Yeshua

For other uses, see Yeshua (disambiguation).
"Yeshua" ישוע , a Hebrew name written with the letters yod-shin-vav-`ayin of the Hebrew alphabet.

Yeshua (Hebrew: יֵשׁוּעַ, romanized: Yēšūaʿ‍) was a common alternative form of the name Yehoshua (Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, romanized: Yəhōšūaʿ, lit. 'Joshua') in later books of the Hebrew Bible and among Jews of the Second Temple period. The name corresponds to the Greek spelling Iesous (Ἰησοῦς), from which, through the Latin IESVS/Iesus, comes the English spelling Jesus.[1][2]

The Hebrew spelling Yēšūaʿ (ישוע) appears in some later books of the Hebrew Bible. Once for Joshua the son of Nun, and 28 times for Joshua the High Priest and other priests called Jeshua – although these same priests are also given the spelling Joshua in 11 further instances in the books of Haggai and Zechariah. It differs from the usual Hebrew Bible spelling of Joshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, Yəhōšūaʿ‍), found 218 times in the Hebrew Bible, in the absence of the consonant he (ה) and placement of the semivowel vav (ו) after, not before, the consonant shin (ש). It also differs from the Hebrew spelling Yeshu (ישו) which is found in Ben-Yehuda Dictionary and used in most secular contexts in Modern Hebrew to refer to Jesus, although the Hebrew spelling Yēšūaʿ (ישוע) is generally used in translations of the New Testament into Hebrew[3] and used by Hebrew-speaking Christians in Israel. The name Yeshua is also used in Hebrew historical texts to refer to other Joshuas recorded in Greek texts such as Jesus ben Ananias and Jesus ben Sira.[4]

In English, the name Yeshua is extensively used by followers of Messianic Judaism,[5] whereas East Syriac Christian denominations use the name ʿIsho in order to preserve the Syriac name of Jesus.[6] The 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, which was made in Aramaic, used Yeshua as the name of Jesus and is the most well-known western Christian work to have done so.[7]

  1. ^ Ilan, Tal (2002). Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity Part I: Palestine 330 BCE–200 CE (Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum 91). Tübingen, Germany: J.C.B. Mohr. p. 129.
  2. ^ Stern, David (1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary. Clarksville, Maryland: Jewish New Testament Publications. pp. 4–5.
  3. ^ Franz Delitzsch Hebrew New Testament, Matthew 1:1, BFBS 1877, Isaac Salkinsohn Hebrew New Testament Matthew 1:1, TBS 1891
  4. ^ Robert E. Van Voorst Jesus outside the New Testament 2000 ISBN 978-0-8028-4368-5 p124 "This is likely an inference from the Talmud and other Jewish usage, where Jesus is called Yeshu, and other Jews with the same name are called by the fuller name Yehoshua, "Joshua""
  5. ^ Kjær-Hansen, Kai. "An Introduction to the Names Yehoshua/Joshua, Yeshua, Jesus and Yeshu". Jews for Jesus Headquarters. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Word 'y$w('". dukhrana.com. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  7. ^ The Passion of the Christ, retrieved 2020-01-23