Didaskalos Outlines

The Proper Name Of Jesus?

I received a letter from a good Christian who wrote:

"I understand it has been custom to call Our Lord Jesus Christ, just that, Jesus . A Latin translation of a Greek translation of a Hebrew or Aramaic translation.

I also understand that the Lord accepts our love and devotion no matter whether we say His name correctly( as I would answer a friend if he spoke to me though addressed me by a different name) But I can not help but wonder and be intrigued about this matter regarding the name of Our Lord. Names are usually in a category themselves apart from the language they are surrounded by. There are many names I can think of that do not change through the course of history though used by various cultures, so why the name and (pronunciation and spelling) of Our Beloved Savior Lord Jesus (Yeshua) Christ?

I noticed in your part about names, you give the name of St. Paul as it was
originally but not the name of Our Lord Jesus (Yeshua) as it would have been
given Him by His Mother Mary (Miriam).

And taking a similar stance as you do regarding the possible cultic misinterpretation of the Cross, I wonder if perhaps there is not some sort of cultic misinterpretation of the name of Our Lord who is God. I have heard in the past that the Lords' name being Latinized has to do with some pagan deities of hurricanes or tornadoes.

As I think this is even more puzzling a matter considering the importance our
Jewish ancestors placed in reciting the Holy Name  YHWH . The name is so
holy that it is no longer pronounced as such. Over time the priestly class became
less, and less, qualified to pronounce it correctly, and rather than mispronounce the Lords' name, the priests abandoned reciting the Holy Name so as not to profane it.

So I guess I am just curious why you don't use the name Yeshua, what you think the reason for the name Jesus, and do you think if the original name of Our Saviour is propagated in a practical manner, (realizing that people have called on the name Jesus and have known Our Lord personally for quite some time now) that it could have any benefits (besides that of calling the Lord by His
rightful name?). Perhaps His name can be a means of drawing people into the
life of faith in Christ. Because we live in a very scientific age, everyone (including myself )likes the facts. So perhaps this could be something like the Shroud of Turin, a means of evangelization and perhaps a wonderful means of praising Jesus."

This believer is under several misconceptions, but so are many others who write me. First, YHWH is only one of the many names of God used in Scripture (see our Systematic Theology for many of these names). YHWH was considered to be the holiest name of God by the Scribes, as it was the one that God originally gave to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3.14, translated I AM). The Scribes had a special pen they used to write this name, the only use for that pen. Yet God no where in Scripture places this name in a place of higher importance over His other names, nor did He tell the Scribes to use a special pen to write that name. This was enacted due to superstition, not due to truth.

The names that God placed on Himself were given to man to help us understand more about Him. Each name shows or highlights a particular aspect of God's character and power. I have had people write me about G_d, omitting the o, for they feel to write this name is to be sacrilegious. Again, we are no where enjoined in the Scripture that writing God's names or titles blasphemes Him. On the contrary, there is power in God's names, the power to know Him.

As to the belief that Jesus is a  Latin translation of a Greek translation of a Hebrew or Aramaic translation, this is not true. The angel of the Lord appearing to Joseph told him:
 
 

Matthew 1:21-23 "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
 
The name JESUS is the Greek IESOUS, pronounced EE-AA-SOOS, translated into the English as JESUS. If you want to use the name that Gabriel prophesied Jesus would be called then, rather than Yeshua, you should be using IESOUS. Another name of Jesus is revealed in this text, that of Emmanuel (the Greek EMMANOUEL). This name emphasized the fact that Jesus was, indeed, God with us.

The Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary mentions that the name Jesus is "from the Hebrew meaning 'Jehovah the Savior' "(JFB page 882). More specifically, IESOUS has a parallel  in the Hebrew language which is YeHOWSHUWA or YeHOWSHUA {Strong's Exhaustive Concordance #3091} or YESHUWA {Strong's Exhaustive Concordance #3442}, which is translated into English not as Yeshua, but as Joshua. So you could, I guess, call Jesus by the name of Joshua, as it is the Hebrew counterpart or parallel to the Greek IESOUS or Jesus. But this is indeed a stretch, for the New Testament writings were written in Koine Greek, not in Hebrew.

The Jews had been in captivity for so long that, by the time of Christ, very few understood the Hebrew that their Bible (our Old Testament) was written in. Because of this the elders of Israel commissioned a translation team to render the Hebrew Texts into Greek. This "Greek Old Testament" was called the Septuagint. The Septuagint was written in Koine Greek, just like the New Testament writings. When I look up Moses' command to Joshua (Exodus 17.9) in the Septuagint, I see that the name Joshua is the Greek IESOI, an inflected form of IESOUS or Jesus. In Exodus 17.10 I see that Joshua is rendered in the Septuagint, directly, as IESOUS  or Jesus.  In Ezra 2.36 the name Joshua is again translated, in the Greek, as IESOUS or Jesus. Purchase an interlinear Septuagint yourself and see for yourself:  in every instance in the Septuagint, Joshua is rendered literally as IESOUS {a good copy can be purchased from Zondervan Publishing House, Library of Congress Catalogue Number 70-106440}.

What does this all prove? It proves that, in the language of the people of Jesus' day, Jesus was given the Greek name of IESOUS. When people called His name they called Him IESOUS. Though this is a parallel to the Hebrew YeHOWSHUWA or YeHOWSHUA {Strong's Exhaustive Concordance #3091} or YESHUWA {Strong's Exhaustive Concordance #3442}, this was not what He was called by family, friends, or the early Church if the New Testament account is reliable (and I believe it is). Of the 973 times Jesus' name is used in the Greek New Testament in 935 verses, in each instance the original text uses some form of IESOUS translated Jesus.
 
 

Luke 1:28-31 " And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.  And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 
 
When the angel met Mary and foretold her pregnancy, he again reiterated that she would name the Savior JESUS, or IESOUS. Again, this is a proper translation from the Greek Testament, the original language writings of our New Testament.

So, should we call Jesus:

  1. Jesus, the English translation of IESOUS
  2. IESOUS, the name Jesus was given in the common language (Koine Greek) of His day, or,
  3. YeHOWSHUWA or YeHOWSHUA, the Hebrew equivalent to IESOUS, or
  4. YESHUWA, another Hebrew equivalent to IESOUS
Frankly, any of the above four names would be acceptable as literal names of Christ. Does it make a difference which one you use? Well, the Hebrew speaking Jew who becomes a Christian may prefer YeHOWSHUWA. This is not wrong, nor is it blasphemous. It is, in fact, a parallel to IESOUS. To the scholar Jesus may be referred to as, quite properly, IESOUS. But to the common man we call Jesus, JESUS, the English translation of IESOUS. Any of these four names would be perfectly acceptable for Christ. In all instances the name, in it's various forms, highlights the fact that Jesus came to be the only Savior for mankind. He was and is God in the flesh sacrificed for our sins. Whichever form of Jesus' name you use, be it YESHUWA, IESOUS, YeHOWSHUWA, YeHOWSHUA, or Jesus, if you have accepted the historic Person of our Savior to be your Savior then we will one day meet in Heaven. If not, then we will not meet on the other side of the veil.

God Bless you all!


 

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