Wednesday, June 22, 2011

John the Baptizer's Name - Bible vs Koran

Both the Bible and Quran recorded the naming of John the Baptizer.

Luke 1:13 ESV
But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

Luke 1:59-61 ESV
And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John." And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name."

Surah 19:7
Sahih International
[He was told], "O Zechariah, indeed We give you good tidings of a boy whose name will be John. We have not assigned to any before [this] name."
Muhsin Khan
(Allah said) "O Zakariya (Zachariah)! Verily, We give you the glad tidings of a son, His name will be Yahya (John). We have given that name to none before (him)."
Pickthall
(It was said unto him): O Zachariah! Lo! We bring thee tidings of a son whose name is John; we have given the same name to none before (him).
Yusuf Ali
(His prayer was answered): "O Zakariya! We give thee good news of a son: His name shall be Yahya: on none by that name have We conferred distinction before."
Shakir
O Zakariya! surely We give you good news of a boy whose name shall be Yahya: We have not made before anyone his equal.
Dr. Ghali
"O Zakariyya, surely We give you good tidings of a youth whose name is Yahya (John). No namesake have We given him earlier."

In the Bible, the neighbors and relatives objected to the name John because none of their relatives is called by the name. In the Quran, Allah told Zakariya (i.e. Zechariah) that the name Yahya (i.e. John) was never given to anyone before.

The name John is derived from the Greek name Ιωαννης (Ioannes), which was in turned derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan), which means "YHWH is Gracious". In Arab, it is يحيى (Yahya).

Yochanan (spelled as Johanan in ESV) was found in the Bible in Old Testament before John the Baptizer was named.

No comments: