Finding the True Name of Christ in the Bible

Rev. Steve Marlowe

Jesus (gee-sus) is a Latin masculine name transformed from the name derived from Iesus.  The change in the name of Jesus is the result of the addition of the letter ‘J’ into the English alphabet in the latter part of the 17th century.  The name Iesus was the name used for Christ until the latter part of the 17th century.  The name of Iesus was found in the King James English Bible of the English version circa 1611.   Iesus was transformed from Iēsous.   Iesous is the Greek form of the Aramaic name Yeshua (ישוע).  As its roots lie in the name Isho in Aramaic.  Joshua is the English version of Yeshua, or Yahoshua.  the vocative form Jesu, from Latin Iesu, was commonly used in religious texts and prayers during the Middle Ages according to Latin, particularly in England, but gradually declined in usage as the English language evolved.

Etymology

There have been various proposals as to the literal etymological meaning of the name Yəhôšua, including Yahweh/Yahawah, and “YAH saves,” “I AM salvation,” Shua (is) my help, as in “salvation,” meaning YAH (I AM) Salvation (shua). 

Due to the ever evolution of languages, the original early biblical Hebrew name (Yahoshuaʿ) underwent a shortening and change later to Yeshua as found in the Hebrew text of verses Ezra 2:2, 2:6, 2:36, 2:40, 3:2, 3:8, 3:9, 3:10, 3:18, 4:3, 8:33; Nehemiah 3:19, 7:7, 7:11, 7:39, 7:43, 8:7, 8:17, 9:4, 9:5, 11:26, 12:1, 12:7, 12:8, 12:10, 12:24, 12:26; 1 Chronicles 24:11; and 2 Chronicles 31:15 – as well as in Biblical Aramaic at verse Ezra 5:2. These Bible verses refer to ten individuals (in Nehemiah 8:17, the name refers to Joshua son of Nun).

This historical change from the traditional theophoric element יהו‎ (Yahu) was shortened at the beginning of a name, and to יה‎ (-yah), as vowels were added to the Tetragrammaton from other words causing Yeh to Yeshua, due to the ה (hey, or h) becoming silent. In the contraction of Yahoshuaʿ to Yeshuaʿ, the vowel is instead fronted (speculating that perhaps it was due to the influence of the y in the triliteral root y-š-ʿ). Yeshua was in common use by Jews during the Second Temple period and many Jewish religious figures bear the name, including Yeshua (Joshua) in the Hebrew Bible and finally in the 17th century the name of Jesus transformed from Iesus, which inturn transformed from Iesous all over the centuries found their way into the New Testament.  The name Jesus then becomes a counterfeit name never revealed by God.

During the post-biblical period the further shortened form Yeshu was adopted by Hebrew-speaking Jews to refer to the Christian Jesus, however, Yehoshua continued to be used for the other figures called Jesus,  "This is likely an inference from the Talmud and other Jewish usage, where Yeshua is called Yeshu, and other Jews with the same name are called by the fuller name Yeshua and Yehoshua, in English, ‘Joshua’.  The name Jesus is derived from Iesus, and Iesous from the Hebrew/Aramaic name Yeshua, which is based on the meaning "to deliver; to rescue." (Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament, p. 124). 

By the time the New Testament was written, the Septuagint had already transliterated ישוע (Yeshua) into Koine Greek as closely as possible in the 3rd-century BCE, the result being Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous). Since Greek had no equivalent to the Semitic letter ש‎ shin, it was replaced with a σ sigma [s], and ending with a masculine singular ending [s] was added in the nominative case, to allow the name to be inflected in the grammar of the Greek language as a name for a male. The diphthongal [a] vowel of Masoretic Yahoshua or Yeshua would not have been present in Hebrew/Aramaic pronunciation during this period, and some scholars believe some dialects dropped the pharyngeal sound of the final letter ע‎ ʿayin [ʕ], which in any case had no counterpart in ancient Greek. The Greek writings of Philo of Alexandria and Josephus frequently mention this name Yeshua as Iesous. In the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, the name Iēsous transliterated from Hebrew/Aramaic and ‘shua’ means "healer or physician, and savior," however, the name Iesous has no Greek etymological meaning regarding salvation.

From Greek, Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous) transformed into Latin at least by the time of the Vetus Latina. The morphological jump this time was not as large as previous changes. Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous) was transliterated to Latin IESVS (ee-sus), where it stood for many centuries until the latter 17th century with the letter addition of J and transformed to Jesus. The transmigration of the name Jesus participated in the Great Vowel Shift in late Middle English (15th century). The letter J was first distinguished from 'I' by the Frenchman Pierre Ramus in the 16th century, but did not become common in Modern English until the 17th century, so that early 17th century works such as the first edition of the King James Version of the Bible (1611) continued to print the name with an ‘I’ (Iesus).

The name of the Messiah is a revealed name, and did not become transliterated until sometime after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 ce. Historians know this, for example eminent historian Ernest Renan acknowledged that the Savior was never in His lifetime known as Jesus (Ernest Renan, The Life of Jesus, p. 90).

Joseph was not commanded to name the Christ Child Jesus (Matthew 1:21), a name not invented due to linguistics until the 17th century ce.

The name of the Savior was revealed once for our salvation.  After the resurrection of Christ, the apostle Paul, then called Saul, while traveling to Damascus in pursuit of arresting and prosecuting Christians, encountered Christ.  Christ spoke to Saul in Hebrew telling him His name (Acts 26:14-15).  Christ did not tell Saul His name was Jesus.  He told Saul that His name was YAHSHUA.  

How do we know this?

We can only know this through the Word of God, the Bible.  Moses asked for God’s name, and God said to him, “HaYAH Ashar HaYAH,” which means “I AM Who I AM.” and then God said tell them, “I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:13-14). “I AM” means YAH, and we praise God’s essential name in Hebrew by saying, “Halleluyah!” Praise YAH!  YAH is “the name which is above every name.” When Saul, now called Paul, wrote to the Philippians, he told them that Christ has, “the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). Our Savior acknowledged to the people that He is YAH, when He told them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). He just told them that He was their God, and the He is YAHSHUA, which means “I AM Salvation.”  YAHSHUA, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

One may object, and say, “It’s about the Person of Christ, not the name.”  Really?  Consider this warning: “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).  The Gospel informs you, that you will stand condemned if you reject the one name given under heaven by which you must be saved.  The apostle Paul made this clear, “For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord {YAH} shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).  Don’t take a chance on names, Jesus, Iesus, Iesous, or Jehovah/Yehovah, never revealed by God.  Halleluyah, Praise YAH, Praise YAHSHUA!