Yeshua (name)
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- For the article on the person, teaching, and acts of Jesus Christ, see the Jesus article. For information on the various adherents to the religious teachings of Jesus, see the articles on Christianity and Messianic Judaism. For the article on the Hebrew term 'Yeshu' which may or may not refer to Jesus, see Yeshu.
Yeshua, spelled יֵשׁוּעַ in Hebrew, was a common name among Jews of the Second Temple Period, and is believed by some scholars[1] and religious groups[2] to be the Hebrew or Aramaic name for Jesus. It is extensively used by Messianic Jews and Hebrew Christians, as well as others, who wish to use what some believe to be the original Hebraic pronunciation of Jesus' name. This pronunciation and spelling, as with many religious and scholarly issues, remains the subject of ongoing debate.
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[edit] Etymology
Among the Jews of the Second Temple Period, the Biblical Aramaic/Hebrew name יֵשׁוּעַ "Yeshua`" was common: the Hebrew Bible mentions several individuals with this name. This name is a feature of biblical books written in the post-Exilic period like Ezra and Daniel and was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Strong's Concordance identifies the name יֵשׁוּעַ Yeshua`, in the English form Jeshua (as used in multiple instances in Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles), with the meaning "he will save" -- Hebrew word number 3442 and the same lettering in its Aramaic form -- Heb. 3443. "The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers 1990). This comports with the Hebrew rendition of Matthew 1:21: "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus [Yeshua` means "he will save"], for He will save His people from their sins" (NASB).
The name יֵשׁוּעַ "Yeshua" (translated into English Old Testament as Jeshua) is a late form of the Biblical Hebrew name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ Yehoshua (Joshua), spelled יְהוֹשׁוּעַ. The Late Biblical Hebrew spellings for earlier names often contracted the theophoric element Yeho-. Thus יהוחנן Yehochanan contracted to יוחנן Yochanan.[3]
The name Yehoshua has the form of a compound of "Yeho-" and "shua": Yeho- יְהוֹ is another form of יָהוּ Yahu, a theophoric element standing for the personal name of God YHWH, and שׁוּעַ shua is a noun meaning "a cry for help", "a saving cry",[4][5][6] that is, a shout given when in need of rescue. Together the name would then literally mean, "'God' is a saving-cry," that is, shout to God when in need of help.
Another explanation for the name Yehoshua is that it comes from the root ישע yod-shin-`ayin, meaning "to deliver" or "to rescue". According to the Book of Numbers verse 13:16, the name of Joshua son of Nun was originally Hoshea` הוֹשֵעַ, and the name "Yehoshua`" יְהוֹשֻׁעַ is usually spelled the same but with a yod added at the beginning. "Hoshea`" certainly comes from the root ישע, "yasha", yod-shin-`ayin (in the hif`il form the yod becomes a waw), and not from the word שוע shua`.[7] although ultimately both roots appear to be related.
In the 1st century, Philo of Alexandria in a Greek exposition offers this understanding of Moses’ reason for the name change of the biblical hero Jehoshua/Joshua son of Nun from Hoshea [meaning "He rescued"] to Yehoshua [meaning “Jehovah will rescue”] in commemoration of his salvation: "And Iesus refers to salvation of the Lord" [Iesus being a Latin translation of both the Hebrew names Yehoshua and the Hebrew/Aramaic name Yeshua] (Ἰησοῦ δὲ σωτηρία κυρίου) (On the Change of Names 21.121).
Similarly, the Septuagint renders Ben Sira as saying (in the Latin form of the name): "Iesus the son of Naue [Yehoshua Ben Nun] who according to his name became great unto [the] deliverer of his chosen ones" (Ἰησοῦς Ναυῆ .. ὃς ἐγένετο κατὰ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ μέγας ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτοῦ) (Ben Sira 46:1-2). However, Ben Sira originally wrote in Hebrew in the 2nd century BCE. The only extant Hebrew manuscript for this passage has "in h