God’s Divine Name is spelled YHVH or YHWH (Strongs h3068, Hebrew). This four-letter théonym is known as the Tetragrámmaton. In Wars of the Jews 5:5:7, the 1st century Jewish historian Josephus said of the Divine Name, “it consists of four vowels”. The letters are yod–hey–vav–hey (read from right to left). These ancient Hebrew letters have also been called semi-vowels.
Today the exact pronunciation of God’s Divine Name is uncertain. The most common transliteration is Yáhweh, also Yáhuah and Yehuah. Phonetically, perhaps the Name sounded something like…ee-áh-oo-aye (pronounced rapidly). also see the topic, “God’s Name & Titles in Scripture”.
My topic here is specifically the Name of the Savior. What’s in a name? The meaning of the Savior’s Name in Hebrew also provides etymológical evidence that Jesus of Nazaréth is the Savior.
Mt.1:20-21 in our English Bibles, an angel of the Lord told Joseph in a dream that he & Mary/Miriám were to call the name of the Child she was carrying…Jesus. And in v.25, “He called His name Jesus”.
Throughout the New Testament (NT), the spelling J-e-s-u-s is used in modern English for the koine Greek name Iesóus (g2424 masc noun), pronounced Yay-sóos.
Why didn’t Father God want His Son to be named Aaron or Abe or Sam or…? After all, Abraham and Samuel were good Hebrews! Why call the Son Jesus? This study of names should provide the answer.
According to the Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, the Greek Iesous g2424 represents the Old Testament (OT) Hebrew name Yehoshúa (h3091 masc noun). The name Yehoshua is rendered Joshua in most English Bibles. For example Ex.17:9, “Moses said to Joshua [Yehoshua h3091]”.
This Joshua/Yehoshua was the son of Nun. But we read in Nu.13:8, “From the tribe of Ephráim, Hoshéa [h1954 masc ‘salvation’] the son of Nῡn”. (A later Hosea h1954 wrote the first of the 12 so-called ‘minor’ prophet books.) Yet in Nu.13:16, “Moses called Hoshea [h1954] the son of Nun, Joshua [Yehoshua h3091]”. Hebrew names in the Bible have meaning. Moses altered the son of Nun’s name from Hoshea or ‘he saves’ to Joshua/Yehoshua or ‘YHVH saves’ (or ‘YHVH is salvation’).
And later in the Greek Septúagint/LXX: Ex.17:9, Nu.13:16, throughout the Pentateuch, in the books of Joshua & Judges, Haggai & Zechariah, etc…the Greek name for Joshua/Yehoshua is Iesous (g2424)! In ancient Bible language, Joshua the son of Nun was given the same name as Jesus of Nazareth!
Moses prophesied to Israel in De.18:15. “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you.” Moses’ successor was Joshua (Iesous in Greek) the son of Nun. But the ultimate fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy is Jesus of Nazareth. Jews were saying in the 1st century AD, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee” (Mt.21:11). In Ac.3:20-23, Peter identified this Jesus as that prophet Moses had said would be like Moses himself. One similarity…while Moses and Jesus were infants, their respective rulers (Pharaoh and Herod) wanted them put to death (Ex.1:22 and Mt.2:16). Another similarity, Moses and Jesus both fasted for 40 days (Ex.34:28 and Mt.4:2).
Again, the transliterated Greek name of Moses’ OT successor Joshua and the Savior Jesus of Nazareth is…Iesous (g2424).
In Ac.7:44-45 of the NT, Stephen the Greek-speaking Jew recounted that God had directed Moses to make the ancient tabernacle, and then “our fathers brought it in with Iesous” (in NT Greek). In v.45, many English Bibles rightly identify this Iesous as “Joshua” who followed Moses. But a few Bibles (including the KJV) have translated the NT Greek Iesous as “Jesus” in this verse. Although they both had the same name in Greek, the Bibles which read “Jesus” here give the wrong impression of who Stephen had in mind. Stephen was referring to the OT Joshua.
A similar situation occurs in He.4:8, where the Greek name again is Iesous and Moses’ immediate successor Joshua is meant. Although many English Bibles here render the Greek Iesous as “Joshua”, a few Bibles (e.g. KJV) render Iesous as “Jesus” (giving the wrong impression of who the writer of Hebrews had in mind). Since they both had the same name, the context reveals which one is meant.
The Jewish translators of the Old Greek version (which became the LXX) used this same name Iesous for the title of the book of Joshua! And interestingly, Moses’ successor Joshua and our Savior Jesus of Nazareth were the son of Nun or none (when we pronounce ‘Nun’ and ‘none’ similarly in modern English)! Mary’s husband Joseph was Jesus’ legal father, but not His biological father. The Savior Jesus of Nazareth had no human father in a biological sense. (see the topic, “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)
Again, the counterpart of the Greek Iesous in ancient Paleo-Hebrew was Yehoshua, ‘YHVH saves’. Mary’s husband Joseph was commanded to name the baby “Iesous”/Jesus because…her baby Jesus was the Word of God who is also very God/YHVH (Jn.1:1, 14). And prior to Jesus’ human birth, Joseph was told in Mt.1:21, “It is He who will save His people from their sins”. So we see that Jesus’ given Name even meant ‘Savior’! God delivered ancient Israel from their enemies through Joshua the son of Nun, and God delivers us from the ultimate consequences of sin through Jesus of Nazareth’s sacrifice.
In the 1st century AD, by what name did Jesus’ disciples and others call this Son of Joseph and Mary? According to most Bible historians, (Western) Aramaic had become the common tongue in the Holy Land. But many people would have spoken Greek in “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Mt.4:15), where the family and His disciples lived. In that area, Joseph and Jesus perhaps had business clients who were Greek-speakers. Stephen was a Hellenist Jew even living in Jerusalem (Ac.6:1-8). Of note, when the NT writers quoted the OT, their quotes most often were from the Old Greek version which became the LXX (not from the more recent Hebrew Masorétic text)!
But prior to Aramaic becoming the language of the common people, the ancient Paleo-Hebrew of the Toráh had undergone changes. Languages and dialects change over the centuries. The Hebrew name Yehoshua h3091 had become obsolete as such. The Divine Name was embedded in the name Yehoshua. (A theophóric embeds or contains the name of God.) The Jews had begun to consider it blasphemy to pronounce the name of God, even within a personal name!
By the time the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written, the Hebrew name Yehoshua had been shortened to Yeshúa (h3442 masc noun). The theophoric was removed. The Divine Name isn’t embedded in the form “Yeshua”, although the names Yehoshua and Yeshua both mean to save/deliver. Ne.8:17 “From the days of Joshua [Yeshua h3442] the son of Nun.” In Nehemiah, the name of Moses’ successor is Yeshua, shortened from Yehoshua h3091 (cf. Ex.17:9). Ne.12:26 and Ezr.3:2 are two other examples where the abbreviated Hebrew form Yeshua was used, instead of Yehoshua. In the OT, this name Yeshua h3442 occurs 29 times; only in Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles! Conversely, the name Yehoshua h3091 never appears in the books of Ezra or Nehemiah (it does appear in 1Ch.7:27).
After the Babylonian captivity, Aramaic (not Hebrew) became spoken by the Jewish common people. This occurred prior to the emergence of the Grecian Empire. Correspondingly, there are a few chapters of the OT which were originally written in Aramaic, not Hebrew. (see “Aramaic in the Bible”.)
Ezra 4:8–6:18 was written in Aramaic. Ezr.5:2 “Then Zerubbabél the son of Shealtiél and Yeshúa [h3443 masc noun] the son of Jozadák arose and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem.” In this verse, the name Yeshua is in Aramaic (its only OT occurrence in Aramaic). The Aramaic equivalent Yeshua h3443 was pronounced almost identical to the Hebrew Yeshua h3442.
Again, when Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth, a dialect of Aramaic remained the language most often spoken in the Holy Land. Yeshua was a popular Aramaic name for babies. It’s been quipped…‘the Aramaic name on Jesus’ drivers license would have been Yeshua bar Yosef’ (Yeshua the son of Joseph)! The Savior’s spoken name was Yeshua or Iesous (Greek), in the languages of His day.
In the OT there are 245 total occurrences of the: Hebrew names Yehoshua h3091 & Yeshua h3442, Aramaic Yeshua h3443. In the Greek LXX, all these 245 occurrences are rendered Iesous g2424!
Approximately 200 years before Messiah Jesus’ human birth, how did the translators of the Jewish Old Greek version get from Ye–sh–u–a in the Hebrew/Aramaic scriptures to Ie–s–ou–s in the Greek scriptures? Greek was the commercial language of the empire at the time. (Again, in the LXX this same Greek name Iesous was used by the Jewish translators for the title of the book of Joshua.)
Translating the OT Hebrew into Greek enabled the Greek-speaking Jews in the diáspora (dispersion) who no longer knew Hebrew to understand the scriptures. But the koine Greek language didn’t contain the same sounds as the ancient Hebrew language, so the transliteration of names wasn’t easy. Following is the step-by-step transliteration of the name Yeshua into Greek:
The yod or ‘Ye’ of Ye-sh-u-a was transliterated iota-eta or ‘Ie’ in the koine Greek dialect. The shin or ‘sh’ in Ye-sh-u-a couldn’t be sounded in Greek, because there was no ‘sh’ sound in the middle of Greek words. So the Jewish translators just used a sigma ‘s’ to represent the Hebrew ‘sh’. For the vav or ‘u’ in Ye-sh-u-a, they used omicron-upsilon or ‘ou’ in Greek. Concerning the áyin or ‘a’ in Ye-sh-u-a, Greek grammar rules required this sound be dropped. Then to distinguish a name in Greek as masculine, it was necessary to place a final sigma ‘s’ at the end of the name. (For example Mt.27:21, Barabbá(s) was an Aramaic name transliterated into Greek with an ‘s’ added at the end to indicate masculine.) Thus Ye-sh-u-a in Hebrew/Aramaic became Ie-s-ou-s in koine Greek.
Then how did the Greek “Iesous” become “Jesus” in modern English? (It’s also “Jesus” in today’s Spanish, pronounced Hay–sóus.)
The Greek Iesous was rendered “Iesus” in Latin, yet still retaining the Yay-sóos pronunciation as the Greek. The Old English then used the Latin form Iesus, pronouncing it Ye-sus. Later the English form came to be spelled with a beginning ‘J’, but that ‘J’ was still sounded like a ‘Y’. After that, the ‘J’ began to take on a harder sound…and His Name became pronounced “Jesus” (Jée-zus), as today.
So we see that the ancient Hebrew name has gone through a reasonable and common-sense transliteration process over the centuries, as languages developed and changed.
There are a relatively few who erroneously think the name “Jesus” derives from heathendom. Although names and syllables may have phonetic similarities across dialects, the modern form “Jesus” wasn’t derived from the name of a pagan god such as Zeus!
Regardless of the exact spelling or pronunciation of Savior Jesus’ name throughout the languages and cultures of the world, His is the only Name by which we’re saved! As Peter said in Ac.4:10-12, “Jesus Christ [Iesous Christós] the Nazarene….there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name by which we must be saved.” Praise the God who saves!
Furthermore, the name of King Messiah (in the order of Melchisedek) was prophesied in the book of Zechariah to be…Iesous/Yeshua (the shortened form of Yehoshua).
Returning once more to Mt.1:20-ff (Matthew quoted much from the Old Greek), Mary’s husband Joseph was told the given name of Isaiah’s prophesied Emmanuél was to be Iesous (Jesus)/Yeshua. In Zec.3:8, circa 500 BC a Jewish high priest named Iesous (LXX)/Yehoshua h3091 is identified as a symbol for the Messiah or “Branch” (ref Je.23:5-6). Zec.6:11-13 that high priest’s name Iesous (or Jesus)/Yehoshua will also be the name of the Branch/Messiah! v.12 “Behold, a man whose name is the Branch.” And He will occupy the two offices of priest and king in the order of Melchisedek (cf. Ge.14:18). This is amazing…500 years before Iesous (NT Greek)/Jesus/Yeshua was born in Bethlehem, Zechariah prophesied the given name of the Branch/Messiah would specifically be Iesous (Jesus)/Yehoshua (Yeshua)! His name wouldn’t be Aaron, Abe or Sam! Zechariah’s prophecy came to pass…God knew the end from the beginning! (also see “Jesus Is the Messiah”.)
Lastly, God/YHVH identified Himself to Moses as the eternal I Am/He Is. The Lord said in Ex.3:14-15, “I AM who I AM”…or “I will become what I will become.” The Septuagint/LXX reads, “I AM The Being”. God/YHVH the Self-Existent, Ever-Living Being! He Is the Name above all names! Jesus said in Jn.8:56-59, “Before Abraham was, I AM”. And in Jn.18:4-8, even Jesus’ antagonists understood His divine I AM implication, and they fell to the ground (v.6)!
Our Savior’s name Yeshua/Iesous/Jesus, given by God, links back to the Divine Name theonym of Father God. (Again, cf. Ex.17:9, Ne.8:17, Ezr.5:2 Aramaic, LXX & NT Iesous.) Jesus said in Jn.5:43, “I have come in My Father’s name”. A Son bears His Father’s family Name.
Bible Topic Exposition 