Yahshua is a proposed

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

of , the original

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

name of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

. The pronunciation ''Yahshua'' is philologically impossible in the original Hebrew and has no support in archeological findings, such as the Dead Sea scrolls or inscriptions, nor in rabbinical texts as a form of

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

. Scholarship generally considers the original form of Jesus to be

Yeshua Yeshua or Y'shua (; with vowel pointing he, יֵשׁוּעַ, Yēšūaʿ, labels=no) was a common alternative form of the name Yehoshua ( he, יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, Yəhōšūaʿ, Joshua, labels=no) in later books of the Hebrew Bible and among Jew ...

, a Hebrew Bible form of Joshua. Usage and/or support of the name ''Yahshua'' is largely restricted to religious groups that are a part of (or otherwise associated with) the Sacred Name and

Hebrew Roots The Hebrew Roots movement is a religious movement that advocates adherence to the Torah and believes in Yeshua as the Messiah. History Since the early 20th century, different religious organizations have been teaching a belief in Jesus (calle ...

movements which, among other things, advocate for the preservation of Hebrew sacred names in translations of the Bible.

Etymology

The English ''Jesus'' is a transliteration of the Greek , or . In

translations Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

, was used to represent the Hebrew/Aramaic name

, a derivation of the earlier Hebrew , or

. Both names mean 'Yah saves'. As a result, it is a commonly accepted fact within academia that Jesus' native Hebrew/Aramaic name was ''Yeshua''.

Usage

The pronunciation of the older, longer name as ''Yehoshua'' is attested to since ancient times. In the 19th century, the

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...

lead to a religious revival of Protestantism in America which spawned several divergent movements. Among these newfound movements was

Adventism Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher W ...

, which, among other things, mandated a return to the recognition of the

Jewish Sabbath Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

as the Christian Sabbath. Part of a larger attitude to reorient Christianity to what was considered its Jewish roots, Adventism eventually gave rise to groups such as the

Assemblies of Yahweh The Assemblies of Yahweh is a nonprofit religious organization with its international headquarters in Bethel, Pennsylvania, United States. The organization developed independently out of a radio ministry begun by Jacob O. Meyer in 1966.''Histo ...

, which taught that the

Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ...

should be directly translated as ''Yahweh'' as opposed to the traditional translation of simply "". As a part of this, attempts were made to more directly correlate Jesus to the Israelite god. In Hebrew (which normally writes only consonants), ''Yehoshua'' starts with the same two letters as ''Yahweh''. The new pronunciation was produced by incorporating the pronunciation of the first syllable of ''Yahweh'' into ''Yehoshua'', producing ''Yah-shua''.

Language of the New Testament

The oldest currently known New Testament manuscripts, particularly those containing more than a handful of verses (as some early

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

fragments do), were copied a few centuries later than the original individual New Testament books would have been written. The Assemblies of Yahweh believe that during this time these manuscripts, which are extant in Greek, most likely were translated. However, the general consensus of Bible scholars is that the New Testament was originally written only in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

(save for a number oc words); the claim of the Assemblies of Yahweh therefore received no traction in academia. As a result, the names Yahweh and Yahshua should have appeared in the original Hebrew or Aramaic texts of the New Testament, according to the Assemblies of Yahweh; but no such texts existed, according to Bible scholars. There is scriptural evidence to suggest that the apostles were using these Hebrew names, such as in Acts 18:12-16. Due to the decision by Jews to no longer pronounce the name, the message of Yahshua – that Yahweh is salvation – would have angered many, argue the Assemblies of Yahweh for their own (fringe) belief. George Howard of the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

considers the possibility that the

was retained in the first documents of the Greek translation just as it had been retained in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Although the original manuscripts could be called inspired, Meyer writes that "there is no such thing as an inspired translation". Mistakes are sometimes made in translation and these are passed down to each subsequent translation. An example of a perceived mistake by a translator translating the Hebrew original manuscripts is found in

Revelation 19 Revelation 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author remains a p ...

:16. The scripture here says that the Messiah has a name written on his thigh. This lacks sense, but when considering the original Hebrew language the root problem becomes clear. As explained by the Assemblies of Yahweh: Such arguments have been roundly rejected by academia, wherein the idea that the texts of the New Testament were translations from Hebrew or Aramaic got no traction.

Criticisms

The pronunciation of ''Yahshua'' is impossible on a number of levels. It violates basic Hebrew phonology, as Hebrew linguistics do not allow the (), as in (), to be silent. The pronunciation ''Yahshua'' likewise cannot be found with that spelling anywhere in history, in writings in Hebrew or otherwise, prior to the 1900s.''60 Questions Christians Ask About Jewish Beliefs and Practices'' 2011 "According to the late A. B. Traina in his Holy Name Bible, "The name of the Son, Yahshua, has been substituted by Jesus, Iesus, and Ea-Zeus (Healing Zeus)." 64In this one short sentence, two complete myths are stated as fact." Hebrew scholar Michael Brown emphatically denies that "Yahshua" was the Hebrew name of Jesus:

References

Bibliography

* * {{cite book , last1=Meyer , first1=Jacob , year=1973 , title=Exploding the Greek New Testament Myth , url=https://secureservercdn.net/184.168.47.225/b76.0ce.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/D-2-Exploding-the-Inspired-Greek-New-Testament-Myth.pdf?time=1576508878 , access-date=2019-12-20 , publisher=Assemblies of Yahweh , location=Bethel, PA

External links

The Messiah's Hebrew Name: "Yeshua" or "Yahshua"?
- Daniel Botkin argues against "Yahshua" in favor of "Yeshua".

- Bob Wirl, a Sacred Name minister, argues in favor of the name "Yahshua over Yeshua." his link appears to be broken.
What Is The Original Hebrew Name For Jesus?
- Michael L. Brown about the name of Yashua or Yeshua.
The truth behind the name of the Father
Hebrew-language names Names of Jesus Sacred Name Movement