Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (2)

This topic was begun in “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (1)”.  Part 2 here is the conclusion.

Part 1 identified the two most-used Hebrew Old Testament (OT) terms for “wine”…yáhyin (Strongs h3196) and tiroshé (h8492).  Yayin was fermented wine.  Tirosh usually referred to unfermented grape juice.  Tirosh is called “new wine” in many Bibles.  (Other terms for alcoholic drink were less-used.)

Part 1 also discussed the customary Jewish practice of using wine to celebrate Passover in 1^st century Jerusalem.  Jesus the man was Jewish, and He observed God’s annual Passover (Lk.2:41-42).

In the Greek New Testament (NT) and Greek OT Septúagint/LXX, the term for “wine” is oínos g3631.  It occurs 33 times in the NT.  However, yayin (fermented) and tirosh (unfermented) were both translated as oinos in the OT LXX!  No differentiation was made.  The context determined its meaning.

The NT writers didn’t identify the type of liquid in the “cup” at Jesus’ Last Supper.  “Cup” is potáyreeon g4221, occurring 33 times.  “Cup” as a drinking vessel is seen at the Lord’s Supper: Mt.26:27; Mk.14:23; Lk.22:17, 20; 1Co.10:16, 21, 11:25-28.  No beverage is specified (not oinos).

In Part 2 we’ll discuss uses, concerns, and symbolism of wine from the Bible; also when Christian churches started using grape juice in communion or the eucharist.  (Part 1 material won’t be repeated.)

In Bible times, wine (mixed with water) was used for other celebrations besides Passover.  Jn.2:1-11 Jesus’ first miracle was, He changed water into wine (oinos g3631) at a wedding celebration.  Probably His miracle wine was undiluted.  In Is.1:22, the Lord had negatively compared debased ancient Israel to pure wine diluted with water.  And Jesus didn’t change the Jn.2 water into grape juice.  Jn.2:10 after the guests had drank, they wouldn’t notice any quality difference if it was grape juice.  But they would notice a difference if it was wine.  Jesus wasn’t opposed to wine (in moderation)!

Lk.7:33-35 Jesus was exaggeratedly even called a glutton and a ‘wino’ (oinopótes g3630), a friend of tax collectors & sinners.  Winos drink fermented wine.  In contrast, John the Baptizer didn’t drink wine.

De.14:25-27 rejoicing with wine (h3196 yayin) to celebrate the Lord’s OT feasts was fine!  Included were Levites too.  But priests weren’t allowed to drink wine while on duty (Le.10:8-9; Ezk.44:21).

Wine symbolized Jesus’ blood!  The 19^th century German theologian Augustus Neander wrote of Jesus’ Last Supper (Lk.22:17-20). “The broken bread was to represent His body. The wine is to represent His blood, about to be shed for them.”  Got Questions: What is the Meaning of the Blood of Christ? “The pouring of wine in the cup symbolized the blood of Christ.”  Answers.com: What is the Symbolic Meaning of Wine? “Wine signifies blood and blood signifies life, ‘the life is in the blood’ (Lev.17:14).”

Fermented wine yayin h3196 (not unfermented tirosh h8492) was called the blood of grapes.  Ge.49:10-12 is a prophecy about the future King Messiah Jesus. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs. He will wash His garments in wine [h3196], His robes in the blood of grapes.”  That’s meaningful.  Henry Commentary Ge.49:11 “He is the true Vine, wine is the appointed symbol of His blood.”  Poole Commentary “The ‘blood of grapes,’ so the wine is called in Deu.32:14.”  (De.32:14 has a less-used term for fermented red wine, chémer h2561-2.  Chemer wine was at the feast of Babylon’s King Belshazzár in Da.5:1-4, e.g.)

Wine also symbolized God’s divine wrath.  Re.14:9-10 “If anyone worships the beast…he will drink of the wine [g3631] of the wrath of God, which is unmixed in the cup [g4221] of His anger.”  Pure wine of intoxication is in His metaphorical cup of judgment.  Barnes Notes Re.14:10 “Without being diluted with water.”  Re.16:19 “Babylon the great’ was remembered before God, to give her the cup [g4221] of the wine [g3631] of His fierce wrath.”  Also ref Ps.75:8; Is.51:17-22, 63:6; Je.25:15-ff; Ezk.23:31-33.

Is.63:1-6 symbolically reflects blood as the wine of His wrath, not as celebration.  v.6 “drunk”.  v.2 “winepress” (gath h1660) is somewhat a misnomer.  As grapes were pressed, it was grape juice, not wine, which flowed down the drain.  (Usually grapes in the upper vat/receptacle were trodden by a team; but interestingly, in v.3 only One solely does the treading.)

{Sidelight: Just before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, He prayed at a place called “Gethsemane”, g1068 (Mt.26:36).  It’s from the OT h1660 gath/winepress and h8081 oil, on the Mount of Olives.  The later olive harvest was perhaps pressed into the same vats as grapes were recently pressed.  Laura Reynolds “Why Are Olive Trees Planted Around Vineyards? “The two crops used a similar processing procedure. As wine press works ends, olive pressing begins.”  Lk.22:42-44 in agony, Jesus sweated drops of blood (cf. hematidrósis) at the place of the press.  Jesus Himself felt so pressed, shedding His blood for us!}

Ex.29:38-42 the twice-daily sacrifice at God’s tent of meeting included a drink offering of fermented wine (yayin h3196).  The drink offering wasn’t grape juice!  In Nu.28:7 this drink offering is called “strong drink” (shekár h7941).  Also see Le.23:13.  ATS Bible Dictionary: Drink Offering “A small quantity of wine, part of which was poured on the sacrifice, and the residue given to the priests.”  It was part of the sacrificial system, prefiguring Christ’s blood sacrifice.

This drink offering libation of wine was poured out (cf. Ezr.7:17), as was Jesus’ shed blood (Jn.19:34; Lk.22:44).  Jesus said in Lk.22:20, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood”.  (The apostle Paul also compared his own life to a drink offering poured out, Php.2:17, 2Ti.4:6.)

1Ch.9:29 Levites had charge over the fermented wine (h3196) kept in the temple.  The tirosh h8492 grape juice firstfruits initially tithed to the Levites (Nu.18:12; De.18:4; Ne.10:37) fermented into wine.

Again, there were restrictions for wine-drinking placed upon Aaron and his sons (the priests).  Priests weren’t allowed to serve God in the tabernacle/temple if they’re intoxicated!  Is.28:7 priests and prophets erred through their misuse of wine (h3196) and strong drink (h7941).  1Ti.3:8 deacons in the NT church aren’t to be heavy drinkers.  (Paul advised only a little wine for Timothy, 1Ti.5:23.)

Jewish Christian historian Alfred Edersheim wrote of Jesus’ Last Supper, held in a large furnished upper room of a house (Lk.22:12).  There Jesus instituted the eucharist.  The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.809 “Peter and John would find there the wine for the four cups, the cakes of unleavened bread, and probably also ‘the bitter herbs’. The wine was…red, mixed with water, generally in the proportion of one part to two of water.”  Peter, John, and Jesus the man were Jews, here at Passover.

David Stern Jewish New Testament Commentary [JNTC] Lk.22:17a, p.144 “Luke is the only one of the four [gospel] writers describing the establishing of the New Covenant who mentions both a cup of wine before the meal (here) and another after (v.20).”  Wine-drinking was customary at the Lord’s feasts.

The ingathering of the grape harvest occurred in the later summer, prior to the Feast of Ingathering or Booths of the early autumn.  Back then it was something of an ordeal to preserve pure grape juice for 7 months until the Passover next spring!  Joe Thorn A Theology of Wine “Drinking wine was normative.”

However, it was possible to maintain unfermented grape juice (albeit more difficult).  Wayne Jackson Was the Fruit of the Vine Fermented? “It is known from ancient sources, that there were ways of preserving juice, thus preventing fermentation. The ancient Roman statesman, Cato, said: ‘If you wish to have ‘must’ (grape juice) all year, put grape juice in an amphora [narrow-necked jar] and seal the cork with pitch; sink it in a fish pond. After 30 days take it out. It will be grape juice for a whole year.’ (De Agri Cultura CXX)”  Steve Shirley Should Wine or Grape Juice Be Used For Communion? “Heating it [juice] to 150–180° would result in a syrup which could be diluted with water, then drank as unfermented grape juice. Also, keeping it in temperatures below 40° would prevent fermentation.”

Which beverage was used by the church?  Jennifer Tait New Wine, New Wineskins “The early Western church maintained the use of wine and unleavened bread. The Eastern church soon began to use leavened bread. From the 16^th until the 19^th century, the majority of Protestants communed using wine from a common cup and leavened bread. However, in the 19^th century, temperance became teetotalism or total abstinence, moving all alcohol (wine included) into the list of forbidden beverages. Many began to question why a beverage considered dangerous to drink was still used on the Communion table.”

Joe Iovino Methodist History: Controversy, Communion, & Welch’s Grape Juice “In the 1800s, churches faced a dilemma. To combat the epidemic of alcoholism, the temperance movement advocated total abstinence from all alcohol. Raw grape juice stored at room temperature (home refrigerators weren’t available until 1913) naturally ferments into wine. This caused a problem for congregations [taking the Lord’s Supper] not wanting to use anything containing alcohol. ‘Lots of churches just didn’t have communion when grapes were out of season,’ reports Roger Scull.”

Welch Foods, Inc. is named for Thomas Bramwell Welch (1825-1903).  He was a dentist, Methodist minister and “communion steward”, and Prohibitionist.  Wikipedia “In 1869, Welch invented a method of pasteurizing grape juice so that fermentation was stopped, and the drink was non-alcoholic. He persuaded local churches [in Vineland, NJ] to adopt this non-alcoholic ‘wine’ for communion services, calling it ‘Dr. Welch’s Unfermented Wine.”  It became the well-known Welch’s Grape Juice in 1893.

Thus pasteurization made it possible for churches to use grape juice year-round for the Lord’s Supper eucharist.  Most Protestant churches today use grape juice when serving communion.  Over the past 150 years, this relatively recent deviation from the practice of Bible times has become their church tradition.

However, there is evidence that Jewish religious bread and wine meals were held to honor the Messiah in the decades even prior to Jesus’ human birth and His Last Supper.  JNTC Appendix, p.931 says the Jewish community at Qumrán had regular meals in honor of the Messiah, who they expected soon.  Quoting their Dead Sea Scrolls: “When they gather for the Community table…let no man stretch out his hand over the bread and wine before the priest. He shall first stretch out his hand. And afterwards the Messiah of Israel shall stretch out His hands. They shall process according to this rite at every meal where at least ten persons are assembled.”  These were frequent meals.

These Qumran Community meals weren’t Passover meals!  Yet they partook of bread and wine, not grape juice, to honor the Messiah.  Jesus is the Messiah.  Traditionally, wine celebrated Him.

But the representative bread and wine is much more ancient than the 1^st century BC!  In Ge.14:18-19 “Melchisedek the king brought out bread and wine [yayin h3196]; He was priest of the Most High God.”  He served wine, not grape juice (tirosh h8492)!  He shared a (leavened?) bread and wine meal with the uncircumcised gentile/non-Jew Abrám.  The Ps.110:1-4 prophecy is about Jesus. “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.” (also see He.6:20.)

Jesus, the Priest-King, is of the order of Melchisedek (not of the in-between Levitical order)!  So way back in the days of father Abraham, even prior to Jacob/Israel and the Jews, a bread and wine meal foreshadowed Christ’s priesthood and rule.  This is significant…we are of the order of Melchisedek!  The archetypal meal wasn’t tied to a recurring religious date or season of the year, e.g. Passover.  Its timing may or may not coincide with other religious observances.  (see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.)

Pr.9:1-5 “Wisdom has built her house. She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine [h3196, fermented], she has set her table. ‘Come, eat of the bread and drink of the wine [h3196] I have mixed.”  It is wisdom to partake of (symbolic) bread and wine.  Melchisedek did so with Abraham.

In 1Co.11:20-34, drunkenness was a problem in the Corinthian church (v.21).  They were consuming too much wine while celebrating the eucharist at regular love feasts.  Drunkenness can have bad consequences (cf. Ge.9:20-27).  But wine-drinking in moderation is fine (except for Levites on duty).

To conclude…Jesus and His disciples drank wine with His Last Supper (Passover) meal.  International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [ISBE]: Wine “The wine of the Last Supper may be described in modern terms as sweet, red, fermented wine, rather highly diluted.”  Wine was in Jesus’ “cup”.

As a representation of Jesus’ blood and body, taking wine with bread is scripturally acceptable.  Joe Thorn The Lord’s Supper – Wine or Welch’s? “Regarding children, in most of the United States it is not illegal for children to consume alcohol ‘in the performance of a religious ceremony or service.”

However, conscience matters!  Je.35:5-8, 16-19 Jonadáb the son of Recháb commanded the Rechabites to be nomads, enduring hardship and abstaining from wine.  His descendants obeyed their forefather.  Some Christians abstain from wine, meat, card-playing, etc., as a matter of conscience or from fear of excess.  They only use grape juice, not wine, for communion.  We should respect their consciences.

Recovering alcoholics who become Christians, those with health problems and/or taking medications which could conflict with alcohol…should substitute grape juice for wine when taking communion.

Christians celebrate the Lord’s Supper with either wine or grape juice!  Over the years, I’ve used both.  (Again, the NT writers didn’t specify the beverage in the “cup” at Jesus’ Last Supper.)  When taking the eucharist, more important is our attitude of heart.  Yet division may occur when a perhaps well-meaning church custom/tradition becomes a modern form of pharisaic oral law and promotes exclusivism.  Jesus castigated the Pharisees for their oral traditions that contradicted OT scripture.

For more, see “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (1)” and the separate topic “Bread and Wine in the Church”.  Also related is “Jesus’ Last Supper Timing”.

Jesus’ Genealogy

Jesus’ divine genealogy was seen in “Godhead in Prehistory” and “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.  Here we’ll look at Jesus’ human genealogy from the Davidic covenant, and study the so-called ‘curse of Jeconiáh’.

God freed ancient Israel from Egypt.  He was Israel’s invisible Ruler; later they would have a human king (De.17:14-15, Jg.8:23, 1Sm.8:5-7, 12:12).  Ending the period of the judges, the last judge Samuel anointed Saul as the first king of Israel (1Sm.9:15-17).  But Saul was disobedient, so the Lord rejected him from being king (1Sm.15:23-28).  God replaced Saul with David (1Sm.16:12-13).  2Sm.2:4 at first David was king over the tribe of Judah only (for 7 years).  But God had promised David he would be king over all Israel, not just Judah (2Sm.3:9-10).  2Sm.5:12 David became king of Israel (2Sm.12:7).  1Ki.2:11-12 after David died, his son Solomon sat on David’s throne as king over Israel (1Ki.4:1).

Saul, David, Solomon…these three were the only kings who ruled over the 12 tribes of Israel.

After God had rejected Saul, God promised David that his throne and kingdom would last forever.  We read of the Davidic covenant and the dynasty God promised him in the following passages: 2Sm.7:12-19 is the initial dynastic promise to David. “Your throne will be established forever.”  Matthew Poole Commentary 2Sm.7:13 “This is meant immediately of Solomon.”  Benson Commentary “Forever’ is not meant of Solomon, but of David’s posterity in general.”  1Ch.3:1-9 David had many sons besides Solomon, including Nathan.  Ps.132:11-12 “The Lord has sworn to David, ‘If your sons keep My covenant, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever.”  If…it’s partly conditional!  1Ki.2:1-4 before he died, David also told Solomon it was conditional to David’s sons.  1Ki.8:22-26 in prayer, Solomon reiterates to God the conditional promise.  1Ki.9:1-7 God heard Solomon’s prayer, and told him the Davidic dynasty on the throne of Israel would continue through Solomon, if Solomon was obedient.  (2Ch.6:16 clarifies 1Ch.22:9-10 as to the conditional nature of the covenant through Solomon’s line.)

But Solomon didn’t remain obedient to the Lord, thus breaking the conditional part of the covenant.  1Ki.11:11 “The Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you have not kept My covenant which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.”  (1Ki.11:26 Jeroboám was one of Solomon’s official servants.)  Ne.13:26 Solomon had been king over all Israel.

After Solomon, the monarchy was divided into…the kingdom of Israel in the north (1Ki.11:30-32 under Jeroboam, who wasn’t of the Davidic line)…the kingdom of Judah in the south (under Solomon’s son Rehoboám).  None of the kings of Israel in the north were from the house of David!  e.g. 2Ki.10:30 the Lord told Jehú his line (non-Davidic) would succeed him on the throne of Israel in the north for four generations.  2Ki.17:1, 6 Hoshéa was the last king of Israel.  The kingdom of Judah in the south had Davidic kings (e.g. Aház, Hezekiah, Josiah).  But the kings of Judah didn’t rule over Israel.  Judah’s last two kings were Jeconiah/Coniah and Zedekiáh.  (see “Israelite Deportations by Assyria”.)

Yet part of the Davidic covenant is unconditional.  Ps.89:34-37 “My covenant I will not break. I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.”  Also Je.33:19-26 “Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, then I would reject the seed of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his seed rulers.”  Unconditional.

1Ch.17:11-15 “I will set up one of your seed after you, who shall be of your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be My Son. I will set him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”  This passage begins with David’s son Solomon in mind.  But it ends with God’s eternal Son established on His throne in God’s kingdom forever.

The promise of David’s dynasty is forevermore.  It began with a promise that David’s son Solomon would build God’s temple and rule.  Yet it’s the Davidic covenant, not the Solomonic covenant.  The throne of Israel is referred to prophetically as the “throne of David”, not the ‘throne of Solomon’.  It’s not unconditionally through Solomon forever.  If David’s descendants sin, they’ll be punished or made captive; the dynastic rule suspended temporarily.  The monarchy could be broken, but not the line of descendants from David.  Within David’s descendants was the unconditional promise of a restored everlasting kingdom.  Another Son of David would rule forever as a lasting house over Israel.  Ho.3:5 “The children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king in the latter days.”

That refers to the Messiah, the Son of David.  Je.23:5-6 “Declares the Lord, ‘I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. He will reign as King. This is The Name by which He will be called, ‘YHVH our righteousness.”  Jeremiah prophesied that the Branch, King Messiah (ref Targum Jonathán), would be a descendant of David…and YHVH/God!  David’s line and the official genealogical record wouldn’t end before the Branch/Messiah appeared.  He came before the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem and priesthood.

Is.9:6-7 the Child, the Wonderful, the Mighty God, would sit on the throne of David forever.

Lk.1:30-33 the angel Gabriel told Mary that Jesus, the Son of the Most High, would be given David’s throne.  “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”  (Ge.32:28 God had changed Jacob’s name to Israel.)  Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David (Lk.2:3-7, 1Sa.20:6).  Joseph & Mary must travel to Joseph’s ancestral city to register for the census, because, “he was from the house of David”.  Jesus is called the son of David (Lk.18:38, Mt.21:9).  Nathanaél said to Jesus in Jn.1:49, “You are the Son of God, the King of Israel”.  As the Lord said in Je.23:5-6, King Messiah would be God and a son of David.  Jesus is called the King of Israel (Jn.12:12-13, Mk.15:32).

The kings of Israel & Judah had secretaries, recorders, historiographers, who maintained public records and genealogies (e.g. 1Ki.4:3).  1Ch.9:1 “All Israel was reckoned by genealogies; they’re written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, with the names of those who were carried away to Babylon.”  Individuals were registered according to their family and tribe.  Ezr.8:1 “These are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical records of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxérxes.”  They’re returning exiles, companions of Ezra.  Nehemiah later wrote in the 400s BC in Ne.7:5-7, “God put it into my heart to enroll the people by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy of those who were first to return….who came with Zerubabbél.”  Those had returned in an earlier wave (Ezr.2:1-2-ff), prior to Ezra’s group.  (see “Temple of Zerubbabel”.)

Genealogical records were necessary!  Smith’s Bible Dictionary: “When Zerubbabel brought back the captivity from Babylon, one of his first cares seems to have been to take a census of those that returned, and to settle them according to their genealogies. Passing on to the time of the birth of Christ, we have a striking incidental proof of the continuance of the Jewish genealogical economy, that when Augustus ordered the census of the empire to be taken, the Jews immediately went each one to his own city. The Jewish genealogical records continued to be kept till near the destruction of Jerusalem.”

Now we’ll look at Jesus’ human lineage, through Joseph and Mary.  Mt.1:1-18 is Joseph’s lineage; Lk.3:22-38 is considered Mary’s lineage.  Possible levirate marriages within their lines, and (Jewish) ancestors who may have been known by two names, won’t be guessed at here.

Lk.3:23 “Jesus being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Elí [Helí].”  Joseph was Jesus’ legal father (but not His biological father).  Jn.1:45 “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  Genealogists indicate Mary was Eli/Heli’s daughter.  geni.com Heli ben Matat “Father of Maria.”  Mary’s husband Joseph was Eli’s son-in-law.  (There was no Greek word for ‘son-in-law’.)  Some disbelieving Jews hated the memory of Mary.  Did Talmudists think Mary was Heli’s daughter?  John Lightfoot (1602-1675) From the Talmud and Hebraica, Luke 3:23 “He saw Mary the daughter of Heli amongst the shades, hanging by the fibers of her breasts; the great bar of hell’s gate hung at her ear.”  Lightfoot’s footnoted source was Hieros. Chagigah 77.4.  (since expunged, veiled in Sanhedrin 6.6 “Onion-leaf”?)

Many rabbis spoke of two Messiahs.  Messiah ben David is the ‘Conquering King’, whereas Messiah ben Joseph is the ‘Suffering Servant’.  Interestingly, Jesus is the son (‘ben’ in Hebrew) of both…He’s the son of David via Mary’s ancestry (Lk.1:30-32), and legally the son of Joseph her husband!

David is in the lines of both Joseph (Mt.1:6), and Mary/Miriám (Lk.3:31).  But after David, we see that Joseph descended from David’s son Solomon, whereas Mary descended from David’s son Nathan.  Both Solomon and Nathan were sons of Bathsheba (1Ch.3:5), David’s best-known wife.  Solomon is in Joseph’s line of Jesus’ legal descent, but Solomon isn’t in Mary’s line of Jesus’ physical descent.

Nathan is in Mary’s line.  Her line reflects the “seed of the woman”, Ge.3:15.  The prophetic passage of Zec.12:10-12 has genealogical significance. “I will pour out on the house of David the Spirit of grace. They will look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only Son. The family of the house of David and their wives; the family of the house of Nathan and their wives.”  The wives of the branch of Nathan will mourn.  At Jesus’ crucifixion, Mary looked upon Jesus (Jn.19:26), who was pierced with a spear (Jn.19:34).  Mary, one of the wives from the house of Nathan.

After David, the lines of Joseph and Mary became separate via Solomon and Nathan.  Between David and Jesus, the only names common to the genealogies of both Joseph and Mary are Shealtiel (Salathiel in Greek) and his son Zerubabbel; Mt.1:12, Lk.3:27, Ezr.3:2, 3:8, 5:2, Hag.1:1, 12, 14, 2:2, 23.  Ne.12:1 “Zerubabbel the son of Shealtiel.”  Seemingly at odds with those 11 verses is 1Ch.3:16-19, which says Zerubabbel was the son of Pedaiáh.  However, LXX Nets 1Ch.3:19 Zerubabbel was the son of Salathiel.  Perhaps Pedaiah died childless and his brother Shealtiel married Pedaiah’s widow as levirate and had Zerubabbel.  Less likely, the Zerubabbel & Shealtiel in Lk.3:27 differ from the pair in Mt.1:12.

Now let’s examine the ‘curse of Jeconiah’, so-called.  Preceding the Babylonian captivity, the son of King Josiah of Judah was Jehoaház/Shallúm; he ruled for 3 months.  Then Jehoiákim/Eliakím, brother of Jehoahaz, ruled for 11 years (608-597 BC).  The son of Jehoiakim was Jehoiachín/Jeconiah/Coniah; he ruled for 100 days.  ref 2Ch.36:1-11, 1Ch.3:15-18, 2Ki.24:5-12, Est.2:6.  These were all kings of Judah, not Israel.  Nebuchadnézzar deported Coniah to Babylon, where he died 37 years later (560 BC), after being given favor & honor, Je.52:30-34!  Jeconiah’s uncle Zedekiah/Mattaniah (brother to Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim) became the final king of Judah, ruling 11 years (597-586 BC).  Je.52:1-2, 10-11 all Zedekiah’s sons were killed.  He died childless in Babylon.  Zedekiah’s line was terminated.

Je.21:1-14 Jeremiah told Zedekiah that the Lord would destroy Jerusalem.  In Je.22:1-10, Zedekiah is warned to change his ways.  v.11-28 Zedekiah is reminded of the fate of his three predecessors, Shallum/Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah/Coniah.  (Jehoiakim was the worst of Zedekiah’s three predecessors.  He burned Jeremiah’s scroll, and his dead body later rotted under the sun without burial, Je.36:22-32.)

Je.22.29-30 has been called the ‘curse of Jeconiah’.  But was Jeremiah here still referring to Coniah the preceding king, or now to Zedekiah the current king?  KJV Je.22:29-30 “O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the Lord! ‘Write you this man childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper sitting upon the throne of David or ruling any more in Judah.”

LXX Je.22:30 “Write you this man an outcast; for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David a prince (Strongs g758, Greek) in Judah.”  LXX Nets Je.22:30 “Record this man as a banished person, because none of his offspring shall grow up to sit on the throne of David as ruler again in Judah.”  Was Jeconiah/Coniah/Jehoiachin meant…or was Zedekiah?

Coniah wasn’t literally “childless”.  He had at least six sons (1Ch.3:17-18).  Whereas Zedekiah died childless.  His sons were slaughtered (Je.52:10-11).  TSK Je.22:30 “Zedekiah was taken prisoner, his sons slain before his eyes; and his eyes being put out, he was carried to Babylon.”  Therefore King Zedekiah doesn’t appear in the genealogy of either Joseph or Mary.  Jesus isn’t of Zedekiah’s descent.

The Lord declared that no seed of Zedekiah (or Coniah?) would sit on David’s throne or rule Judah.  Jeconiah and his children were taken to Babylon and died in captivity.  But his grandson Zerubabbel returned in the 530s BC…as governor in Judea, Hag.1:1!  In Je.22:24, Jeremiah had said to Zedekiah, “Declares the Lord, ‘Even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring (h2368, Hebrew) on My right hand, yet I would pull it off.”  A signet ring or seal was held by the sovereign or legal authority.  Hag.2:23 “Declares the Lord, ‘I will take you Zerubabbel, son of Shealtiel, and make you like a signet ring (h2368), for I have chosen you.”  Barnes Notes Hag.2:23 “Cyrus entrusted him with the return of his people, and made him (who would have been the successor to the throne of Judah, had the throne been re-established) his governor over the people.”  Pulpit Commentary “Zerubbabel is set at the head of the nation in the place of his grandfather Jeconiah.”  Although Zerubabbel wasn’t made king, he was as a signet ring, as was Coniah.  Zerubabbel or Sheshbazzár, as it is thought he was also known, was the ruling “prince of Judah” cf. Ezr.1:8-11 (LXX g758), 2:1-2, 3:8, 5:14-16.  It doesn’t seem that Coniah’s grandson Zerubabbel was indicative of, or the recipient of, a curse.

Je.24:1-2, 5 Jeconiah and the other captives in Babylon were portrayed by the good figs.  (2Ch.36:9 although he too did evil during his short 100-day reign, he lived for 37 years afterwards.)  v.8-10 but Zedekiah was a curse, portrayed by the bad/evil figs.  Also Zedekiah and the remaining dwellers in Jerusalem would be a curse in Je.29:1-2, 16-19. “Thus says the Lord to the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who dwell in this city. I will make them a curse and reproach.”  Cambridge Bible Je.29:16 “The king, Zedekiah.”  Gill Exposition “That is, King Zedekiah.”  So a case can be made that the Je.22:29-30 ‘curse of Jeconiah’ was more aptly the ‘curse of Zedekiah’.

Mt.1:1-18 omits some generations of Joseph’s line, ending with Jesus.  But Jeconiah and Zerubabbel are included (v.12).  It seems Matthew wasn’t concerned with any ongoing ‘curse of Jeconiah’.  Rabbi A. J. Rosenberg on Je.22:24 “In the prophecy Hag.2:23, God says, ‘On that day I will take you, Zerubbabel, and I will make you like a signet,’ for the King Messiah will be like a signet ring on God’s right hand. Coniah will be the signet on My right hand, for the Messiah will spring from his seed.”  That rabbi didn’t think a ‘curse of Jeconiah’ would prevent Messiah from inheriting David’s throne!

Some think Jeconiah was cursed by God, but repented in captivity.  So God removed the curse.  Jewish Encyclopedia “Jehoiachin’s sad experiences changed his nature entirely, and as he repented of the sins he committed as king, he was pardoned by God, who revoked the decree to the effect that none of his descendants should ever become king: he even became the ancestor of the Messiah.” (Tan., Toledot, 20).

Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ biological father.  In a sense, Joseph adopted Jesus as the firstborn son of Mary and himself.  Thus Jesus became a legal heir of the line that went through David, Solomon, Zerubabbel, Jacob, Joseph.  And Jesus was seed heir of the line that went through David, Nathan, Zerubabbel, Eli, Mary.  Even if it was Jeconiah who God cursed (Je.22:29-30)…Jesus isn’t in the seed line of Jeconiah!  Any curse on Jeconiah’s seed wouldn’t apply to Jesus!

Mary had a sister named Salóme.  cf. Mk.15:40, Mt.27:56, Jn.19:25.  (Biological sisters wouldn’t both be named Mary.)  But no brothers.  Joseph was probably deceased.  Jn.19:25-27 Jesus gave His cousin John the responsibility of caring for Mary (she’d first be the responsibility of her: husband, son, brother).  Jn.19:25 Bengel’s Gnomen “No brother of Mary is mentioned. She herself was heir of her father, and was therefore transmitting to Jesus the right to the kingdom of David.”  All inheritances went through the males.  But a daughter with no brothers could inherit her father’s possessions/rights, if she married within her father’s tribe, Nu.27:8 & 36:7-10.  Except Levite women could freely intermarry, because Levites had no land inheritance to preserve, De.18:1-2.  Eli (Mary’s father) and Joseph (Mary’s husband) were both from the tribe of Judah.  In that sense, Joseph became Eli’s heir through marriage.

{Sidelight: Lk.1:5-7 Zacharías and Elizabeth were Levites descended from Aaron (their fathers were priests).  They were elderly when she became pregnant with John the Baptizer (v.24).  Elizabeth was probably young Mary’s aunt (v.36).  Perhaps Mary’s father Eli of the tribe of Judah (Lk.3:23) had wed Elizabeth’s Aaronide sister.  Though Eli’s daughters Mary & Salome were of Judah, their mother was a “daughter of Aaron” (priestly lineage).  Mary wed Jacob’s son Joseph of Judah (Mt.1:16).  Salome married Zebedee (cf. Mk.15:40, Mt.27:56, Jn.19:25), a well-to-do Galilean fisherman (Mk.1:19-20), who was of Aaron or Judah.  Salome was Jesus’ aunt.  Zebedee’s sons, James & John, were Jesus’ first cousins.  Jesus was closest to James & John, and Peter (e.g. Mt.17:1-9 Transfiguration, Mt.26:37).}

Jesus, the “Branch” of David, was completely obedient.  (see “Jesus Obeyed God’s Written Laws”.)  Jesus didn’t break covenant, unlike the last four kings of Judah prior to the captivity, to which Jeremiah referred in Je.22.  They were kings of Judah only.  Jesus, Messiah ben David, inherits the throne of David as King of Israel (Jn.1:41, 49).

At creation in Ge.1:26-28, God gave dominion on earth to mankind.  Jesus came in the flesh as a man, the “seed of the woman”.  He never sinned (He.4:15, 1Pe.2:21-22).  Jesus is fully qualified to rule over the earth, including all Israel.  Ps.47:6-8 “Sing praises to our King. For God is the King of all the earth. God reigns over the nations.”  Re.19:16 “He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”  Jesus/Yeshúa is the Emperor in the Kingdom of God.  Praise the Lord!

Jesus Obeyed God’s Written Laws

In the Old Testament (OT), the Hebrew term which is usually translated “law” in our Bibles is toráh (Strongs h8451).  It occurs 220 times.  Torah is instructive teaching with a wide range of meaning.  The BC Jewish translators of the OT into Greek (now become the Septúagint/LXX) translated torah as nómos (g3551), which means ‘law’.  Nomos occurs 240 times in the LXX, and 200 times in the New Testament (NT) where it usually refers to a body of law or the first five books (Péntateuch) of the OT.

God’s OT written word includes: laws, the Lord’s Testimony (edúth h5715) Decalogue on Mt Sinai, commandments (mitzváh h4687), judgments/legal decisions (mishpát h4941), ceremonial statutes or ordinances & civil decrees (choq h2706 & chuqqáh h2708).  Ne.9:13 the Lord God “Came down on Mt Sinai and spoke to them from heaven; and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments”.  In De.4:8, “this whole law” includes all the above. However, by NT times most of God’s precepts were generally called commandments (entoláy g1785, Greek).

According to Jewish rabbinic tradition, there are 613 laws or commandments in the Pentateuch.  Of these, 248 are positive ‘do’s’ and 365 are negative ‘don’ts’.  Rámbam (1138-1204 AD) listed 613.  That number is disputed.  Wikipedia: 613 Commandments “Some rabbis declared…that it was not logically possible to come up with a systematic count. A number of authorities denied that it was normative.”

Theologians have divided God’s laws into three broad categories: moral, civil or judicial, ceremonial.  There’s some overlap.  Did Jesus disobey any of the Lord’s written injunctions, His requirements?

God’s foundational moral code was the Testimony of Ex.20 & De.5, the ‘10 Commandments’ so-called.  Actually, the expression ‘10 Commandments/10 Mitzvót’ (h4687) never occurs in the Hebrew Masoretic text!  The Decalogue was the ‘10 Words’ (dabár h1697) or ’10 Sayings’.  ref De.4:13.

From the Decalogue the Lord gave to Israel…Jesus affirmed in Mt.19:18-19 that you shouldn’t commit murder or adultery, you shouldn’t steal or bear false witness; and honor your father & mother.

Jesus honored His heavenly Father.  Jn.8:29 “I do always those things which please Him.”  Lk.2:49-51 Jesus said He must be about His heavenly Father’s house/affairs/business.  Yet Jesus continued to be in subjection to Mary & Joseph, His earthly parents.  Jn.19:26-27 while hanging on the cross, Jesus entrusted the care of Mary to His cousin the apostle John.

Jesus didn’t commit murder or adultery.  Jesus didn’t steal.  Lk.19:30-35 Jesus needed a colt.  Without objecting, the colt’s owners let two of Jesus’ disciples take the colt.  It wasn’t a criminal act.

Jesus didn’t lie.  Jn.7:8-10 although Jesus delayed leaving for the Feast right then with them, He did go to it.  Gill Exposition Jn.7:10 “The Ethiopic version reads, ‘He went up that day’; which is very likely, Jn.7:14 though He didn’t go to the temple to teach till the middle of the feast.”  He is the truth, Jn.14:6.

Neither did Jesus wrongly covet/desire.  Ex.20:17 “You shall not covet.”  Jn.6:15 Jesus even withdrew from the multitude who wanted to make Him a temporal King Messiah then.

It doesn’t appear that Jesus disobeyed any of God’s Testimony, the 10 Words, the 10 Commandments!

Some may think that Jesus neglected to perform all the applicable ceremonial or sacrificial aspects of God’s written word given to Moses/Israel.  Most Christians aren’t knowledgeable about details of ancient Israel’s ritualistic practices, though we do see references & glimpses of them in the NT.

Jesus Christ wasn’t remiss in ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Law.  Christ Himself, as the Word of God (Jn.1:1, 14) and Rock of Israel (De.32:18 & 1Co.10:4), had sanctioned it for Israel!  (see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  There’s no scriptural evidence which indicates that Jesus sinned or violated this aspect of His written Law or torah.

What is sin?  Scriptural ‘definitions’ of sin:  Ro.14:23 “Whatever is not of faith is sin [hamartía g266].”  Ja.4:17 “The person who knows the right thing to do, and does it not, to him it is sin.”  1Jn.5:17 “All unrighteousness is sin.”  And 1Jn.3:4, “Sin is the transgression of the Law [or lawlessness].”  That’s four NT descriptions of sin.  Also Pr.24:9 “The thought of foolishness is sin [chattáh h2403].”

Did Jesus the Christ commit any sins?  The Jewish NT writers said Jesus didn’t sin in any manner!  The apostle Peter wrote in 1Pe.2:22, “Christ did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth”.  John wrote in 1Jn.3:5, “In Him is no sin”.  He.4:15 “Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  That’s the assertion coming down to us from three Jewish Christian writers!  Jesus didn’t transgress the Lord’s written Law/torah.

And well Jesus should have obeyed written torah.  Mary/Miriám, the young woman who bore Him, was a Jewess from the Israelite tribe of Judah.  He.7:14 “It is evident that our Lord [Jesus] sprang from Judah.”  In Jn.4:22, Jesus Himself indicated He was a Jew. “We worship that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews.”  God’s written laws were for Israelites, including the Jewish Mary and Jesus.

Jesus/Yeshúa must obey the laws for male non-Levites, that is.  Laws which applied only to females, or to the service of Levites and priests, didn’t apply to Jesus.  Jesus wasn’t a priest from the tribe of Levi.

Let’s examine the gospel narratives in some detail, and in so doing compare Jesus’ words & actions with other laws of God which were given to Moses/Israel.  The following is from the scriptural record:

Beginning with the family of the infant Jesus before His human birth, His Uncle Zacharias and Aunt Elizabeth were blameless (Lk.1:5-6).  Mary was favored by God, and she believed the amazing words of the angel Gabriel spoken to her about her Son (Lk.1:30-38)!  Her husband Joseph, Jesus’ Jewish legal father, was a just man (Mt.1:18-19).  These relatives weren’t habitual breakers of written torah.

After Jesus was born, Joseph & Mary had Him physically circumcised on the 8^th day (Lk.2:21).  This was in obedience to the command given to Moses in Le.12:3 for Israelite male newborns. “On the 8^th day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”

Lk.2:22 after the male birth, Mary was away from the temple during her required days of purification, in obedience to Le.12:4.  Then appearing at the temple, in Lk.2:23-24 they offered a required sacrifice to obey Le.12:8. “She shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons.”  Jesus the firstborn son was presented to the Lord (Lk.2:22) in accordance with Ex.13:2. “Sanctify to Me every firstborn among the sons of Israel.”  Written torah was closely adhered to by them.

Then during Jesus’ childhood, Lk.2:41-42 “His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year for the Passover”.  This in obedience to De.16:5-6. “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns; but at the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.”  Later as an adult, Jesus’ disciples made preparation in Mk.14:12 to eat the sacrificial Passover with Him as commanded. “When the Passover was being sacrificed.”  In Jerusalem, not in Galilee.  Another ceremonial observance was reflected in Jn.7:2, 10-14 where Jesus was attending the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkót at Jerusalem.  In obedience to De.16:16, “All your males shall appear” at the one singular place of the Lord’s choice.

Some Bible readers regard God’s dietary laws as a mixture of moral and ceremonial directives.  It’s not loving one’s neighbor to feed them unclean parasitic or carcinogenic creatures.  (see the topic “Unclean versus Clean Food”.)  Jesus said in His parable of Mt.13:47-48 that they gathered-in the good fish but cast away the bad fish.  Pulpit Commentary Mt.13:48 “This included the legally unclean.”  Obeying the Lord’s guidelines of Le.11:9-10 which defined clean & unclean, “All [sea creatures] that have fins and scales you may eat”.

In Mt.17:24-27, Jesus paid the poll/temple tax for Peter (and Himself).  Ex.30:13-14 had required this tax.  And in Mt.23:23, Jesus told Jewish Pharisees they should pay tithes stipulated by written torah, even on their garden crops…tithes holy to God (Le.27:30).

What about sacrifices?  Some OT sacrifices were voluntary options, others were commanded.  In Mk.7:11-13, Jesus reprimanded scribes & Pharisees for their having chosen to do voluntary sacrifice (korbán, Hebrew, e.g. Le.1:2) to God, instead of responsibly honoring their aging parents (Ex.20:12).  Individual burnt offerings were voluntary (Le.1).  Many grain offerings were voluntary (Le.2).  Many peace offerings were voluntary (Le.3).  Three types of peace offerings are identified in Le.7:11-ff; thank, votive, freewill.  (also see “Passover and Peace Offerings”.)

As to whether or not Jesus brought such individual offerings…is a non-issue.  Because…those offerings were voluntary, not commanded.  (That is, unless some incidental matter such as a Nazarite vow was involved, of which there’s no NT account of Jesus ever taking such a vow.)

The individual sacrifices of Le.4-6 for sin & guilt weren’t voluntary or optional in the sense other types were.  These were offered by the offending Israelite for atonement and forgiveness, e.g. Le.6:1-7!  (see “Day of Atonement”.)  Although sin & guilt offerings were expiatory for forgiveness, they too were a personal non-issue for the person who hadn’t sinned.  And the NT writers said Jesus never sinned.

In Nu.15:37-39, the Lord commanded Israelite men to wear fringe or tassels (g2899 LXX) on their garment hem.  (ref De.22:12, Zec.8:23.)  This was to help them remember His commandments/mitzvot.  Mt.23:5 scribes & Pharisees pridefully lengthened their tassels (g2899), perhaps to show their supposed ‘rank’.  In Mt.9:20-22, a woman diseased with an issue of blood touched the tassels (g2899) on Jesus’ garment.  Jesus didn’t disobey this ceremonial tassels requirement.  And He healed the woman.  (cf. Lk.8:44, Mt.14:36, Mk.6:56.)

If Jesus had close physical contact with someone He healed from an issue of blood, then perhaps He became ritually unclean…until He washed at evening (Le.15:25-27).  But such ritual uncleanness wasn’t sin.  Becoming ritually unclean could even be mandatory!  A man must properly attend to his father’s dead body, for example.  Even priests did so (Le.21:1-3).  A corpse is unclean (Nu.19:11).  Attending to a close relative’s corpse reflects compassion and honor for the deceased…which isn’t sin.

In Mk.1:40-44, Jesus healed a leper and told the healed leper to “Go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded”.  This was to obey that which God had instructed Moses in Le.13:1-2, 17. “If the infection has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean”.

Leprosy was infectious and lepers were to be quarantined (ref Le.13:44-46, 5:3).  The priest was a type of ‘health inspector’.  However, I know of no written torah which clearly forbad touching a leper.  Again, it wasn’t always a violation to touch an unclean person.  Doing so could just make you unclean until you went through the proper ceremonial procedure and the required time elapsed.

In the OT, only two individuals are named who were healed of leprosy…Miriam the Israelitess (Nu.12:10-15) and the gentile Naamán, general of the opposing Syrian army (2Ki.5:1-14).  But not one Israelite man!  (Moses’ brief ordeal was a sign, Ex.4:5-7.)  Bible historians say 1^st century Jews therefore came to believe that only the Messiah could heal an Israelite man from leprosy.  Jesus did so!

Also 1^st century Jews believed only the Messiah could heal a man blind from birth.  In Jn.9:1-7 there was a man blind from birth.  Jesus’ disciples thought the man was born blind because he’d sinned in a prior life, or else his parents had sinned.  But Jesus said this blindness was so the works of God would be displayed in him.  Perhaps the man had blind faith…the Son of God healed him!  Praise God!

But it is understood that Jesus didn’t observe all the Jews’ oral law traditions.  And in Mk.7:7-9, Jesus castigated scribes & Pharisees for favoring the traditions of men above the written commands of God!

Returning to the account of the man born blind…out of love and compassion, Jesus gave him sight, applying clay & spittle.  But after questioning the man who now could see, Pharisees said in Jn.9:13-16, “This man [Jesus] is not from God, because He doesn’t keep the Sabbath”.  Because Jesus had “made” clay on the sabbath (v.6, 14), those Pharisees viewed His act as a breach of rabbinic sabbath laws.  T. Hieros Sabbat 14.4 “It is forbidden to put fasting spittle even on the eyelid on a sabbath day.”

Historians say the Jews had 39 categories of burdensome man-made sabbath laws (with even further detail)!  But those were merely the commandments of men.  Jesus’ action didn’t violate the written law of God.  And even the famous 1^st century rabbinic schools of Hillél and Shammái differed over points of traditional observance.  (Ti.1:14 Paul too warned about Jewish “commandments of men”.)

Jesus healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Jesus asked those who would accuse Him in Mk.3:1-5, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?’ But they kept silent.”  They failed to give Jesus a good answer.  Matthew Henry Commentary Jn.9:16 “On the sabbath…works of necessity and mercy are allowed.”

Jesus customarily went to synagogue on the sabbath day.  Le.23:3 “On the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation.”  Jesus obeyed God’s Decalogue sabbath command.  And of Jesus’ commitment in Lk.4:16, “As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read”.  Jesus regularly attended synagogue on the 7^th day sabbath.

It’s not that all traditional observances are wrong.  Most every culture has some good traditions.  In Jn.10:22-23 e.g., Jesus is seen in Jerusalem at the temple during the man-made festival of Hánukkah.  This “Feast of Dedication” or ‘Festival of Lights’ was ordained by the Jews in the 160s BC to commemorate the re-dedication of the temple.  Hanukkah is a tradition which doesn’t contradict God’s written word.  So Jesus the “Light of the World” (Jn.8:12) was at the ‘Festival of Lights’.

To conclude…I find nothing in the Bible that clearly indicates Jesus ever sinned by violating God’s written word or torah/Law.  And Jesus Himself said in Jn.15:10, “I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love”.

Previously I quoted Jewish NT writers who said Jesus never sinned.  Also Paul wrote in 2Co.5:21 that God…“Made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us”.  Jesus knew no sin.  So Christ became that which He did not know…sin!  He became a sin offering.  Jesus became sin and the offering for sin…both.  For our sake.  In the OT type, the substitute animal sacrifice was regarded as sin-bearing.

OT sacrifices have ended (He.10:5).  They, and ceremonial rituals of the Mosaic law, are unnecessary for Christians!  Without a physical temple, it’s no longer possible to perform most rituals correctly.

The Bible indicates Jesus didn’t break any of God’s written laws!  Jesus affirmed them.  Jesus didn’t disobey God’s written torah or Father God.  The fact that Jesus never sinned is crucial to our salvation!  If Jesus had transgressed God’s law and sinned, we’d have no Savior.  But we have a legitimate Savior!  The sinless Christ died for the sins of the Israelites, and for the sins of all mankind.  Thanks be to God for His Son!

Savior’s Name in Bible Languages

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 1^st 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 1^st 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 1^st 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.

 

Jesus Is the Messiah

There have been 50 false Messiahs in Jewish history.  Jesus warned in Mt.24:5, “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many”.  None of them fulfilled more than a few prophecies.  Yet there are more than two dozen Old Testament (OT) prophecies about the real Messiah!

The Hebrew term Mashíach (Strongs h4899) is rendered “Messiah” in English (Messías g3323, Greek).  An ‘anointed one’, a ‘Chosen one’, ‘Savior’ or liberator.  A Greek counterpart term is Chrístos g5547, “Christ” in English.  In the OT…the offices of high priest, king, prophet were anointed positions.

Some Jews believed in two coming Messiahs.  Messiah ben/son David, the ruler; Messiah ben Joseph, the sufferer (Is.53).  Jewish anti-missionaries don’t believe Yeshúa/Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.  Ac.28:23 Paul tried to persuade those at Rome “concerning Jesus from both the Law and the Prophets”.  Here I’ll focus on just a few OT prophecies about the Messiah; they show that Jesus is the Christ.

#1) Jesus’ virgin birth.  Is.7:14 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive”!  A virgin conceiving would surely be something to behold, something so remarkable!  Whereas it is commonplace for young women to conceive naturally.  In the old Greek version (translated by Jews, now our Septúagint/LXX), the term rendered/meaning virgin was parthénos g3933.  In Nashville, TN there’s a replica of the Parthenon, so named because it represents the ancient temple shrine in Athens of the supposed virgin goddess Athena.  The Is.7:14 prophecy cannot be about King Hezekiah.  Hezekiah was at least 9 years old (cf. 2Ki.16:2, 20, 18:2) when Isaiah visited Hezekiah’s father King Aház (Is.7:3) and foretold the future (miraculous) birth of the Child!  Lk.1:31-35 Luke recorded Mary affirming to the angel Gabriel that she is a virgin (parthenos g3933).  Mary will give birth to Jesus/Yeshua.  (see the topic, “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

#2) Messiah was to be both a descendant of David…and YHVH.  Je.23:5-6 “Behold”…This is another astounding thing God would do!  God will “raise up for David a righteous Branch”, the Name/shem (Hebrew) of Whom will be “Yahweh our righteousness”!  (This wonder will be accomplished via the virgin birth.)  The Targum Jonathán says this Branch is the Messiah.  Also the Talmud Lam Rab.1:51 indicates the Branch is Messiah.  Barnes Notes Je.23:6 “Messiah is here called Yahweh.”  God said in Ps.2:7, “You are my Son, I have begotten You”.  God begat the Son.  Ps.2:7 doesn’t refer to David; Jesse (not God) begat David.  Jesus is YHVH since His Father God begat Him.  God begets God, as kind begets kind (ref Ge.1).  Yet Jesus is also a fleshly descendant of David, since Mary bore Jesus.  Lk.3:23, 31-34 shows Jesus’ genealogy as a descendant of David.  (see “Jesus’ Genealogy”.)  The Messiah Jesus didn’t come through the line of Solomonic kings.  Rather, Mary & Jesus descended from the branch of Nathan, Solomon’s brother.  Zec.12:10-12 it was prophesied that wives (e.g. Mary) and family who descended from Nathan would mourn when Jesus was pierced (Jn.19:34-37)!

#3) Messiah to be born in Bethlehem.  Mic.5:2 anciently Bethlehem of Judah was called Éphrathah.  Although there was also a Bethlehem of Zebulún in Israel (Jsh.19:15-16), more anciently the Bethlehem in Judah was called Ephrathah, Ge.48:7.  (also Ru.1:2, 4:11, 1Sm.17:12.)  The prophet Micah identified the specific Bethlehem.  Rachel’s tomb is there.  Targum Jonathan says Mi.5:2 refers to the Messiah coming from Bethlehem.  Also the Jerusalem Talmud Berakoth 5a. “The King Messiah, from whence does He come forth? From the royal city of Bethlehem in Judah.”  1Sm.20:6 Bethlehem in Judah was the city of David and his family clan.  Lk.2:4-7 & Mt.2:1 Bethlehem of Judah was also the birthplace of Jesus, the son of David!

{Sidelight: A brief aside…Bethlehem today has a population of 25,000.  Most are Muslims.  But it also has one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities.  However, before Israel became a state in 1948, Bethlehem was 85% Christian!  But Arab Christians have been departing due to growing Israeli settlements and military checkpoints, terrorism, and the proliferation of Islam.  Land that has been owned by families for generations is being confiscated.  Today Bethlehem is less than 20% Christian.}

#4) Jesus is in the order of Melchisedek.  Ge.14:18-20 Melchisedek was both king and priest.  In Ps.110:1-5, David prophesied about two Lords/YHVHs and the order of Melchisedek.  Jesus is YHVH, and He is ruler/king and priest, as Melchisedek.  He.7:1-4 Melchisedek had neither beginning of days nor end of life; no genealogy.  (Noah’s son Shem had genealogy, Ge.5:32 & 10:22.)  He.7:14-17 the Lord Jesus’ office is in the order of Melchisedek.  He.4:14 Jesus is Priest (cf. 1Ti.2:5).  Jn.18:37 Jesus is King.  Is.9:6-7 Isaiah, who prophesied of the virgin birth, also wrote that the Child will be the righteous King on the throne of David in the Kingdom government.  see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.

#5) The name of the Melchisedekian king Messiah would be…Yeshua.  Mt.1:20-23 the given name of Isaiah’s prophesied Emmanuél (“God with us”) is Yeshua/Jesus.  Zec.3:8 before 500 BC, a Jewish high priest named Yeshua (“Jesus” as transliterated from the LXX) was as a symbol for the Messiah/Branch (ref Je.23:5).  Zec.6:11-13 “Yeshua…Behold, a man whose name is the Branch.”  That high priest’s name, Yeshua/Jesus, would also be the name of the Branch/Messiah!  And He will occupy the two offices of priest and king in the order of Melchisedek.  How amazing this is!  More than 500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it was prophesied by Zechariah that the given name of the Branch/Messiah would specifically be Yeshua/Jesus!  God knows the end from the beginning.

There are many more OT Messianic prophecies which Jesus fulfilled.  He is the ‘anointed one’, the “Chosen One” (Lk.23:35, Is.42:1).  Jesus is High Priest (He.4:14), King (Jn.18:37), Prophet (De.18:18, Mt.21:11, Lk.7:16).  Simon Peter’s brother Andrew said in Jn.1:41-42, “We have found the Messiah [g3323]”.  He found Jesus the Christ.  Have you found Him, or, has He found you yet (Lk.19:10)?

1Jn.2:22 “Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ [g5547].”  The Jewish anti-missionary view is erroneous.  The above scriptures about Jesus as YHVH/God and Messiah also reveal and confirm the efficacy of our salvation.  He’s the Savior.  Jn.11:49-53 before they crucified Jesus, the Jewish high priest Caiáphas prophesied, saying one had to die for the people.  Contrary to his prophecy, Middle Ages rabbis claim (human) sacrifice isn’t needed!  2Sm.12:13-14, 18a David’s innocent infant son died, so David didn’t die in his own capital sins.  That’s a type of substitutionary human sacrifice.  Jn.8:23-24 believe Jesus is I AM/God, or else one dies in his own sins!  No longer is there a central sanctuary for sin/guilt offerings to expiate sins, as done in Le.4-6.  Besides, without the general availability of the Holy Spirit in ancient Israel, man’s proclivity to sin still remained dominant even after sacrifices for sin were offered on Yom Kíppur.  (see “Day of Atonement (1)”.)

As YHVH Lord (Je.23:6, Ac.20:28), the lifeblood Jesus shed is worth more than enough to pay the price for the sins of all mankind!  God’s justice is thus served!  Ancient Jewish thought believed the unified God included the Word/Logos/Mémra (who is Messiah, cf. Jn.1:1) in the one/echád Godhead.

1Jn.1:7-9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive our sins.”  Father God forgives our sins and views us as just/righteous in His sight.  1Co.6:9-11 such sinners were we…but now we’re justified, reconciled, and in right standing with God, due to Jesus’ sacrifice.  1Ti.2:3-6 God wants all to be saved.  High Priest Jesus, as Son of God/Son of Man, serves as mediator between the Godhead and mankind.  Our propensity to sin no longer rules us; we’re like a new person.  1Jn.5:10-13 he who believes in the Son of God and His sacrifice has eternal life.  God has done this for us through Jesus the Messiah!