How do you know how to pronounce some of the words in the Bible?
It is true that there are some words that are difficult to pronounce, even for the priest! The Bible was written in languages other than English. The Old Testament was mostly written in Hebrew (although there are a couple of books written originally in Greek). The New Testament was written in Greek. So often we come across names of people and places that are unfamiliar to us that come from those languages. Complicating this process is that the Bible was translated in Latin and so the Latinized versions of Hebrew or Greek words became traditional. Now the Bible is translated into English. Each language uses different alphabets (Latin and English use the same alphabet) and different phonetic sounds, so what is helpful in pronunciation is to know Hebrew and Greek and how to pronounce words from those languages. But even that is not super helpful because we have our own traditional ways of pronouncing certain names in English that are different than the original pronunciation in Hebrew or Greek. To make a long story short, the easiest way to learn how to pronounce names and places is to get a lector’s guide or some sort of pronunciation guide. These can be bought in a religious goods store, or sometimes you will find them within your Bible itself. When in doubt, just be confident with your pronunciation, and most likely no one will know the difference!
-Fr. Greg
