Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Let's include Paul too.

[Twilight Hue]

Are they actually Middle Eastern names?

They sound a lot more like Middle English in origin.

Compared with names from the Old Testament, it seems there's a huge disconnect between the names mentioned in the New Testament as compared with names mentioned in the Old Testament which certainly sounds more indigenous to the area.

Don't you find that a bit odd?

 

[Mister Silver]

Don't you find that a bit odd?

Indeed.

 

[Kemosloby]

"I'll give you a white stone and a new name" Simon became Peter and that's probably not what the quote meant anyway, but I don't think anyone remembers them for their names, they remember them for what they said and done.

 

[Glaurung]

Names change as they are transcribed from one language to another.

They sound a lot more like Middle English in origin.

It's the other way around. Christian cultures took many of their common names (in their various forms) from the Bible. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (in any language) would have sounded pretty exotic to the ear of a first century Anglo-Saxon.

Compared with names from the Old Testament

We're talking of a time span of thousands of years. And an area being controlled by Hellenistic powers would have caused cultural and linguistic shifts over time. You're forgetting that by the time of Christ Greek had become the lingua franca and having a Greek and an Aramaic name would have been common. (e.g Peter/Cephas). Heck, I do the same thing for the French speakers in my family (by taking the closest French equivalent) as my true name is hard to pronounce in French.

 

[Muslim-UK]

The 4 Gospel writers are anonymous and not a Single one of them met Jesus, peace be upon him. His Disciples were mostly poor Aramaic speaking fishermen from Galilee, whereas the Gospel writers appear to be highly literate Greek writers well versed in Greek mythology.

 

[BSM1]

I'm surprised that there's not a Fred in there somewhere.

 

[Rival]

Matthew (Mattityahu) and John (Yochannan) are Hebrew names, but because the Christian testament is written in Greek they come to us via their Greek and also Latin forms. Paul was known as Saul (Sha'ul) before his conversion. There are plenty of Hebrew names in the Christian writings.

 

[idav]

Are they actually Middle Eastern names?

They sound a lot more like Middle English in origin.

Compared with names from the Old Testament, it seems there's a huge disconnect between the names mentioned in the New Testament as compared with names mentioned in the Old Testament which certainly sounds more indigenous to the area.

Don't you find that a bit odd?

What I find odd is the New Testament characters changing their names at every new journey.

 

[Grandliseur]

Are they actually Middle Eastern names?

They sound a lot more like Middle English in origin.

Compared with names from the Old Testament, it seems there's a huge disconnect between the names mentioned in the New Testament as compared with names mentioned in the Old Testament which certainly sounds more indigenous to the area.

Don't you find that a bit odd?

Well, I am not going to do your homework for you; you should be able to devote a few hours if necessary to this.

You do realize that at that time, Rome was the governing power, Greek and Roman (Italian today) were the languages used by many. While I lived in the Congo, (Brazzaville) they said they had about 50 or local languages among a population of ca. 1.5 million at that time. Because of this, French and another local language (escapes me now) were the languages of communication for when speaking to people outside your own community.

I believe (don't really care enough to check anymore) that several of the Gospels and probably many of the letters were written in Greek. If you check the word John in Hebrew, you will find it quite different. Peter also would be quite different.

Thus, you need to check their Hebrew variation, their Greek one, and finally how it came to be in English.
Are these names extremely popular in English speaking languages, or other European languages? Perhaps that is the reason you are so familiar with them. Perhaps, because of Rome, and Greece, these names had also become popular in that variation.

Make a study of it instead of using it to put doubt on scripture.
Did you know that e.g. the Japanese language has become so Anglicized that I here now claim that a person from the year 1900 from Okinawa would not understand the young today, and this might be true also for mainland Japanese!

If this happens in just 100 years or even in 50 with I suspect may also somewhat true, why would the internalization in Palestine be different with Rome so prevalent there and with Greek influence over the last few centuries!

 

[metis]

I believe (don't really care enough to check anymore) that several of the Gospels and probably many of the letters were written in Greek.

All the NT books were written in Koine Greek, although there's one quote from Jesus that actually is in Aramaic.

 

[Grandliseur]

All the NT books were written in Koine Greek, although there's one quote from Jesus that actually is in Aramaic.

Now you challenge my memory which is not hard to do; so, I am going to check this. I believe without checking first, that Matthew was written in Aramaic, and now I am checking it:

I am quoting a reference work here:

External evidence to the effect that Matthew originally wrote this Gospel in Hebrew reaches as far back as Papias of Hierapolis, of the second century C.E. Eusebius quoted Papias as stating: “Matthew collected the oracles in the Hebrew language.” (The Ecclesiastical History, III, XXXIX, 16) Early in the third century, Origen made reference to Matthew’s account and, in discussing the four Gospels, is quoted by Eusebius as saying that the “first was written . . . according to Matthew, who was once a tax-collector but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, . . . in the Hebrew language.” (The Ecclesiastical History, VI, XXV, 3-6) The scholar Jerome (of the fourth and fifth centuries C.E.) wrote in his work De viris inlustribus (Concerning Illustrious Men), chapter III, that Matthew “composed a Gospel of Christ in Judaea in the Hebrew language and characters for the benefit of those of the circumcision who had believed. . . .​

This point about what language things are written in, what point does that serve to this discussion?

​

 

[metis]

Now you challenge my memory which is not hard to do; so, I am going to check this. I believe without checking first, that Matthew was written in Aramaic,

As you quoted, that has been theorized but is not accepted in theological circles as if it's a fact. It's sometimes referred to a "Proto-Matthew", btw.

We run across all sorts of theological dilemmas such as did Matthew write Matthew? There's no way of telling, especially since sometimes their disciples wrote for them or wrote on their own but attached their mentor's name to what they wrote. At least a couple of Paul's writings fall into the latter category.

 

[David T]

Are they actually Middle Eastern names?

They sound a lot more like Middle English in origin.

Compared with names from the Old Testament, it seems there's a huge disconnect between the names mentioned in the New Testament as compared with names mentioned in the Old Testament which certainly sounds more indigenous to the area.

Don't you find that a bit odd?

Uranus!!!! Very much not old testament and why science naked ((oops typo (left (why the brackets)) a planet from a body part I have zero idea!!!