Lost in Translation
A 12-Part Exploration of how the Language, Worldview, and Meaning of the Bible shifted over time
Introduction
You’ve been saying His name wrong your whole life.
His mother called Him Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ). You call Him Jesus.
Those aren’t translations. They’re different names. One means “YHWH saves.” The other... doesn’t mean anything in English.
And it’s not just His name. His Father’s name—YHWH (יהוה) or Yahweh—appears 7,000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Your Bible says “the LORD.” A title, not a name. Medieval scholars invented “Jehovah” by accident. There’s no J in Hebrew.
If the names got changed, what else did?
The Telephone Game
In 2008, 1,330 children and celebrities set a world record for the game of Telephone at Emirates Stadium in London. The exercise lasted 2 hours and 4 minutes.
The starting message: “Together we will make a world of difference”
Halfway through the chain: “We’re setting a record”
By the end: “Haaaaa”
Just 2 hours. 1,330 people. Complete distortion.
Not two hours. but two thousand years.
Not one sentence, but the most important message ever spoken.
Not a single oral whisper chain, but layer upon layer of language, culture, and worldview transmitted and translated over time.
The message passed through:
Hebrew Oral Tradition (Creation to Moses)
Hebrew Scribes (Moses to Greek translation)
Septuagint Translators (3rd-2nd century BC)
Yeshua in Aramaic (1st century AD)
Gospel Writers in Greek (50-90 AD)
Greek Church Fathers (2nd-5th century)
Jerome & the Latin Vulgate (Late 4th-5th century)
Medieval Scholastics (11th-15th century)
Protestant Reformers (16th century)
King James Translators (1611)
Enlightenment Readers (17th-19th century)
Modern Translations (20th century)
Contemporary Evangelicals (Late 20th-21st century)
You (Right now)
At each stage, faithful people transmitted what they received.
Every generation was faithful to what it received but was reading and interpreting it through it’s own world and worldview.
The Problem Runs Deeper Than You Think
Here’s what makes this even more tragic:
Most Christians have never read the entire Bible.
Not even close. They haven’t read entire books, not Romans straight through, not Matthew in one sitting, not Isaiah as a coherent prophecy. What they know about Scripture comes from Sunday School, sermon snippets, and inspirational Instagram quotes. Verses ripped from their context in the book they came from, which is already out of context because of two thousand years of telephone game distortion.
Ask the average believer what the Bible says about salvation, and they’ll quote Romans 10:9 without knowing what Paul was wrestling with it in Romans 9-11. They’ll cite Ephesians 2:8-9 without reading verse 10. They’ll recite John 3:16 without understanding what “eternal life” meant to a first-century Jew.
They’re not reading Scripture. They’re repeating what they’ve been told Scripture says.
But here’s what’s even more remarkable: Even if you were to read the entire Bible cover to cover as it’s currently translated, you’d start to see the contradictions.
“Once saved, always saved” vs. Hebrews’ warnings about falling away
“Faith alone” vs. James saying “faith without works is dead”
“Go to heaven when you die” vs. a Kingdom breaking into the present
The contradictions aren’t in Scripture itself—they’re between what Scripture actually says and what popular Christianity claims it says.
The Words That Shifted
Hebrew emunah (covenant faithfulness in action) became Greek pistis (intellectual belief)
Hebrew tzedek (right relationship and justice) became Greek dikaiosyne (legal status)
Hebrew chayei olam (life of the age to come) became Greek zoe aionios (eternal life = heaven someday)
Same texts. Completely different worlds viewed through different cultural lenses.
The Telephone Result
Yeshua’s Aramaic: “Remain in covenant faithfulness with me and bear the fruit of kingdom life”
Greek translation: “Have faith and do righteous works”
Latin: “Believe church doctrine and do penance”
Reformation: “Accept justification by faith alone”
Today: “Say the sinner’s prayer, get your heaven ticket, Jesus is your life coach”
Each generation faithful to what they received.
Each step farther from what Yeshua actually said.
But Here’s the Game-Changer
You, reading this right now, have resources in your pocket that didn’t exist outside elite seminary libraries five years ago.
Not too long ago, you needed a PhD and institutional access to examine ancient manuscripts. Just a few years ago, most Aramaic lexicons were still locked behind academic paywalls. Now?
Aramaic Peshitta: One click away
Dead Sea Scrolls: Digitized and free
Hebrew/Greek interlinears: In every Bible app
First-century Jewish context: YouTube videos
Scholarly debates: No longer behind paywalls
Almost all of the barriers have been eliminated and so have the excuses.
This isn’t accident. This is providence.
Is it possible that Yahweh allowed the distortion to test us.? Is He now through technology and globalization, removing the barriers at the exact moment institutional Christianity is seemingly collapsing under its own contradictions.
The Question
For nearly two thousand years, people believed disease came from bad air or divine punishment, not because they were foolish, but because they lacked the tools to see germs. Once the tools existed, the truth didn’t change; it simply became visible.
The question isn’t: “Can I trust the Bible?”
The question is whether we’re willing to do the same with Scripture now that the tools to see clearly are finally in our hands.
Am I willing to read the Bible with the aid of the Holy Spirit in the way it was meant to be read, in its original languages, context, and covenant framework, even if that shatters everything I was taught?
What’s Coming: A 12-Part Series
Over the next 12 posts, we’re going to trace exactly how this happened, why God allowed it, and how you can recover what was lost.
Posts 1-2: THE NAMES
The name you’re saying wrong (Yeshua, Jesus, Joshua)
The name you don’t know (YHWH, Yahweh, LORD, Jehovah)
Posts 3-7: THE TELEPHONE GAME - WORLDVIEW SHIFTS
Hebrew language & 1st Temple worldview
Aramaic language & 2nd Temple worldview
Greek language & Hellenistic worldview
Latin language & Medieval worldview
English (KJV to Modern) & Contemporary worldview
Posts 8-9: THE KEY WORD SHIFTS
Faith, righteousness, and what really changed
Kingdom, salvation, eternal life redefined
Posts 10-12: THE RECOVERY
Is it still God’s word? (Sovereignty, preservation, and the test)
Why NOW is different (The tools you have)
How to start reading with Hebrew eyes (Following The Way)
This Is Following The Way
Not a denomination. Not a new religion.
The ancient path Yeshua actually walked, in the language He actually spoke, in the world He actually lived in.
Rooted in the entirety of Scripture. Centered on His actual words. Freed from 2,000 years of telephone game distortion.
The treasure is there. The map is free. The barriers are gone.
All that’s required: Humility to admit you might be wrong. Courage to dig. And the faith to ask the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirt) to guide you on this journey.
Ready?
Let’s recover what was lost.