A great latitude has to be allowed in any attempt to indicate the correct pronunciation of the Proper Names in the Bible.

Our knowledge of their original pronunciation is imperfect; and names have undergone changes in becoming transliterated from one language into another.

Custom also has in many cases sanctioned a pronunciation which, while incorrect according to the original languages, is yet so universal that any interference with it would be pedantic, not to say intolerable.

Again, we sometimes meet with a varying pronunciation of the same name in different English-speaking countries.  Thus, an exhaustive list of Biblical names, with a perfect and final system of syllabification and pronunciation, is not practicable.

There are, however, a certain number of names too uncommon for custom to have fixed their pronunciation, and hence, generally acknowledged to present difficulties to the general reader.

Some 250 of these are here gathered together, and presented in alphabetical order, with such division of syllables and accentuation as approximate to the original tongues, and will serve as a guide to their more or less correct pronunciation.

The hyphen ( - ) marks the division of syllables, and the accent ( ' ) the syllable to be emphasized.

It has been thought better to present them in an Appendix, and in one list, than to burden the text with an innumerable variety of hyphens and accents, which, while attempting to remove one difficulty, would introduce a greater.