Why are Biblical names not translated?

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Accepted answer

Because name forms in Hebrew, are not exactly the same as their literal counterparts, even if the names denote a phrase. Thus, it's not fitting to conflate phrase with name in the English (target language) translation of the Hebrew. Names are a special word in any language, and aren't the same as saying a phrase which denotes what the name is intended to. If not in form, then in syllabic emphasis - and thus in perception.

Case in point: Yahweh (יהוה) (as I tend to think, 'Yehowah'). The name of God is a form of the Hebrew verb "to be" (ehyeh) yet doesn't exactly translate to any particular first, second, or third person form, or tense, of the verb. It is a name. "He who is" (arguably translated into Greek "ο ων").1

For example, you cite the name Eve (Hawwah). Yet, this would be thought of as neither "Life," nor literally "Source of Life" (but something approximating a mixture of both) by native speakers of the Hebrew language, since it does not conform to normal verbal or noun forms of "Life." The name Hawwah was given to Eve because she is the mother of "all the living" (kol Haii), just as Yeshua is given to Jesus because "he shall save (yoshia) his people from their sins." It's not the word "Saviour," nor the verb "He shall save," yet conveys identity; even though the best meaning translation is "Saviour."

Thus it's not fitting to translate names into literal meanings where neither the target (e.g. English) nor source (i.e. Hebrew) language conflates the two, because this betrays, rather than portays, the original language.

1 Cf. Wis. 13:1

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