What’s in a Name?
Jesus’s original name was not Jesus. Jesus is derived from a German transliteration of the Latin name that itself was transliterated from a Greek transliteration of His original Hebrew name, Yeshua, that became Jesus in English.
Jesus and his first followers were all Jews whose Hebrew names (with meanings only in Hebrew) were all transliterated into other languages. Yohanan became John in English, Matityahu became Matthew and Yehuda Ish-Krayot became Judas Iscariot etc . Even the angels are called by Hebrew names like Gavriel (Gebriel) and Michael, all having meaning only in Hebrew. Gavriel means God is mighty, and Michael means Who is like God (a rhetorical question.) The letter “J” in Jesus doesn’t exist in Hebrew, the language which Yeshua and His disciples spoke. Neither does “J” exist in Aramaic, another language that Jesus and His disciples sometimes spoke.
Greek and Latin
The New Testament was originally written in Greek, which uses an entirely different alphabet than Hebrew and English. There is no “sh” sound in Greek as in the Hebrew name Ye-sh-ua, so in Greek the letter “s” replaced the “sh.” Furthermore, Greek names ending in the sound “a” as Yeshu-a ends are usually feminine. Hence, the “a” at the end of the name Yeshua became “s” to make it masculine. So, Yeshua became Yaysoos. When the bible was translated into Latin from the original Greek His name became “Yesus” since there is no J in Latin either.
As the Latin-speaking Catholic church grew, the Latin Name, Yesus, spread throughout Europe. Even the original English King James translation of the bible used the name “Yesus,” until it evolved into the name “Jesus. “
Swiss German
There are speculations as to the origin of the name Jesus, which is being used today by Anglophone believers. Some say it originated in Swiss German where “J” resembles the English Y.
When Catholic Mary the 1st became Queen of England in 1553, many English Protestant scholars fled the country and settled in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1560, they composed the English edition of the Geneva bible and used the name, Jesus. which became very popular among Anglophones even with Shakespeare.
America
Eventually the Geneva bible came to the New World with the Mayflower. By 1769, most English translations of the Bible used the name “Jesus.”
Many Jews know Him by the name Jesus which sounds nothing like His Hebrew original name, Yeshua. The name Yeshua was known and used in Jewish history in the bible – (1 Chronicles 24:11, 2 Chronicles 31:15, Ezra 2:2,6,36). It’s a version of Yehoshua (Joshua,) which means “God is salvation”.
The Jewish People
To Jews, the person and name Jesus mean nothing. To them Jesus is the former Jew who created “Christianity,” a new religion where gentiles worship Him as their God and savior and Christ.
Most Jews never read the Gospels nor the New Testament writings that contain many quotes from the Old Testament. However, Yeshua never created a new religion. As a matter of fact, He was against man-made religion and the traditions of man.
During the time He walked on earth, Yeshua wasn’t Jesus. Neither was His mother the Catholic “Holy Mary,” nor Yohanan John the Baptist, nor Simon-Kaipha St. Peter.
They were all Jewish followers of Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah and all had Hebrew names. In Hebrew they were called Notzrim, which means from Natzereth (the Jewish city of Nazareth in the Galilee, where Yeshua grew up.)
Today, Jews use the name “Yeshu” instead of His real name “Yeshua.”
Israeli Misunderstanding
The Rabbis, however, out of contempt, omitted (and still do) the last letter, A, to form the name “Yeshu” which is also a derogatory acronym for “Y’mach Sh’mo V’Zichrono” (“May his name and memory be blotted out”.) Sadly, today most Hebrew-speaking Jewish Israelis call Him “YESHU”, totally unaware of the negative connotation, thinking it is His real name, which means nothing, while Yeshu-a means Salvation.
Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a name. The letter A, pronounced “ah,” (ע in Hebrew,) is named Ayin, which also means “eye”.
When the last letter “Ayin” was removed and with it the true meaning of His name, Salvation, the “eye ” as it were, was removed as well, thereby spiritually blinding Jewish people from seeing His true nature, the Savior.
When Israel rejected Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah, Salvation went out to the rest of the world and the transliteration of His Name became known to every nation in their own language.
Many non-believers who know Him as Jesus Christ think that “Christ” is His last name, like the family name, “Smith,” John Smith.
Even here in Israel, most don’t know that “Christ” is the Greek word for Messiah, and that “Jesus Christ” really means “Yeshua the Messiah.”
The Truth of His Name
When The Angel of the Lord appeared to Yoseph (Joseph) and told him not to fear taking pregnant Miriam (Mary) as his wife because the baby was of the Holy Spirit, He actually spoke Hebrew and told Joseph to call His name “YESHUA”- “Ki hu YOSHIA et amo mehatotehem.” (“and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21, as written in Psalm 130:8: “and He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”)
Only in Hebrew does the Name and the reason for it have meaning; “YESHUA is the noun for Salvation and YOSHIA is the verb, will save, both stemming from the root letters YESHA ( ישע ). In English, SAVE is not a verb derived from the word JESUS.
We don’t expect our English-speaking friends to stop calling Him Jesus but rather to understand the origin of His name.
However, here in Israel, His original Name is important as we witness to Israelis about “Yeshua/Salvation,” declaring He is our Jewish Messiah Who saves them from their sins and leads them to Our Father in heaven.
We want to bring back the “eye,” the letter Ayin ע to the One called Yeshu, that He is not “ישו”” but “ישו–ע” Salvation.
He is not a foreign personality of a non-Jewish religion but our Jewish Savior, Who was prophesied in our own Hebrew Bible. He is One of us, an Israeli, born and reared in Israel. He never left the land of Israel, except when He rose to heaven after His resurrection from the dead.
One day all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26.) and will look upon Him Whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:10.) They will know Him by His real name, YESHU-A, when the “A” or “eye” is restored. Then they will recognize Him as their Jewish Messiah.
For now, He is still Yeshu to them, a foreign gentile figure, as depicted in many museums worldwide.
However, one day He will reveal Himself to Jews and Israelis as their brother, from the tribe of Yehuda (Judah) and say to them, “It is I, Yeshua your brother.”
Much like when Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt for food, they met an Egyptian monarch, dressed and speaking like an Egyptian (he spoke to them through an interpreter.)
Never in a million years would they have known him as their Hebrew brother, Joseph, who appeared so foreign.
They were shocked when he revealed himself to them and said in Hebrew:
“I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
(Genesis 45:4-5)
Please pray that the eyes of understanding of Israel will be opened to recognize and receive Messiah Yeshua as their Jewish savior. In Yeshua’s Name we pray! AMEN! AMEN AND AMEN!
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