From:
Rick
To: Craig
RE: Meaning
of the name of Jesus
Hi Craig,
Can you spell out how Jesus’ name came to mean Yahweh the savior
by adding yah to oshea etc?
Rick
Hi Rick,
In the New Testament, Jesus is a proper name derived and
transliterated (not translated) from an anarthrous (without any definite
article) Greek noun Ieesoús, which is pronounced as sounding similar to the
Spanish version of Jesus “ee-ay-sooce” or “ee-yay-sooce.”
Ieesoús is first used for Joshua in the Septuagint; the Septuagint
is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament that was produced about 280
B.C. for Hellenistic (Greek speaking) Jews living at Alexandria. By the time Jesus was born, the Septuagint
had become widely circulated and was the Old Testament Bible used in most
Jewish synagogues because Hebrew was a fading dialect.
The reason I mention how and where this Greek word Ieesoún began
being used in Scriptures is twofold.
First, Ieesoús is the Greek word for ‘Jesus’ in the New Testament. Secondly, in the Septuagint Greek Old
Testament, Ieesoún is the same word used for Joshua in Numbers 3:16.
In its original Hebrew form, Joshua is the word that you mentioned
in your email, which is compounded from Yahweh and Oshea. However, my research did not verify the
meaning of Jesus as ‘Yahweh the Savior.’
The name Joshua in the Old Testament originates from Numbers 13:8, 16,
when Moses changed Oshea’s name to Yehoshua.
Numbers 13:8
Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea, son of Nun;
Numbers 13:16
These are the names of the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land; and Moses
called Oshea son of Nun, Yehoshua` (Jehoshua).
After the Babylonian Exile, the Jews who continued use of this
name Yehoshua` but they condensed its form to Yeshua During the 15th thru 18th centuries A.D.,
when the Bible was being translated and circulated to use into the English
language, certain alphabetic letters that were common to English, such as the
letters ‘J’ and ‘V’ were considered phonetically incompatible with the phonetic
sound of the Hebrew ‘Y’ (in its transliterated form) and in many places, the
‘W.’
As a result, major modifications were made to names in Scripture
such as:
Yehoshua was modified to read Joshua.
Yeshua was modified to read Jeshua.
Yehowah, the first transliterated form of the Yahweh from
the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (YHWH) was modified to read as Jehovah.
Since the names Jesus and Joshua are used as one word Ieesoús in
the Septuagint, there is some justification for saying the two words are the
same. However, there are contextual
differences, which do affect the meaning of the name. Let’s begin by examine the meaning of the Hebrew words for Oshea
and Yehoshua as they appear in Numbers 13:8, 16. I compared and used several different Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek
lexicons and dictionaries.
Oshea (OT:1954) means ‘deliverer’ or ‘he
will save.’ Oshea is derived from a
root verb yasha (OT:3467) that means to help, deliver, save; to free or
comfort.
The essential meaning of Oshea involves removing someone from a
burden, or from oppression, or from impending danger. In the Old Testament the word is frequently used of removing or
seeking to remove someone from the danger of defeat. In Jeremiah 23:6 is a prophecy about Israel’s future messianic
king that illustrates with yasha the meaning of Oshea as preserving others from
danger, ‘In his days Judah shall be saved (yasha), and Israel shall dwell
safely...’
Yehoshua or Joshua (OT:3091) prefixes oshea with a contracted form
of Yahweh and connotes one of several possibilities for its meaning as:
Yahweh is salvation,
Yahweh is deliverance,
Yahweh delivers,
Yahweh saved,
Yahweh is his help
Yahweh by him would save
Yahweh is deliverance or magnificence
Joshua learned to rule by obeying first; then he ruled for God,
not self. In like manner, the New
Testament scriptures teach us that Jesus learned obedience thru what he
suffered, and this prepared him to be the author of our salvation.
Hebrews 5:7-9
{Jesus} who, in the days of his flesh, when he{Jesus} had offered up prayers and supplications,
with intense cries and tears to Him {God} who was able to save him {Jesus}
from death, and was heard because of his {Jesus} godly fear, though he {Jesus} was a
son, yet he {Jesus} learned obedience by the things which
he {Jesus} suffered.
And having been perfected, he {Jesus} became the
author of eternal salvation to all who obey him.
In closing, we learn from this passage in Hebrew 5:7-9 the true
meaning of the name Jesus; not as ‘Yahweh the Savior’ but rather as a man, he
learned obedience thru his prayerful dependence upon God to save him, giving
his name the meaning, ‘Yahweh was his help and saved him.’
However, the meaning of the name of Jesus does not stop there, but
continues because, as a result of his obedience, and having been made perfect,
Jesus became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
giving his name this meaning, ‘Yahweh by him will save and deliver to the
uttermost, those who obey his commandments.’
Having this as our foundational understanding, let me summarize by
leaving you with the words that were spoken by the angel Gabriel, sent from God
the Father to deliver to Joseph, husband of Mary, the name to be given to the
baby boy that would one day give his life in death that thru his resurrection
others would find his life:
Matthew 1:20-21 But when he had considered this, behold,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived
in her is of the Holy Spirit. And
she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will
save His people from their sins.”
New American Standard Bible
The Bible
Answer Stand Ministry
1 Peter 3:15 Always
be ready to give reasonable justification to anyone who asks you for an
explanation of the hope that is within you,
but do it considerately and courteously.
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