Yeshua's Name

[Larry]

Transliteration of Yeshua's Name

 

Our Messiah's Name is Y'shua, plain and simple. Y'shua means "YHWH is Salvation." There is no "correct" spelling of the transliteration of His Hebrew Name, yet many insist on arguing this issue. What matters is the Hebrew spelling of His Name which is: Some insist His Name in English is spelled "Yeshua" or "Y'shua" (there's even one group who insists on "Yahusha"); while others will damn you to hell if you don't adhere to their preferred spelling of "Yahshua." The bottom line is, however we wish to spell or pronounce His Name, one thing is for sure: His Name is NOT "Jesus"! To find out more, please check out Baruch ben Daniel's article, "Is the name "Jesus" holy?"

 

According to Aramaic scholar Andrew Gabriel Roth, the short response to people who wish to argue the above, is: If you insist on arguing about the transliteration of the Hebrew then you apparently have nothing better to do and like to waste your time being petty! The longer answer is: It is ridiculous to insist that one must spell our Savior's Name as "YAHSHUA"! No one who knows Hebrew or Aramaic believes that one must spell it that way; that is nothing more than a theological issue masquerading as linguistics. In Hebrew, both the long form YEHOSHUA and the short form YESHUA are pointed with a TSERE (AY) NOT a PTAHA (AH). NEVER! The belief arises from a mistaken idea that "not one yodh" means preserving the YAH sound. In Hebrew YAH morphs to other sounds in names that contain YHWH/Yahweh. YAH (YHWH) + KHANAN (our mercies) = YOH-KHANAN NOT "Yah-khanan". YAH + EL = YOH-EL (Joel) NOT YAH-EL (which is a separate girl's name - get the picture?) One thing is for sure: We know that neither YHWH's nor Yeshua's Names were pronounced as "LORD." Doubters need to go to the Western Wall in Jerusalem next Yom Kippur (rabbinic calendar) in the early morning and they will hear pious Jews call on the Name properly, as YAH-WAY. The world doesn't know that we Jews have NOT forgotten His Name in spite of the fact we also conspired to hide it..... And the Son's name always has a TSERE (eh) not a PATAHA (ah) sound in proper Hebrew pointing. It is the shortened form of YAY-HOE-SHOO-WAH (Joshua) and that pointing does NOT change in truncation. Unfortunately, there are a myriad "experts" who attempt to say otherwise, and this is because they don't understand basic Hebrew morphology. The YAHSHUA or YAHUSHUA error arises from THEOLOGY and not from sound linguistics or Semitic grammar. The idea is a misapplication of "not one yodh shall pass", where they think wrongly that changing the sound to YAY takes part of YAH's name out. The fact is, YHWH created Hebrew and in that creation He, in His Wisdom, made names that CHANGE the sounds of words. NO SERIOUS HEBREW SCHOLAR would ever suggest that Moshe's sucessor's name is not YAY-HOE-SHOO-WAH and this is the same etymology of Y'shua, same words "YHWH is salvation". Therefore, if Yehoshua does not come under "not one yodh" and changes its words from YAH to YOH, so much the shortened form of the SAME NAME, YAY-SHOO-WAH. For those who insist on spelling Yeshua as "Yahshua" or even "Yahusha" - go for it! But please don't send death threats to those of us who don't agree with that spelling!

 

Roth goes on to explain it would be better if people began concentrating on the more important, "weightier" matters, such as: How come our Savior's Name is Yeshua, when the Bible tells us it was to be "Immanuel"? (Matthew 1:23) Immanuel, he explains, is a title - El is with us - a requirement of the Messiah. But Zechariah 6:12 makes it clear the actual "name of the branch" is YEHOSHUA, which 500 years later was truncated in Hebrew to Y'shua. "In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety: and this is the name by which she shall be called, 'YHWH our righteousness' [YHWH Tzidqeinu]" (Jeremiah 33:15-16). "Behold, the days come, saith YHWH, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice upon the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in safety: and this is his name by which he shall be called, 'YHWH our righteousness'" (Jeremiah 23:5-6). However, neither one of these verses reveals to us the name of the Branch. They merely state that the coming Messiah - known as the "Branch" - would be a righteous king, a descendant of King David, and that he would be the one responsible for bringing salvation to the Jews and to the rest of the tribes of Israel. Now let us turn to a short account from Zechariah, in which YHWH instructs the prophet to crown the then current High Priest, Joshua. "Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, who are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua [Yehoshua] the son of Josedech, the high priest; And speak to him, saying, Thus speaketh YHWH of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of YHWH: Even he shall build the temple of YHWH ; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both" (Zechariah 6:10-13). The word translated "Branch" in all these verses is the same Hebrew word, tzemach. Therefore, there is identity between the "Branch" in Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 33 and Zechariah 6. In this short drama, we find Joshua (Yehoshua) the High Priest performing in the starring role of the Branch. Essentially the scripture is saying: "Look at the man (Yehoshua) whose name is the Branch." In other words, the current High Priest of Judah in the days of Zechariah, Joshua (Yehoshua), has the same name as the one who would become the "Branch." In Zechariah 6:10-13, we also discover many very interesting prophecies about the Branch. The Branch will grow up out of his place. The Branch will build the temple of YHWH; the Branch will bear the glory; the Branch will sit and rule upon his throne; the Branch will be a priest upon his throne; and, the Branch will have a counsel of peace with YHWH. Zechariah 6: 12 and tell him, 'YHWH-Tzva'ot says: "There is coming a man whose name is Tzemach [Sprout]. He will sprout up from his place and rebuild the temple of YHWH.