October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 1 of 9 EXPOSING THE "YESHU'A" NAME GAME A Counter-Missionary Education Lesson by Uri Yosef, Ph.D., Director of Education Virtual Yeshiva of the Messiah Truth Project, Inc. [The article on this topic is located here - Copyright © Uri Yosef 2015 for the Messiah Truth Project, Inc. All rights reserved Counter-Missionary Education

October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 2 of 9 Introduction Many Christian believers, primarily the evangelical Christians, see a need to bring the Jewish people “into the fold”, i.e., to accept Jesus as their “Lord and Savior”. A primary motivation for this is the belief that the so-called “Second Coming” of Jesus will occur only once that task is accomplished, a belief based on the following passage in the Gospel of Matthew - Over the many centuries that have passed since the advent of Christianity, the effort to get Jews to voluntarily convert to Christianity was rather unsuccessful. The overwhelming number of Jewish converts to Christianity came from forced conversions, such as those that took place during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions and during various other periods of persecution by “the Church”. A paradigm shift in the approach took place around the mid-20 th century, when a new “package” was developed, the aim of which was to make Christianity more attractive to potential Jewish proselytes. A key component of the new approach was the new “Jewish- friendly” language that was to be used by missionaries in their communications with Jews. This lesson focuses on just one element in that “Jewish-friendly” language, the Hebrew name created for Jesus, “Yeshua” [ יֵשׁוּעַ ], which, along with several iterations, has become popular among many Christian groups.

October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 3 of 9 Q&A with Missionaries about the Name “Yeshua” Each of the two following questions directed at those who use the name “Yeshua” will elicit responses that usually fall into two categories. Question: How do you know that “Yeshua” was the name by which Jesus was known when he lived? Answer [Category 1]: The common theme here is the claim that יֵשׁוּעַ, in Hebrew, means salvation, which is how Jesus rewards those who accept him as their lord and savior. Answer [Category 2]: The common theme here is the notion that Iησους (iēsous) is the Greek version of the Hebrew name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Y e ho SHU 'a), the diminutive of which is claimed to be יֵשׁוּעַ, a form that was allegedly a popular name around the change to the Common Era. Question: What evidence can you offer in support of your claim? Answer [Category 1]: The common theme here will be the Greek New Testament, or some archaeological artifacts of questionable authenticity as evidence. Answer [Category 2]: The common theme here will typically be of the type, "This is what I was told by X" (where X could stand for a friend, another 'believer', or a Pastor [messianic "rabbi"], etc.). So, let’s utilize the factual linguistic data relevant to the Hebrew name יֵשׁוּעַ in the Hebrew Bible to test the validity of the claims in the above answers.

October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 4 of 9 All Biblical Terminology Derived from the Root Verb ישׁע (Part 1 – Verbs & Nouns) →

October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 5 of 9 All Biblical Terminology Derived from the Root Verb ישׁע (Part 2 - Names) →

October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 6 of 9 Three Names of Particular Interest

October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 7 of 9 Observations Deduced from the Data on the Three Names of Interest With two exceptions, the LXX does not distinguish among the three names. All three Hebrew names, regardless of who owned them, are translated into Greek as Iησους. The two exceptions, where the LXX shows a different name, come in pairs. One pair is at Numbers 13:8,16 where, at verse 16, Joshua's name is changed from הוֹשֵׁעַ to יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. The other pair is at 1Samuel 6:14,18. The KJV, unlike the LXX, distinguishes among the three names. In fact, on two occasions the KJV goes beyond the three names and draws further distinction. First, regarding the name הוֹשֵׁעַ as it applies to Joshua, at Numbers 13:8,16 the KJV has Oshea – Second, regarding the name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, at Numbers 13:16 the KJV has Jehoshua, and at 1Chronicles 7:27 the KJV has Jehoshuah – Within the Jewish canon of the Hebrew Bible, the name יֵשׁוּעַ is present only in the last Books: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. With the one exception, found in the genealogy of 1Chronicles 7, the name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ is present only in the Torah and Prophets sections in the Jewish canon of the Hebrew Bible.

October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 8 of 9 Does the Evidence Support the Claims? Claim: The of Jesus in Hebrew is יֵשׁוּעַ since it means “salvation” in Hebrew, and salvation is his gift to those who become "believers". Response: Three major problems invalidate this claim. (1) The Hebrew noun יְשׁוּעָה, salvation, and the Hebrew proper name יֵשׁוּעַ are spelled differently, pronounced differently, and have different vowels. (2) The two Hebrew terms have different meanings and applications. (3) The two Hebrew terms are of different genders – יְשׁוּעָה is a feminine noun, whereas יֵשׁוּעַ is a masculine proper name. Conclusion: y e shu’ AH יְשׁוּעָה )), not ye SHU ’a יֵשׁוּעַ )), means “salvation”. Claim: The name Iησους is the Greek version of the Hebrew name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. Response: As was already noted, the LXX, in effect, makes no distinction between the three names יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, הוֹשֵׁעַ, and יֵשׁוּעַ. Relative to Joshua Son of Nun, the only place where the LXX differentiates in its renderings of הוֹשֵׁעַ (in Greek, αυση) and יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (in Greek, Iησους) is at Numbers 13:8,16. In this case, there had to be some distinction made, at least in the latter of the two verses where the name change is described, in order to avoid nonsensical context. There is also the other situation in the LXX (1Samuel 6:14,18) where, for some unknown reason, the name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ was rendered differently from all other instances as ωσηε, which is the way the Hebrew name הוֹשֵׁעַ is rendered throughout the LXX. Conclusion: The LXX does not distinguish between the three proper names הוֹשֵׁעַ, יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, and יֵשׁוּעַ, when applied to Joshua (the son of Nun). Claim: The name יֵשׁוּעַ is a diminutive form of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. Response: This is true in modern times. However, a search of the Hebrew Bible reveals that, while the name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ appears, with one exception (1Chronicles 7:27), only throughout the first two portions of the Hebrew Bible – in the Torah and Prophets – the name יֵשׁוּעַ appears only in the last Books of the Hebrew Bible – Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles – which are in the third portion of the Hebrew Bible, the Writings. Conclusion: The fact that the use of these two names is segregated in separate portions of the Hebrew Bible indicates that יֵשׁוּעַ was not a diminutive form of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ in biblical times.

October 7, 2015Exposing the "Yeshua" Name Game Page 9 of 9 Does the Evidence Support the Claims? (Continued) Claim: The name יֵשׁוּעַ was a popular name given to male children in the general era in which Jesus lived. Response: The only extant authentic sources from that general period of time are the Mishnah (recorded circa 200 CE), the Jerusalem Talmud (recorded circa CE), and the Babylonian Talmud (recorded circa CE). An exhaustive search of these massive works yielded only two instances of the name יֵשׁוּעַ and scores of distinct instances of the other two names, הוֹשֵׁעַ and יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, among the hundreds of names that appear in these works, excepting citations of biblical references to them. Conclusion: The evidence does not support the claim that the name יֵשׁוּעַ was popular in the days of Jesus. Summary Although there are cases where some Jewish Sages have referred to Jesus as יֵשׁוּעַ in their works, Christian sources did not use that proper name for Jesus prior to the 20 th century. The book PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF ISRAEL FOR THE CHURCH OF TO-DAY, by F. C. Gilbert, A Converted Hebrew, ©1902 Library of Congress, South Lancaster Printing Company, Lancaster, Massachusetts, is a 400-page opus that does not contain a single reference to any of the names הוֹשֵׁעַ, יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, or יֵשׁוּעַ. This is significant since the author cites important Christian scholars such as Alfred Edersheim, among others. The substitute name application of יֵשׁוּעַ for Jesus was revived by evangelical Christian missionary groups in the latter half of the 20 th century. The transliterated version of this name, “Yeshua”, appears in various publications, such as in a recent translation into English of the New Testament, JEWISH NEW TESTAMENT, by David H. Stern (a Jew who converted to Christianity, one who refers to himself as a “Messianic Jew”), and in various other media. Nowadays, as part of a new tactic in a vigorous and well-funded campaign to evangelize the Jewish people, this deceptive material, communicated in a “Jewish friendly” style, has become ubiquitous.