The Hebrew Word

After all this chronology surrounding the surname JONES [see last post], I thought there might be those who would like to see the words [for John] as they appear in the original languages.  The earliest, is the Hebrew word.  The English translation is given underneath.  Let it speak for itself:

This is taken from: The Interlinear Bible, Hebrew English, Vol II, I Sam - Ps 55, by Baker, p.1123.  Jay P. Green, Sr. was the general editor and translator.  Published by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1976.

JOHN...TO...JONES : Big Picture 4

Perhaps, this will be the biggest picture yet.  It shows a corridor in time through the languages that became involved in our surname JONES.  First, take a deep breath...then take a look at the figure below.

Wow you might say...but let's begin in the upper left corner.

The Hebrew language was the first to introduce the writing of the name we translate JOHN.  It was around 1000 BC.  The documentation can be found in "The Interlinear Bible -  Hebrew / English" Vol. II, p. 1123.  "Jehohanan" is the English translation, and the story is found in the book  I Chronicles 26:3.

The name carried through the Hebrew, and it was not until the Jewish scholars at Alexandria, Egypt (285-247 BC) translated their books into Greek, that the name appears in a more widely used language.  "Ionathan" [translated Jonathan] is the word. The documentation can be found in "The Septuagint with Apocrypha" by Brenton, p.561.

Now is was the Roman Empire that brought its language [Latin] to the world, and it became the dominate phonetic expression.   It was under this "world administration" that Christianity had its beginnings, and the name JOHN appears frequently in the early Christian writings.   Around 250 AD, the Christians were being driven out of the Empire, and the faith moved to the Islands.  Here it met the Celtic folks who formed the "Celtic Church". [P-Celtic/Brythonic]

Around 400 AD the Roman world was about to collapse and the P-Celtic folks began their own development as linguistic groups.  It was also around this time that the Saxons began their appearance, and the Anglo-Saxon language joined in the fray.  So, by 600 AD the Saxons had accepted Christianity, the Celtic Church had survived, and the Roman center of Church administration all used the surname JOHN. [Only in their own language...Latin being that of the Church.]

So again, before the French [Normans] ever showed up; 1) Latin, 2) Anglo-Saxon , and 3) Welsh were recording the name JOHN in their own languages, transmitted from the Hebrew to Greek.  Now, how "big" a picture can you get?

A summary is shown:

Dane Lands

Just about the time that the Anglo-Saxons began writing down their history, a number of folks showed up wanting some of the land. Vikings they were called, these people from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Arriving around 875 AD they took over a large part of this island, mostly along the coast. The map to the left shows a rough distribution of these settlements down to the very heart of the land. Their language named a multiple of sites and villages which have been marked in green. The Anglo-Saxon continued to fight them right up to the time that the Frenchman William arrived in 1066. The map to the right shows the distribution of the name John as it is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was far from the most common used name, but the blue shows a wider distribution than the green. This would make me believe that it had to do with the establishment of Christianity among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and not from anything the Danes language had to contribute. Please note that this was the spelling translated as "John".

A helpful reference is "A History of The Vikings", by Gwyn Jones, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984. [another Jones!]