That's Easy for You to Say: Your Quick Guide to Pronouncing Bible Names, 3rd ed.
Overview
The speaker starts well. Introduction hooks you. Content is promising. Flow is logical. And then—the speaker mispronounces a word. This need not happen to you next time you speak. You can approach your next sermon, devotion, or Bible study with the confidence that you know how to pronounce all of the Bible names in the text you’re dealing with.
That’s Easy for You to Say includes the acceptable pronunciation of every proper name in every major translation of the Bible. Guidelines are based on Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic speech, plus the most widely accepted modern English usage. In addition to helping you pronounce over 7,000 words, That’s Easy for You to Say has a new section which gives the meaning of Bible names for which the meaning is known.
Top Highlights
“The ‘s’ in the Hebrew word Masada has no direct equivalent in English. A better transliteration of the name to English would be Metzada or Metsada. Since there were no written vowels in Hebrew until the Massoretes added them in the ninth century a.d., vowel sounds affecting pronunciation changed through the centuries, becoming yet another problem. This fact is graphically demonstrated in the origin of the word Palestine being a corruption of Philistine. Harden the ‘P’ by removing the ‘h,’ change the vowels, and ‘Palestine’ appears almost magically.” (Page 5)
“English has this one great difficulty—its chaotic spelling. It is perhaps the most irregularly spelled phonic language” (Page 8)
“Jehoshabeath jee hoh SHAB ih ath” (Page 92)
“A comparison of names in the five versions revealed the differences between versions and translations. Compared to the King James Version, there are 752 differences in the New American Standard Bible, 1,039 in the New International Version, 933 in the Revised Standard Version, and 1,188 in the Today’s English Version! Of the 3,492 names, how could up to one-third of the names vary?” (Page 3)
“Hebrew and Greek with English equivalents. All three start with ‘a’ and ‘b.’ Greek points out more graphically where the term ‘alphabet’ (alpha beta) originated. From that point on, no two alphabets agree completely, either in number of letters or in the sounds produced.” (Page 5)
- Title: That’s Easy For You to Say: Your Quick Guide to Pronouncing Bible Names
- Authors: W. Murray Severance, Terry W. Eddinger
- Publisher: B&H
- Print Publication Date: 1997
- Logos Release Date: 2009
- Era: era:Contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Names in the Bible › Pronunciation
- ISBNs: 9781430077930, 9781433608186, 1433608189, 143007793X
- Resource ID: LLS:EASYFORUSAY
- Resource Type: Encyclopedia
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:38:22Z
W. Murray Severance is an internationally recognized authority on the pronunciation of Bible names.
Reviews
4 ratings
JDC
10/29/2020
I've had this resource for years, but just now found this treasure. I'm not sure if it's included in the resource, or something separate that integrates with it, but mine also has audio pronunciation of the names. I've tested out a lot of scriptures with hard names, and so far, I haven't found any names that aren't included in this work. I've found a small handful that has phonetic text pronunciations, but no audio. But almost all have the audio, too. This is an amazing resource!Alex D. Boatman
12/11/2016
Just what I needed! Thank you! Is there a electronic version handbook/concordance available to teach us how to say the English words of the KJV into Hebrew and Greek words of the Old and New Testament?
Ward Walker
1/15/2012
I got more from this resource than I expected; it did give phonetic aids for English speakers to say words encountered in English-language Bibles [it is hard to read/teach when you can't pronounce the words well]. But it also (briefly) taught about some of the deeper challenges--different spellings/etc, original languages, etc. However, what I really appreciated came at the end--a roll-up of the names of God/their meanings as well as the names of people in the Bible/their meanings. I love to get surprised this way, and it scratched an itch I had for a list of the names of God.
