Yohanan ('), sometimes transcribed as Johanan, is a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

male

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

that can also appear in the longer form of ('), meaning " YHWH is gracious". The name is ancient, recorded as the name of Johanan, high priest of the Second Temple around 400 BCE.

Adaptations

The Hebrew name was adopted as (''Iōánnēs'') in Biblical Greek as the name of both John the Baptist and John the Apostle. In the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Vulgate this was originally adopted as '' Iohannes'' (or ''

Johannes Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Y ...

'' – in Latin, '' J'' is the same letter as ''I''). The presence of an ''h'', not found in the Greek adaptation, shows awareness of the Hebrew origin. Later editions of the Vulgate, such as the Clementine Vulgate, have '' Ioannes'', however. The anglicized form '' John'' makes its appearance in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

, from the mid-12th century, as a direct adaptation from Medieval Latin ''Johannes'', via the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th Jean''. The feminine form ''Joanna">Jean (male given name)">Jean''. The feminine form ''Joanna'' is also biblical, recorded in the form as the name of Joanna, wife of Chuza. The form ''Johanan'', even closer to the Hebrew original than Latin ''Johannes'', is customarily used in English language, English-language English translations of the Bible, translations of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Wycliffe's Bible, which uses ''John'' when translating from the Greek (e.g. of John the Baptist in Mark 1:4), but ''Johannan'' when translating from the Hebrew (as in Jeremiah 40:8).

People of that name

Hebrew bible (c. 7th – 5th century BCE)

* Yohanan, son of King Josiah of Judah (7th century BCE) * Yohanan, son of Kareah, mentioned as a leader of the army who led the remnant of the population of the Kingdom of Judah to Egypt for safety after the Babylonian dismantling of the kingdom in 586 BC and the subsequent assassination of Gedaliah, the Babylon-appointed Jewish governor. * Yohanan ben Yehoyada, a high priest mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah who is fourth in the line of high priests after Joshua the High Priest, who returned from the Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel

Hasmonean period

* Yohanan, Father of Matityahu * John Gaddi, oldest of the sons of Mattathias, and brother of Judas Maccabeus, one of the leaders of the revolt of the Maccabees in the 2nd century BC. * John Hyrcanus, Hasmonean ( Maccabean) leader and Jewish high priest of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until his death in 104 BCE). * John Hyrcanus II (1st century BCE), a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, High Priest, King, and ethnarch of Judea

Roman era (c. 1st century BC – 4th century AD)

* John the Baptist (late 1st century BC – c. AD 30), a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

itinerant preacher and later Christian saint. * John of Giscala, 1st century CE leader of the

revolt against the Romans in the First Jewish-Roman War. * Jehohanan, a man put to death by crucifixion in the 1st century CE, whose ossuary was found in 1968 in northern

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

* John the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and possible author of the Johannine works. * Other possible authors of the Johannine works: John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Presbyter.

Rabbinic sages

* Yohanan ben Bag-Bag, one of the tannaim (rabbinic sages), who is mentioned several times in the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

. * Johanan ben Baroka, second and third generation Jewish Tanna sage (2nd century). * Johanan ben Torta, rabbi of the early 2nd century (third generation of tannaim). * Johanan HaSandlar (c. 200–c. 300), one of the tannaim, whose teachings are quoted in the core text of Rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah * Yochanan bar Nappaha (died c. 279), a rabbi in the early era of the Talmud, better known simply as "Rabbi Yohanan" * Johanan ben Nuri, one of the tannaim of the 1st and 2nd centuries, frequently cited in the Mishnah * Yohanan ben Zakai (c. 30–90), one of the tannaim, widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures in the era of the Second Temple and a primary contributor to the Mishnah

Middle ages (4th century – 15th century)

* Yohanan, ancestor of the Banu Qaynuqa. * Johanan Luria, fifteenth century talmudist.

Modern period

* Yochanan Afek (born 1952), Israeli chess player * Yohanan Aharoni (1919–1976), Israeli archaeologist and historical geographer * Yohanan Alemanno (c. 1435–after 1504), Italian Jewish humanist philosopher and exegete * Yohanan Bader (1901–1994), Revisionist Zionist leader and Israeli politician * Yohanan Cohen (1917–2013), Israeli former politician and diplomat * Yohanan Danino (born 1959), chief of the Israel Police * Yohanan Friedmann (born 1936), Israeli scholar of Islamic studies * Yohanan Levi (1901–1945), Hebrew linguist and historian * Yohanan Moyal (born 1965), Israeli Olympic gymnast * Yochanan Muffs (1932–2009), American–Jewish professor of the Bible and religion * Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern (born 1962), American historian, philologist and essayist * Yohanan Plesner (born 1972), Israeli politician * Yohanan Simon (1905–1976), Israeli painter * Yochanan Sofer (1923–2016), Rebbe (leader) of the Erlau Hasidic dynasty * Yochanan Vollach (born 1945), Israeli former footballer and businessman

References

{{Given name Hebrew masculine given names Masculine given names Theophoric names