WHY IS THE SAVIOR’S NAME MISSING FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT?(PT.2)

PRESENTED BY STEVE MARLOWE

PART II

They sought to Crucify Him, but, “From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, ‘If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.’ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought YAHSHUA out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour.

And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’

But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’

Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’

The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’

Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took YAHSHUA and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and YAHSHUA in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing essentially was:

YAHSHUA OF NAZARETH,

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where YAHSHUA was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, The King of the Jews, but, He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’ Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written’” (John 19:12-22).

It should be duly noted that that which was written, according to Pilate, was of the pronunciation of YAHSHUA, and therefore it is not to say that Pilate wrote the Savior’s Hebrew name in unrecognizable ways comparatively, in other words, the pronunciation of His name would be recognizable in all languages according to one’s hearing. For example, in the 1st century, in the Greek and Latin languages it was similarly pronounced IASOUA, not the later formed names of Iesous or Iesus. No, it was one name YAHSHUA transliterated into three different languages all attesting to a similar pronunciation. In the case of an individual’s name to be transliterated the sound of the name remains the same in all three languages. Therefore, the Savior’s name YAHSHUA appeared in all three languages with the pronunciation audibly recognized in all languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Accordingly, when speakers of a language encountering a transliterated name will often pronounce that name according to their own language’s rules for pronunciation, but it is not be so with the revealed name of the Savior. God revealed the name from Heaven, and that name is YAHSHUA. In most cases the person whose name has been transliterated will generally instruct people how to pronounce his or her name, since it may not otherwise be clear, and God has given us a name to hold and believe, and that every language is to pronounce this name [YAHSHUA] the same way (Philippians 2:11). However, His name in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin would appear in modern times dissimilar, audibly different, as His name in Hebrew is truly pronounced YAHSHUA according to revelation, and His Greek name is Iesous, and His Latin name is Iesus.

Transliteration is the process of converting one written script into another written script, such as Hebrew characters into the Latin alphabet. Saints’ names and well-known figures’ names are normally transliterated and remain the same in most languages. Although people of some languages may deliberately adopt a name that is easier for speakers of another language to pronounce and write, it is not to be with the Saviors name because, as the apostle Peter testified, “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). We must abide by the revelation of God and not of man’s traditions and interpolations.

The Hebrew language presents the Savior’s name as YAHSHUA, which corresponds to the English, as the Hebrew Yod corresponds to the English Y. The Savior was a Jew of the stock of Israel, a Hebrew. The Latinized Greek name “Jesus” has no meaning pertaining to salvation in Latin, nor does Iesous have any meaning pertaining to salvation in Greek either. The Savior’s revealed name means, “God [YAH] is salvation [SHUA],” as the angel told Joseph, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name YAHSHUA, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). This underscores the problem, the Hebrew name has meaning, however, the Greek and Latin (Iesous/Iesus) names have no meaning pertaining to salvation, and consequently neither does the name Jesus. The name “YAHSHUA” means in the Hebrew, “YAH is salvation,” just as the prophet Isaiah has told us:

“Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation’” (Isaiah 12:2 NKJV).

As it is represented in Psalms by the familiar expression: “Halleluyah!”

“Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds,
By His name Yah,
And rejoice before Him” (Psalm 68:4 NKJV).

“Halleluyah,” means, “Praise YAH!”

The name of YAH was revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:15), and it means, “I AM.” Therefore, YAH is “the name which is above every name.” The apostle Paul identifies the name YAH, as the name which is above every name, that was given to the Savior, when he writes, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name...” (Philippians 2:9). The name of YAH is found in the Hebrew Scriptures (O.T.) in one form or another 49 times. And the apostle Peter made it very clear, “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). YAH, the name which is above every name, and Shua means salvation, behold the only name of salvation: YAHSHUA!

Historically, Christian translators of the writings of the Hebrew prophets and apostles in the 2nd and 3rd centuries did not know Hebrew. This was because of their refusal to study or learn the language of the Jews, whom they held responsible for the death of Christ. Therefore, instead of translating the Hebrew Scriptures, which became known as the Old Testament, they chose the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation of the Old Testament. They bypassed the Hebrew Scriptures altogether, and relied on Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible. This caused Hebrew names to become virtually unrecognizable in the New Testament. To quote one commentator, “Through the ignorance and carelessness of transcribers innumerable mistakes have been made in ancient names. These also suffered very greatly in their transfusion from one language to another, till at last the original name is almost totally lost. Examples might be multiplied without end; a very few will suffice: the [Hebrew] Yehoshua (according to the Masoretic punctuation) [corrected =YAHSHUA] of the Hebrew Bible, is changed into Joshua and Jesus...” According to Jerome, “...the Hebrews had both sounds and letters which were wholly unknown to the Greeks and Latins” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. 3, pp. 393-94). Initially, the spelling of YAHSHUA in Greek according to Pilate was the equivalent of IASOU, which would have a similar pronunciation to the revealed name from Heaven, YAHSHUA.

Medieval Jews deliberately sought to hide the name YAH, specifically YHWH from the Gentiles. To help the Jewish readers in the synagogues from pronouncing the name of God, they would take vowels from words such as “Adonai, Eloah, and Elohim,” and place them onto the Tetragrammaton, or four letters of God revealed name. Because Hebrew words did not show vowels, when the reader would come to God’s name with the vowels from another word, they would know to say, “Adonai,” instead. For example, the name Jehovah has the vowels of Eloah. The original Y, Yod, was changed to an I, and later in the 17th century changed again to the letter J. The e found in Jehovah is the first vowel of Eloah, which means God singular, as opposed to Elohim, which means gods. Despite the obscuring of the name YHWH, YAHWEH, they still would say, “Halleluyah,” which means “Praise YAH.” The problem with substituting the letter J for I also created a change in the pronunciation, from a Y to a soft G sound, as in Jesus, which is far from what God revealed, and that being the name YAHSHUA. The letter J has factually, historically, been with us only five hundred years. This is demonstrated in the English Bible of 1611 where the name Jesus is printed as Iesus.

Where is the original Hebrew Gospel writings of the apostles? They were destroyed first by Romans, then by Jews, later by Catholics, such as the Crusaders and then the priests of the Inquisition. Only copies of the Greek texts, which were translated from the original Hebrew texts, have survived. Thus, instead of the correct Hebrew name of the Savior, YAHSHUA, we have a hybrid, Latinized Greek name in English, the very erroneous name of Jesus, a name never revealed by God, a name which does not have the name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9). We are emphatically told that there is only one name (Acts 4:12). We are told that every language is to know this one name (Philippians 2:11). The name of salvation is a revealed name from Heaven, not to be changed by the linguistics of mankind. There is only one name (YAHSHUA), so how can these other names be legitimate, Jesus, Iesus, Iesous, and Isa? What of the erroneous pronunciation Hey-zeus? The excuse, “I speak English, so I say, ‘Jesus’,” falls flat when in fact “Jesus” is not English. We should all agree that it is indeed strange that our Hebrew-speaking Jewish Savior is given a Greek/Latinized/French name, Jesus, for an English speaking people. Our Savior’s true, only revealed, name, which was given to Him by His God and Father in Heaven, has been so distorted and now a counterfeit name has been handed down to us. Is it any wonder that we are warned about “Satan, who deceives the whole world...” (Revelation 12:9)?

When will the world receive the true Gospel and the warning not to reject the one name revealed from Heaven?

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world through Him might be saved.

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 3:16-18).