# Where Matthew, Mark, Luke and John originally called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456 "2008-06-19T10:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/1 "2008-06-19T10:58:57Z")
Where the authors of the Gospels known by the same names we use? If so were they pronounced the same as we would? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/2 "2008-06-19T11:03:38Z")
[QUOTE=essell] Where the authors of the Gospels known by the same names we use? [/quote] No. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are Anglicized versions of the original names. Matthew’s original name is pronounced something like Mat-Ay, Mark Mahr-Koss, Luke Lo-Kah and John Yo-Chah-Nan. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/3 "2008-06-19T11:05:24Z")
Were “Where” is used to refer to location. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/4 "2008-06-19T11:07:53Z")
By the way, virtually everybody in the Bible has an Anglicized name in the English translation. No-one was called that. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/5 "2008-06-19T11:24:54Z")
Jesus was Yehoshua or Yeshua, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/6 "2008-06-19T12:00:50Z")
It’s also woth notung that the Gospels aren’t self-labeled (i.e. – “This is the Gospel of John”), and that the names are traditional. You can see how the sources could be logically deduced from internal evidence (As G.A. Wells shows in his books. Wells is one of those guys who doesn’t believe in the historicity of Jesus, but, regardless of how you may feel about it, it doesn’t detract from his reasoning about deducing the origins of the names of the Gospel authors. Or even disprove their authorship, for that matter.) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/7 "2008-06-19T12:05:30Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] By the way, virtually everybody in the Bible has an Anglicized name in the English translation. No-one was called that. [/QUOTE] Are there any exceptions? ---
**Author:** ![JustThinkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@JustThinkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustThinkin)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/8 "2008-06-19T12:32:05Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] Are there any exceptions? [/QUOTE] There are several that are pretty close – we just pronounce them differently. For example, Eli would have been pronounced Eh-lee. Elizabeth would have been pronounced Eh-lee-zah-bet (not sure of the correct accent). Disclaimer: this is from my poorly remembered Hebrew classes. I can’t claim to know how the names were \*really \* pronounced at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/9 "2008-06-19T12:37:03Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] Are there any exceptions? [/QUOTE] Depends on definitions, really. None of them are spelt the same (different alphabets) and none of them are pronounced _exactly_ the same (different languages, dontchaknow, and in many cases we don’t know exactly how the person would have pronounced their own name), but there are some that are a hell of a lot closer than Matthew. Orpah from the book of Ruth, for example. About as close as you are going to get with two languages as far apart as modern English and ancient Hebrew. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/10 "2008-06-19T12:38:08Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] Are there any exceptions? [/QUOTE] My guess is that Mahershalalhashbaz is not an Anglicised name. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/11 "2008-06-19T12:41:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Were “Where” is used to refer to location. [/QUOTE] Grammer Nazi! 😛 It was a very rushed post at work. I apologise. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/12 "2008-06-19T12:52:26Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] My guess is that Mahershalalhashbaz is not an Anglicised name. 😉 [/QUOTE] You know, you might be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/13 "2008-06-19T12:59:33Z")
[QUOTE=essell] Grammer Nazi! 😛 [/QUOTE] That’d be “grammar”. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/14 "2008-06-19T15:44:14Z")
[QUOTE=essell] Grammer Nazi! 😛 It was a very rushed post at work. I apologise. [/QUOTE] Were do you work? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/15 "2008-06-19T16:07:20Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] It’s also woth notung that the Gospels aren’t self-labeled (i.e. – “This is the Gospel of John”), and that the names are traditional. You can see how the sources could be logically deduced from internal evidence (As G.A. Wells shows in his books. Wells is one of those guys who doesn’t believe in the historicity of Jesus, but, regardless of how you may feel about it, it doesn’t detract from his reasoning about deducing the origins of the names of the Gospel authors. Or even disprove their authorship, for that matter.) [/QUOTE] Yes, we don’t know who wrote the gospels (see the Staff Report: [Who wrote the Bible? (Part 4)](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbible4.html)). There are people named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who appear in the New Testament (though there’s significant doubt over whether they’re the same people who wrote the gospels). Since the New Testament was written in Greek, was it the Greek forms that were used of these names? Or were they given in Hebrew form? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/16 "2008-06-19T16:26:45Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Since the New Testament was written in Greek, was it the Greek forms that were used of these names? Or were they given in Hebrew form? [/QUOTE] Well, Luke is most likely Greek, so his name was Λουκάς - Loukas - and not originally Hebrew or Aramaic. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/17 "2008-06-19T17:31:40Z")
[QUOTE=MadTheSwine] Were do you work? [/QUOTE] Yup. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/18 "2008-06-19T18:13:51Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] Depends on definitions, really. None of them are spelt the same (different alphabets) and none of them are pronounced _exactly_ the same (different languages, dontchaknow, and in many cases we don’t know exactly how the person would have pronounced their own name), but there are some that are a hell of a lot closer than Matthew. Orpah from the book of Ruth, for example. About as close as you are going to get with two languages as far apart as modern English and ancient Hebrew. [/QUOTE] Sort of a side point, but my Latin teacher liked to point out surprise similarities. Romans would’ve pronounced “Jove” (Jupiter) as “Yahweh,” he claimed, similar to the Hebrew pronunciation of Jehovah. Going the other way, he said the Roman pronunciation of “Caesar” would have sounded similar to the German “Kaiser,” which in fact is a direct derivation. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/19 "2008-06-19T18:28:24Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] Sort of a side point, but my Latin teacher liked to point out surprise similarities. Romans would’ve pronounced “Jove” (Jupiter) as “Yahweh,” he claimed, similar to the Hebrew pronunciation of Jehovah. Going the other way, he said the Roman pronunciation of “Caesar” would have sounded similar to the German “Kaiser,” which in fact is a direct derivation. [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure he was making up the first one. Every Latin teacher I’ve ever had gave the pronunciation as “yoo-pi-tare”, including a couple of ex-Oxford dons. I have heard the Caesar ~ Kaiser thing, though. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456/20 "2008-06-19T18:30:46Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m pretty sure he was making up the first one. Every Latin teacher I’ve ever had gave the pronunciation as “yoo-pi-tare”, including a couple of ex-Oxford dons. I have heard the Caesar ~ Kaiser thing, though. > > * * * He’s clearly saying that **Jove** , in Classical Latin, is pronounced “Yo-way” (something I noticed decades ago), not that **Jupiter** is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-matthew-mark-luke-and-john-originally-called-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/453456.md?page=2)