This pastor translated Biden’s name to Hebrew. He won’t like his own Hebrew name.

Pastor Perry Stone translated Joe Biden’s name to Hebrew, claiming it meant “Alas, Judgment.” He won’t like what his Hebrew name means. By Twitter

By PJ Grisar February 9, 2021

Every so often, fringe Christian figures look to Hebrew to impute Satanic inspiration. Sometimes, it backfires tremendously.

One-upping this woman who slammed Monster energy drinks with the sign of the beast, right-wing pastor Perry Stone has translated President Joe Biden’s name into Hebrew. When you break it down — eliding some vowels and looking into roots and the biblical story of Jacob’s son Dan — Stone said, it means “Alas, Judgment.”

Right-wing pastor Perry Stone claims to have discovered that Joe Biden’s name, when transliterated into Hebrew, means “Alas, Judgment.” pic.twitter.com/kAsmLUwIda

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)
I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Email(Required)

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) February 8, 2021

It seems like in Stone’s mind this reflects Biden’s executive orders and “contentious” passage of laws, more than the Final Judgment many Christians anticipate.

Now, translating English to an unrelated language group and trying to divine meaning from it is something of a fool’s errand. But let’s play at Stone’s game. After all, he said that he consulted with an “actual Hebrew scholar.”

What that unnamed scholar didn’t tell Stone is what his own name means when it’s transliterated. Thankfully, there’s Twitter for that.

Wait until he finds out you can spell Perry Stone “פרי שטן” https://t.co/tK1KIedz5y

— Mordechai ?Purim at the Edge 2/26? Lightstone (@Mottel) February 8, 2021

Perry’s first name is easy. In Hebrew it means “fruit,” which is a nice enough name. Good work, Mr. and Mrs. Stone. Though, if we move to the surname we have something a bit less felicitous.

In Hebrew you’d spell that Sin-Tet-Nun. It’s the same spelling as “Satan.”

So actually, the name could mean “Fruit of Satan.”

But don’t get too hung up on that, Pastor. The good news is that none of this translating back and forth really means much. If you are still stuck on this unwelcome fact, though, remember that Biden’s actual given name is “Joseph” (the aforementioned Dan’s brother) which, more or less, means “to add” or “increase.”

So maybe Biden will add, or increase, judgment — not of the doomsday variety — to his office. Judgment can mean “the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions.”

Languages are fun!

PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture reporter. Ha can be reached at [email protected].

PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and @pjgrisar on Twitter.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO