Yeshua vs. Jesus - The Name

    When Christian believers pray to the Messiah of the Holy Bible, some call on the name of Jesus, and others call on the name of Yeshua. In recent times, however, some believers will say that praying must be done using the Messiah's original Hebrew name instead of the transliterated Greek name. We will discuss the origin of both names and how each name is used throughout the Bible to see what standard the Bible really has for this claim. In the end, we will discover that whether you call on the name of Jesus or Yeshua, you are still calling on salvation! 

The Name Yeshua

    The original name for Jesus in the language of Hebrew was Yeshua. Yeshua is a Hebrew name that means "salvation". This is the name that Greek transcribers used to transliterate into a Greek-sounding version of Yeshua which became Iesus and eventually Jesus. We will discuss more on this transliteration below. 

    In Hebrew there is a word "Yasha", which means to rescue, help, defend, preserve, make free, etc. (Cahn, Jonathan TBN 2019) It is a word to describe what every Jewish person was trying to attain in life. From the word Yasha, we get the word Yeshua, which is the real name of Jesus. In the Old Testament, Isaiah said, "Behold, God is my salvation..." or "God is my [Yeshua]". (Isaiah 46:13, NKJV) Moses wrote in Exodus that God has become our salvation, or you can say that "God has become my [Yeshua]". (Exodus 15:2, NKJV) This was telling us that God was going to become our Yeshua, our salvation, that God was going to become Jesus!

    We can gather from this that God became Jesus for our salvation to be our rescuer, to be our help, to be our defender, to preserve us, and to make us free! Jesus, our salvation, wasn't only talked about in the New Testament but all throughout the Old Testament. Jesus spoke of this when he said, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." (Luke 24:27, NIV) 

The Name Jesus

    As previously mentioned, the name Jesus comes from a Greek transliteration of the name Yeshua which was Iesus. The name Iesus is a Greek name that means to deliver or to rescue, much like we see in the name Yeshua. According to research, the New Testament was originally written in Greek. (Windle, 2020) Early church history records that John lived the final years of his life in Ephesus, dying as an old man sometime near the end of the first century.  This means that the oldest manuscripts, written in Greek, date to within 100-150 years of the original autographs. 

    So, achieving this transliteration required dropping a few letters and sounds from the Hebrew language that did not exist in the Greek language. Thus, going from the pronounced Yah-Shu-Uh to the transliterated Ee-Soos. Iesus would have been a name that a common Greek native speaker would be able to pronounce and recognize as both a name and a male.

    Based on the manuscripts discovered near the time of Jesus, the Greek name Iesus is the only written form of the Hebrew name Yeshua directly relating to the man Jesus. In John 18, Jesus was being sentenced to the cross and spoke with Pilot--a Roman soldier--likely in Greek because there is no mention of an interpreter, and they were seemingly speaking one on one. We do not know exactly which language Jesus was using while speaking with the Roman soldier however, it is likely that Jesus spoke Greek with him during their discussion. (John 18, NJKV). So, therefore at the very least, it is highly likely that Iesus was the name Jesus had been called while in Rome during his sentencing because Greek speakers would not have been able to easily pronounce "Yeshua". 

The Conflict Around the Name "Jesus"

    Some people believe the original manuscripts of the New Testament were not in the Greek language but in Hebrew and that saying Jesus' Hebrew name is important to God. However, when we look at biblical scriptures and manuscript evidence--not according to opinions or scholars--there are a couple of issues with these claims. For example, there exist some hints of Greek origin in the writings of the Bible because Hebrew words that Jesus spoke were emphasized and then translated into the text. The Hebrew phrase "Talitha cumi" and Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani--My God, My God, (why hast thou forsaken me?) were both written and then translated into the text of the scripture. (Mark 5:41, 15:33-34) Why would the transcribers take the time to write these words in Hebrew if the New Testament was already in Hebrew?

    Another issue with the claim that the language of Hebrew is super important to God, is in the book of Acts at the first Pentecost. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language." (Acts 2, NIV) It is clear that the Holy Spirit did not have everyone speak the language of Hebrew nor has any bias towards that language. (GotQuestions.org, 2013) If the Holy Spirit is not partial to the Hebrew language, then why would the Holy Spirit be partial to the Hebrew form of names? 

    Additionally, during the first century of the Roman Empire, Greek and Aramaic were the common languages in that area. As mentioned earlier, Jesus likely spoke Aramaic and Greek especially while in Rome since there was no mention of an interpreter. Lastly, if the Gospel was written for the world, it is logical to assume they would write the Gospel in the Greek language since the Roman Empire had the highest population number in that time of history. So, should we switch to using the name Yeshua or is saying Jesus still, okay? If we are already used to using the name Yeshua, is that okay to keep saying it? Yes, to both! If we look at the Day of Pentecost in the book of Acts, it is clear to see that the Hebrew language is not commanded, nor required by the Holy Spirit!

Conclusion

    When Christian believers pray to the Messiah of the Holy Bible, some call on the name of Jesus, and others call on the name of Yeshua. Some believers will continue to say that praying must be done using the Messiah's original Hebrew name instead of the transliterated Greek name. Based on evidence from the oldest manuscripts and biblical references, it is easy to see that whether you call on the name of Jesus or Yeshua, the Holy Spirit still hears your calling for salvation! 

Psalms

'The heavens declare the glory of God, 

And the firmament shows His handiwork. 

There is no speech or language Where their voice is not heard. 

Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.'

Psalms 19:1-3

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 18:9-14

References

Cahn, Jonathan TBN 2019. Trinity Broadcasting Network. https://youtu.be/DcHsyF8iOPM (Cahn, Jonathan TBN 2019)

GotQuestions.org (2013) Home, GotQuestions.org. Available at: https://www.gotquestions.org/Yeshua Jesus.html (Accessed: December 13, 2022).

Windle, V.A.P.B.B. (2020, April3). The Earliest New Testament Manuscripts. Bible Archaeology Report. https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2019/02/15/the-earliest-new-testament-manuscripts/

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