Jesus and Mary / Joshua and Miriam

Question

One thing that is consistently odd, yet consistent among most English translations is that the name of the mother of Our Lord, Mary, and Our Lord Himself, Jesus, are translated that way (as well as the author of Sirach, Jesus ben Sirach) while the sister of Moses, Miriam, and his chief, Joshua, are translated that way.

Is there a subtle distinction between the two ways of saying the name or is it just an easier way of referring to characters in the Bible? Do other languages have similar distinctions in their translations or is this an English only thing?

Answer 1

They are transliterated from two different languages: Hebrew and Greek.

• מִרְיָם -- Miriam
• Μαρία -- Maria
• יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎‎ -- Joshua
• Ἰησοῦς -- Jesus

The transliterations make sense when compared to the original pronunciations.

Of course Mary and Jesus must actually have had Hebrew/Aramaic names instead of Greek ones. Quite probably their names actually were מִרְיָם and יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎‎. However, they still are only mentioned with the Greek translated versions, so by transliterating from Μαρία and Ἰησοῦς the translators are keeping closest to the original.