I did not early on in my Christian life know that I was a pronunciation Nazi. Prior to my conversion, I didn’t give a rip about anything or anyone but myself. Selfish was the very word that best described almost everything about me before my encounter with the Savior, without ever masking my selfishness with the pretense of concern for others. Thus, my four years at Oregon State University resulted in barely half a dozen people learning my name. Even as a little kid, I licked the cookies to deprive others of eating them. Admittedly, mine was a perverse approach to life.
Then, on the night of March 31st, 1974, after reading the book of Genesis the night before and reading chapter twelve of Exodus that night, the Spirit of God revealed to me that the Passover lamb was a type of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. My spiritual peril was revealed to me, my rebellion against God was revealed to me, and I fled to Christ for salvation full and free. He saved me from the penalty of my sins, dramatically cleaned up my vocabulary (nearly halving it), and transformed me into quite a generous fellow from one who had been astonishingly selfish.
That said, and realizing that there is no sinless perfection this side of glory, among the many sinful tendencies and practices I began to battle from the onset of my Christian life is my ongoing pronunciation Nazism. It really bothers me when those who really ought to know better mispronounce words, especially Bible words, due to ignorance or laziness. I am not suggesting I have not mispronounced Bible words, but I try extra hard not to, because it is wrong.
We all know people who mispronounce mischievous to sound like there is a letter i between the letters v and o, making a three-syllable word into a four-syllable display of ignorance. However, pastors are the last people who should tolerate habitual mispronunciations in their ranks.
Who pronounces pharaoh, a two-syllable word, as if it is a three-syllable word with the final a, and the o pronounced (wrongly) as if they are long? Yet, I could name a number of pastors who were forever guilty of butchering the word. And then there is Sinai, pronounced as if it is supposed to sound like a long e should be between the n and the a, distorting a two-syllable word into three syllables. Really? Should not ordination certificates be pulled for those kinds of ridiculous errors?
If someone is a Gospel minister, he should make sure that the words he utters in a sermon or lesson or reads from God’s Word are pronounced correctly. This is so easy to accomplish because there are dictionaries that guide the pronunciation of most words and Bibles with pronunciation guides. No pastor should ever mispronounce Mahershalalhashbaz, Jeberechiah, Mahanaim, or even Peniel. To do so reveals that he has not previously uttered the words in his study. Practice the word, man, enough times that it naturally rolls off your tongue!
I have already confessed to being a pronunciation Nazi. And I am an old retired guy now living halfway around the world. So I am not writing this to make myself feel better. And it is not likely I will ever hear you preach God’s Word while butchering some of the words you use. I am already decades into being opinionated about pastors not studying enough, reading enough, or being humble enough to ask well-trained people in their Churches who are not pronunciation Nazis for help.
I am trying to persuade you, after a half-century of irritation, that there are people who will from time to time show up in the auditorium who will be thoroughly stunned that a pastor, who is supposed to be a diligent student of the Bible, mishandles a Bible word for no good reason.
I thought better of my pastor until he repeatedly mispronounced Pharaoh and Sinai. Such easy problems to address. Unforgivable, if you ask me. Do you doubt what I say? Where have you been the last five years, with the media mercilessly mocking the mispronunciations of both Presidents Biden and Trump?
Here is the simple solution to your problem. Buy the audio Bible read by the late Alexander Scourby, one of the very best voice actors who has ever lived, and use him as a pronunciation guide. Whatever mistakes he has made will be noticed only by scholars with proficiency in Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic, whom you need not worry about.
Believe me, mispronouncing Bible words and other terms will hurt you, especially with those who went to school before public school teachers began to intentionally trash the culture and their students. I assure you that I am not the only pronunciation Nazi you know.
