Editor’s Note: This article was written by George Gabler of kahalyahweh.net who generously granted us permission to reprint it here.
For the serious Bible student
What is Messiah's prophetic human name?
Millions believe that the savior’s name is “Jesus”, however, the name “Jesus” did not appear until the latter part of the 17th century, less than 400 years ago! In fact, the first Bible published in America to use the newly coined name “Jesus” was in John Eliot’s Algonquin Bible published in 1663:
The Algonquin Indian Bible was the first Bible printed in America, and is one of the rarest and most important books in American printing. Translated for the Natick-Algonquin Native Americans of Massachusetts by John Eliot with the aid of Job Nesutan…. [link]
If the name “Jesus” was not known prior to the 17th century, where did “Jesus” come from? It is a derivative of the Latin IESU which is from the Old Latin [pre-Latin Vulgate of Jerome, c. 385CE].
So where did the Old Latin “IESU” come from? According to scholars it came from the Greek New Testament. But, is that true?
Looking at scriptural evidence, we need to question why there is no “ε/E” [epsilon] in the Messianic name in the Greek scriptures [see YAHSHUA below]. This is a major key to the origin of the name IESU.
The “E” Connection
While there was no “e” in Yah’shua, there was a deity called IESIUS, who was a son of the very popular Zeus, aka Theos. Since Zeus was considered the king of the gods since about 456BCE, it was natural for the son of Zeus, Iesius, to be considered the ‘son of God’ in light of the similarity of the New Testament writings because “Theos” and its cognitive words were already employed throughout both the LXX and the GNT.
This syncretism was introduced about 270BCE when the LXX was being proposed.
The God of many names:
"Since the law which we wish not only to transcribe but also to translate belongs to the whole Jewish race, what justification shall we be able to find for our embassy while such vast numbers of them remain in a state of slavery in your kingdom? In the perfection and wealth of your clemency release those who are held in such miserable bondage, since as I have been at pains to discover, the God who gave them their law is the God who maintains your kingdom. They worship the same God - the Lord and Creator of the Universe, as all other men, as we ourselves, O king, though we call him by different names, such as Zeus or Dis. This name was very appropriately bestowed upon him by our first ancestors, in order to signify that He through whom all things are endowed with life and come into being, is necessarily the ruler and lord of the Universe." -- Letter of Aristeas -http://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/aristeas.htm
Even today, Christianity still acknowledges Theos/Zeus as foundation of the name “God”! [Catholic Encyclopedia]
The Latins were also accustomed to taking foreign deities and altering their names to make them acceptable to the public [Demeter / St. Demetrios, Aphrodite / St. Aphrodite, Nike / Saint Nicholas, Mars / St. Martin, Venus / St. Venera & etc]. Plus, taking Iesius and shortening it to Iesus, was a very simple task, as there were no linguistic rules to prevent it.
YAHSHUA:
Yah’shua is the same name as the Israelite General and aid to Moses, and the 6th book of the Bible, which has been Anglicized into “Joshua”, as the name of Messiah in the New Testament.
Quoted ‘as is’ - KJV Acts 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; [King James Version]
Most newer translations at least say “Joshua”.
Quoted ‘as is’ - ASV Acts 7:45 Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered on the possession of the nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; [Authorized Standard Version]
And a few “Sacred Name” translations actually get it right:
Quoted ‘as is’ - WoY Act 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Yahshua into the possession of the Gentiles, whom Elohim drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; [Word of Yahweh]
This shows that the name of the Israelite General and Messiah are the same [also see Hebrews 4:8].
Where did the name “Yah’shua” come from?
The prophetic text that actually names Messiah can be found in Zechariah 3:1-9 which tells us [5 times] that His name is [יהוֻשע] Yah'shua in relation to His work of redemption, plus 1 more time in Zech 6:11-13 referring to His combined priesthood and kingship, for a total of 6 times. [For more information on the spiritual significance of numbers 1, 5, and 6, see Bullinger’s Appendix #10]
What is the [ֻ ] diacritical mark for? It’s a replacement for a second ‘waw’ [ו]: יהושוע.
Why is it important? Because it shows that the 1st ‘waw’ is silent and the second ‘waw’, which may or may not be represented, is articulated. If there were not a silent [ו] ‘waw’ the name יהושע would be pronounced Yahusha. The problem is – Yahusha is not transliterated into Greek. If it were, it would be ίηουσ* [IHOUS[*], which is not found anywhere in scripture.
How is Yah'shua transliterated into Greek? Yah’shua is transliterated as [ίησου / ΙΗΣΟΥ] the English letters being IHSOU[*w/variant endings]. As a Hebrew name, it's always articulated as a Hebrew name [w/the final 'ah'] regardless of the Greek variant endings. Other Hebrew names are: Adam, Abraham, Sarah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Samuel and many others!
Why is Yah’shua written with an apostrophe? Because the apostrophe represents the silent [ו] ‘waw’.
Why isn't it pronounced YAHUSHUA [or YAHOSHUA]? Because the Greek does not not support it. If the Greek did support YAHUSHUA [or YAHOSHUA], it would be transliterated as IHOUSOU[*] to articulate both ‘waws’ with a double [ou] diphthong, but it can't be found in either the LXX or the GNT.
Editor’s Note: This article was written by George Gabler of kahalyahweh.net who generously granted permission for us to reprint it here.
Mr. Gabler’s comment on this article: Written for the serious Bible student:
A word about the [ou] diphthong. The Greek “ou”, called a diphthong, are not two separately articulated letters, but a joined combination with a single articulation, which in this case represents the long “U” sound of the Hebrew [ו] ‘waw’ in Yah’shUa. Because the Greek is a joined combination with a single articulation, the ‘ou’ cannot be separated without altering the pronunciation. That is not the case with the ‘iu’ in Iesius, because Iesius already articulated the ‘u’ as a short ‘u’ as in ‘us’. Deleting the ‘i’ dropped the ‘ee’ sound, changing Iᾱ-see-ῠs, to Iē-sῠs which became “Jē-sῠs”.
Why should the Greek be considered? Because even though the evangels were first recorded in Hebrew, Yahweh chose to preserve the testimony of Messiah and the early believers in the Greek language.
This shows that “Yah’shua” is the true prophetic human name of Messiah.
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