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She will give birth to a son, and you are to give
him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21
The name
“Jesus” is probably the most familiar name of all names ever used.
There are very few places on earth where the name Jesus has never been
heard. So what does the name really mean?
The
name itself is an English transliteration of the Greek name Iesous
(ihsouj) which
literally means “The Lord will Save” or “The Lord is Salvation”.
It originates from the Old Testament name Yeshua
[wvy which
itself was a common short name in the Second Temple Period for the more
familiar name of Joshua
[vwhy. In Ezra 2:40 and 5:2 the
name Yeshua is actually mentioned (the English translation tends to
change the Y to J so it appears as Jeshua).
As
a result Matthew 1:21 should probably read : “and you are to give Him
the name The Lord will Save, because
He will save his people from their sins”, as indeed the Hebrew and
Greek versions actually read.
In
Israel (and sometimes outside Israel) believers normally use the name
Yeshua as the Hebrew equivalent for Jesus (this is also the way it is
translated in the Hebrew translations of the New Testament). However, as
the name Yeshua is no longer used in modern day Israel, it is sometimes
a bit tricky engaging in a conversation about Yeshua as most people will
think we are talking about a person called Joshua (or even Joshua son of
Nun). When eventually it becomes clear that it is Jesus we are talking
about the immediate response will be: “You mean Yeshu
Hanotsri
yrcwnh
wvy”
? which
literally means, “Jesus the Nazarene”.
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The
name Yeshu wvy is
really the same as Yeshua [wvy but
without the last Hebrew letter Ayin [
which was difficult to pronounce then (and also to many modern Jewish
people from western Jewish background better known as “Ashkenazim”)
and therefore it was common for it to be omitted when pronounced.
Another source to back this point is David Flusser, who documents
ossuaries (bone-urns) with the name “Yeshu” on them found in Israel.1
Later,
Yeshu was used as an acronym for the well known Jewish expression of
disgrace : “May His name and memory be obliterated” wrkzw
wmv xmy.
This is how Yeshua is still known to most modern
day Israelis and Jews outside Israel.
It
is sad and ironic that the only Jewish name that can bring salvation or
“yeshuah” h[wvy to
Jews and Gentiles, alike is the name that the Jewish people are so
reluctant to hear, to the extent of perverting its true meaning.
I
believe that it is now the time to highlight this truth to our lost
people in a way which truly reflects the glory of Yeshua and all the
great promises which can only come from “the name above all names”.
“Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11)
Jesus by David Flusser
By
Gil Alon, BMJA member, Egham
Contact
Gil at : GilsMiniUlpan@bmja.net
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