh came saying.'

(Yahweh did all the speaking to mankind until his Son, Yahoshua started his ministry. Yahoshua only then spoke what his Father told him. Yahoshua Christ died and was awaken (egeiro) from the dead being seated at Yahweh's right hand in the heavenlies and it appears that the revelation that came for the books of the New Testament came from Christ who still speaks the words of his Father, the words of Yahweh.)

Conclusion

What is absent from the Greek New Testament as well as from the English language are Hebrew names, words and phrases. We must recognize this important fact and adjust our thinking and speaking accordingly by adding these important Hebrew names, phrases and words into our lives. When someone uses the English word, 'Hell,' we should ask to what Hebrew word are you referring to. When someone teaches about man's soul we should ask, ‘Are you referring to the Hebrew word nephesh because the usage of the word nephesh does not have that meaning?’ When someone uses the word, 'Lord,' we should ask them do you mean Yahweh or the Lord Yahoshua? The phrase, 'The word of Yahweh came saying,' is not in the Greek New Testament and neither is the name Yahweh! This should not cause us a problem because the Hebrew Old Testament has instructed us where we are to substitute the Hebrew words for the Greek words. The Creators names are not the Greek terms, 'theos' (God) or 'kurios,' (Lord) but rather Yahweh, Yah, Adonai and Shaddai, even though the Greek text states otherwise. The Creator’s names are also not the English terms, 'the Lord,' or 'God,' even though our English translations state otherwise. As we read our Bibles, we can correct the written vocabulary with what is meant. In the New Testament, when God and Lord are used as proper nouns for the Creator, we can replace them with Yahweh. When God is used as a common noun we can replace it with Elohim. For example, 'Yahweh is my Elohim (God).' We should replace the Greek word with their Hebrew counterpart when the Greek word does not express what is meant by the Hebrew word, such as nephesh for psuche, ahab for agape, Sheol for Hades, Yahweh for kurios, ruah for pneuma etc.  The Hebrew language is the foundation of the Word of Yahweh and not Greek. Recognizing and correcting these linguistic flaws (correcting what is written to what is meant) is simple; doing so enlightens a new generation by raising them up to a higher standard of excellence, making the Word of Yahweh a book consisting of one holy language.       

(For footnotes, read the PDF version.)

(When quoting scriptures, from the Rotherham Emphasized Bible New Testament, I will substitute the Hebrew words
Yahoshua (yeh-ho-shoo’- ah) for Jesus, Yahweh and Elohim for God and the LORD and ruah for pneuma (spirit).)