Modern Believers Should Use Hebrew?

Overview

• The Twelve Tribes Communities believe that Hebrew will be the language of Heaven (“the Eternal Age”).

• When someone joins the Tribes, they are given a Hebrew name.

• Hebrew is also used in the Tribes for terms such as Jesus, God, mother, father, etc.

• The Tribes strongly promote “Yahshua” as the only correct & appropriate name for Jesus. They state: “The name Jesus is an abomination.”

Response

• The Bible doesn’t command (or even demonstrate) the need for believers to use Hebrew.

• Instead, in places where the Tribes use Hebrew, the Bible often does not use Hebrew.

• Aramaic (not Hebrew) was more commonly spoken in Israel during the time of Jesus, and the Bible itself reflects that.

• Despite the Tribes championing the Hebrew language, the Tribes’ own use of Hebrew is actually very minimal.

---

Explanation

1. Unlike the Tribes, New Testament believers weren’t given Hebrew names.

   • In his letters to churches, the Apostle Paul used non-Hebrew names to refer to believers. Romans 16:1-23 includes a lengthy list of people who are saved, but who don’t have Hebrew names. There are many other examples among Paul’s writings.

   • The writers of the New Testament did not use “Yahshua” when referring to Jesus. Instead, they used the Greek word Ἰησοῦς (Acts 2:36, Acts 9:5, Acts 17:3, Romans 8:11, etc), which eventually makes its way into English as “Jesus.”

   • When Gentiles got saved in the book of Acts and the Epistles, they were not re-baptized with new Hebrew names. They often retained their original Greek and Roman names (many of which were originally derived from Greek gods or pagan origins). Examples include Apollos (Acts 18:24), Priscilla (Acts 18; Romans 16:3), Aquilla (Acts 18; Romans 16:3), Titus (Titus 1:4, Galatians 2:1), and Aristarchus (Colossians 4:10, Philemon 1:24).

   • When people got renamed in the New Testament, they often got renamed to Greek names even if they had Hebrew names previously. Examples of Jews receiving non-Hebrew names: Saul was called Paul (Acts 13:9), Simon was called Peter (Matthew 10:2), Simeon was called Niger (Acts 13:1), and a believer named Jesus was called Justus (Latin) in Colossians 4:11. Even the Messiah was called Christ (John 4:25).

2. The writings of the Early Church also did not use Hebrew names. Believers used the word “Jesus” and the word “Christ” (example: 1 Clement 21:6, which was written before 100 AD).

3. Originally, the Twelve Tribes themselves did not use Hebrew.

   • The Tribes went years with using only English names and terms.

   • The pattern of assigning new Hebrew names for members (and using Hebrew for a few other terms) was not introduced until well after the organization was established.

4. The Tribes are inconsistent in their use of Hebrew.

   • People are given new names after they join the Tribes, but sometimes the new names are not actually Hebrew. For example, the elder Ricky Kendricks is well-known in the Tribes as “Aquila” (a Latin name).

   • When the Tribes gives a Hebrew “name” to a new member, sometimes the Hebrew names are not actually names. They are just regular Hebrew words. The Tribes assign them as “names” instead of using actual Hebrew names.

   • Almost all members of the Tribes don’t know how to read, write, or speak Hebrew (apart from their “names” and a few other individual words).

5. The Tribes’ use of the word “Edah” is not biblical nor accurate.

   • Unlike the Tribes, the New Testament does not use the word “Edah” to refer to church or community.

   • The New Testament word for “church” does not come from Hebrew.

   • The Hebrew word “Edah” does not also mean “beehive” even though the Tribes say that it does.

6. Aramaic, not Hebrew, was the primary spoken language among the Israelites of Jesus’ day.

   • The rise of Aramaic, and the decline of Hebrew, is a fascinating history.¹

   • The New Testament provides a variety of examples in which Aramaic was used by Jesus, the Jews, and the early Christians.

   • The Hebrew terms that do exist in the New Testament (like “Emmanuel” and “Messiah”) are often present due to Old Testament connections.

   • Even the word “Abba” (used frequently within the Tribes) was an Aramaic term during the time of Jesus, though it was eventually adopted by the Hebrew language.

   • Examples of Aramaic (not Hebrew) words being used in the New Testament:

     • Raca – “Fool” or “empty-headed” (Matthew 5:22)
     • Mammon – “Money” or “wealth” (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:9, Luke 16:11, Luke 16:13)
     • Golgotha – “Place of the skull” (Matthew 27:33, John 19:17, Mark 15:22)
     • Boanerges – “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17)
     • Talitha cumi – “Little girl, arise” (Mark 5:41)
     • Ephphatha – “Be opened” (Mark 7:34)
     • Rabboni – “My Master” or “Teacher” (Mark 10:51, John 20:16)
     • Abba – “Father” (Mark 14:36, Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6)
     • Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)
     • Cephas – “Rock” (John 1:42)
     • Akeldama – “Field of Blood” (Acts 1:19)
     • Maranatha – “Our Lord, come!” or “The Lord has come” (1 Corinthians 16:22)

7. Greek was often preferred over Hebrew.

   • Many Jews in Jesus’ day had lost fluency in Hebrew, but Greek had become the universal language in that region of the world. The New Testament primarily quotes the Greek translation of the Old Testament, not the Hebrew version. Biblical writers routinely used the Greek title Kyrios (“Lord”) and Theos (“God”) to translate the Old Testament words Yahweh and Elohim rather than using the original Hebrew letters/wording.

   • When the Apostles established leadership positions in the local churches, they chose standard Greek administrative terms rather than Old Testament Hebrew temple terms:

     • Episkopos (Bishop / Overseer) – A standard Greek civic term.
     • Presbyteros (Elder) – A general Greek term for age and governance.
     • Diakonos (Deacon / Servant) – A common Greek word for a waiter or assistant.
     • Ekklesia (Church / Assembly) – A secular Greek word for a public assembly or gathering.

8. The Twelve Tribes often use English versions of Hebrew words, instead of the actual Hebrew words.

   • Even after switching to Hebrew names, the Tribes still used “Judah” (English spelling) for years. “Judah” was used as a name for individuals and as the name for their largest Tribe. The Tribes eventually switched from “Judah” to Yehudah (the actual Hebrew name).

   • However, the Tribes still use the word “Hallelujah” instead of the actual Hebrew Halləlū-Yāh. They use “Armageddon” instead of Harmagedōn.

   • The Tribes use the English word “Messiah” as if it came directly from Hebrew. It’s actually an English word derived from the Greek word Μεσσίας, which itself came from Hebrew. If they wanted to use Hebrew directly, they’d use Māšīaḥ instead.

9. Scripture simply doesn’t teach that Hebrew will be the language of Heaven (or “the Eternal Age”).

Footnotes

1. Over 500 years before Christ, the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon. They began adopting the regional Aramaic language for their daily life, trade, and diplomacy.

   This helps explain why biblical books like Daniel and Ezra contain substantial Aramaic sections.

   By the time of Jesus, Aramaic had become the dominant language within Israel’s Jewish population. It was used in daily life at markets, in homes, and within communities.

   This is why a variety of Aramaic phrases (such as Abba, Cephas, and Golgotha) appear in the Gospels — as well as in other New Testament books (such as Maranatha).

   By 200-400 AD, Hebrew had largely died out as a mother tongue across the nation. ↩