Bye, James
From A collection of short essays. Project references reflect the source essay; see our current status.
New Zealand will possibly change its name to Aotearoa within the next few years. Although a decision either way will have people strongly for and strongly against it, it’s part of a general trend in a number of countries towards showing more respect to languages other than just English. As a result, some NZ places have changed their names back to their Māori names, and for others that had always retained them, we’ve been educated about how to pronounce them more correctly.
Sadly this respect movement hasn’t reached the world of Bible names yet. But before we go there, I must first point out that I personally find Aotearoa a bit more difficult to spell and to pronounce correctly than the more familiar New Zealand, so it does take a bit of effort (often preceded by a bit of ‘unlearning’). And of course, it will cost huge dollars for all the rebranding, so it’s not an easy decision. It’s easiest to do nothing. But not always best.
For example, most English Bible readers aren’t aware that there never was any person called ‘James’ in the New Testament. His name was nothing at all like that. So what should it be? Well from Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iakōbos) there’s a number of options including ‘Jacob’, ‘Jacobus’, ‘Yakōbos’, and more. John Wycliffe was aware of that when he translated the New Testament from the Latin in the 1300s because when Latin ‘Iacomus’ referred to the Old Testament character, he used ‘Jacob’ instead. But since then, English translation after translation, revision after revision, and edition after edition have nearly all continued to wrongly call the NT characters (and the letter) ‘James’.
The forthcoming & exciting Open English Translation of the Bible (OET) is an attempt to pioneer in making some vital changes to the art of English Bible translation. Yeah, it’ll take extra effort for readers, and many will resist. But what if even a couple of Jews said, “Wow, at last these Christians are starting to show a little more respect to the names of some of our ancestors.”
We’re just skimming the surface here (there’s lots more underneath), but do watch this space. (Complete OET first draft completed in August 2026.)
Robert Hunt
Freely-Given.org
May 2023 updated Sept 2026
(For more on ‘James’, see https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-versions-and-translations/james-or-jacob-in-the-bible/)