Has Anyone Seen the Messiah?
December 3rd, 2010 by Angela
Over the years, there has been a trend to remove the “Christ” out of Christmas. I remember when I was a little girl, people writing, “Merry X-Mas” on cards, yet we still went to Christmas programs at our public school, and sang Christmas carols like Joy To the World, Silent Night, The First Noel. Now, our school has a “Holiday Program” and merchants tell their clerks to wish customers, “Happy Holidays” rather than say the words, “Merry Christmas.” You see, the very word “Christ” is offensive to some and they would like to see it completely removed from our vocabulary. If you don’t think so, then you are probably not familiar with the ACLU… The sad thing is, while most Christians know that the “Christ” word is important to defend, few of them realize the importance of its meaning, especially at Christmas time when Christians celebrate the Messiah’s birth.
Very simply, the word “Christ” is derived from the Greek ΧÏιστός (Khristós or “Christos”) in our New Testament, which is the equivalent to “Messiah” ~ the English word translated from the Hebrew מָשִ××™×—Ö· (MÄšîaḥ) in the Old Testament, which means “Anointed One.”
So, we could correctly say the following: Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. Messiah Jesus. Christ Jesus. Or what is most commonly heard, “Jesus Christ.”
I prefer the word “Messiah” to “Christ,” mainly because the word’s connotation is so much richer and more meaningful when you say and write it. In fact, my new Bible, the Holman Christian Standard Bible, has used the word “Messiah” in the New Testament, just for this reason! The Old Testament is rich in prophecy to foretell the coming of this Messiah, who would be the seed or descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:5) and Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 7); and like Moses, from Jewish lineage (Deuteronomy 18:15) and David (I Chronicles 17). This Messiah will be a mighty hero, everlasting ruler, and sit on the throne of David, and rule in righteousness and justice of a kingdom that will have no end (Isaiah 9:6-7, Daniel 7). This king and lord will be anointed by the Spirit of God (Isaiah 11), thus he is called the “Anointed One” – anointed by the Holy Spirit, to rule and reign in all wisdom, understanding and knowledge. The Messiah will be the redeeming salvation to the people of God, a light of the nations, so that all people can be saved through him (Isaiah 49). Yahweh will give this Anointed One, His word to speak and make his mouth like a sharp sword ~ the word which we need to listen to and obey, for it will be through this Messiah, that we can inherit eternal life in this coming Kingdom, which the Messiah and his saints (us!) will rule and reign upon the earth (Revelation 5:10). We will be this righteous Kingdom for this Anointed One. This is something in which to celebrate and be glad: that God has had mercy upon us and sent us His Son, Messiah Jesus, who gave us this word of the Kingdom; who became the sacrificial “Lamb of God” whose blood cleanses us from our sins and makes us a holy nation to be found blameless and pure, white as snow, when our King returns to establish this Kingdom and dominion, rule and reign upon the earth. A time when ALL people, of ALL nations will bow to this Lord Messiah King, whom God raised from the dead and exalted into this position as ruler over all.
I celebrate Christmas because this is a season when we can focus on the Messiah and share what we know with others, who may never have heard this before!
As the angel told Mary about this Messiah,
“And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High [Son of Yahweh]; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] forever; and his Kingdom will have no end.” Luke 1:31-33.
Awww, yes! ….sitting upon the throne of David in a kingdom that will have no end. Mary knew what this meant! SHE would be conceiving the seed of Abraham, to give birth to the baby who would grow up to someday be the man who would sit upon the throne of David and rule and reign upon the earth forever! What a thrill that news must have given her! The Messiah was coming! The Kingdom was coming!
Of course, the whole word of God has not been completely played out yet. But God is faithful. One day, it will be accomplished as he purposed and spoke it. One day, this King will come back in the clouds and we will be raised from the dead to greet him in the air, to usher him to his rightful throne in Jerusalem. What a day that will be! Can you begin to see it? Imagine it?
So this Christmas, have you seen the Messiah? Or have all traces of the Messiah been removed from our celebration, from our knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures? Are we doing our part to understand Scripture for ourselves, to really grasp what the Christ means to us, in our personal lives? Have we passed this knowledge and understanding down to our children, so that they can know the importance of the word “Christ?” Have we shared this word with at least one more person who may never have heard this?
This Christmas, let us be reminded of the Messiah’s birth, and what a future we are looking forward to in this day of the Lord Messiah. Upon his return to the earth, may he find us alert, ready, watching; cleansed by his saving blood, so that we can be saved and be able to enter this amazing Kingdom of our great and mighty Messiah.
This Christmas, has anyone seen the Messiah? Are we doing our part to light up the world with this word of God, which is the saving Gospel? Has Christmas lost its real meaning, even among Christians, to what our hope in Christ really is? It starts with understanding the word “Christ” and the hope that he brings to the world.
Angela,
you write above
Who says that the word “Messiah” is “so much richer and more meaningful when you say and write it” than is the word “Christ” ?? For exactly what reason has the Holman Christian Standard Bible used the word “Messiah” in the NT rather than “Christ”?
What is the reason for one term (“Messiah” as derived from Hebrew) to be “so much richer and more meaningful” than an equivalent term (“Christ” as derived from Greek) as the equivalent word in that language??
It seems to me that there is some kind of movement underway for some time already in which English speaking folks (or people speaking any other modern day language, such as French, Spanish, German, etc.) seem to almost be offended if someone calls Jesus “Jesus” and not “Yeshuah, Jeschuah, or some other way of spelling”, the true God is no longer “God” but “Elohim”, “Christ” has gone under cover or perhaps been swept under the carpet in favor of “Meschiah, Meshiach, Meschicach (or who know how else folks try and fany spell their version)”, etc etc etc ….
Why do these folks now feel “richer and more meaningful” just because they use a term from an original language which many times they can’t even pronounce correctly??? What is perhaps so “poor and much less meaningful” in using well known English (French, Spanish, German, etc) terms for God, Jesus, Christ, etc ?
Thus my question in reference to your comment about “Christ” and “Messiah” … how is one “richer and more meaningful” than the other, when supposedly both mean the exact same thing or a used in reference to the exact same person or thing?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
For the record, it is a common misconception that the abbreviation Xmas is an attempt to remove Christ from the word. The following is from Snopes.com:
As for “Messiah” being richer and more meaningful than “Christ,” Wolfgang has a point – the two words are synonymous, the former being from Hebrew and the latter from Greek. However, I can see having a preference for “Messiah” for the following reasons:
1. So many Christians don’t even know what “Christ” means – the anointed one.
2. Messiah tends to bring to mind the Hebrew background behind what he would be anointed for.
3. “Christ” has often been used as a swear word or expletive, but I’ve never heard anybody say “Oh Messiah” when they stub their toe.
I’m not a big fan of using all those Hebrew words either (Meschiah, Yeshuah, etc.) but if using a different word than most people use – Messiah rather than Christ – brings attention to the true Gospel message, I guess that’s a good thing. But I don’t think “Merry Messiahmas” rolls off the tongue quite as well! 😀
Angela,
I remember from last Christmas that there are some on this site that don’t celebrate Christmas (which I respect). But I do, it is my favorite time of the year. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one that looks forward to Christmas.
BTW – The video was great and brought tears to me eyes. I always get emotional at this time of year. Tis the season for love, peace, joy and all other pleasant emotions…
Wolfgang ~ I don’t think I could say it any better than Mark did above for the reasons in which I personally prefer “Messiah” over “Christ” (although I continue to use both words in my writing & speaking). It is a personal preference, and I would say that it depends upon to whom you are speaking or writing, and to what their degree of knowledge & understanding is, of how important it is, on whether it is relevant to use the term Messiah.
Ask any marketer or advertising guru, and they will tell you there is a lot of power in a word. Connotations come with it, whether you intend it or not. Whether it is factual or not. Look at your banking products online, and see if you don’t notice the word “FREE” somewhere. What bank account isn’t “free” to sign up for…yet, there are all sorts of FEES attached to it – i.e. when you use another bank’s ATM, when you have an overdraft, when you need to stop a check, when you need to order more checks. Is that seriously free? Yes and no. Signing up is free! lol. But their “Free” grabs your attention and you sign up for that checking account and are rewarded with their “FREE GIFT!” Perhaps my business degree causes me to look at this a bit intellectually, but when we say the word “Messiah” – there’s that Hebrew connotation of a man that the Jewish people were awaiting to fulfill the spoken prophetic word of YHWH. When we say “Christ” – most Christians immediately think of the 2nd person of a triune godhead that came down to be a god-man, with a total disconnect from Hebraic Scripture and promise.
The White House understands the power of a word. U.S. President Bush called it “the War on Terror” and President Obama now calls it “enduring struggle against terrorism.” (http://washingtonexaminer.com/white-house/2010/11/obama-drops-bushs-war-terror). Perhaps years ago, there was no need to differentiate between the terms, but Christians aren’t as educated in their Bibles as they used to be. I don’t know for certain, but perhaps this trend that you have noticed, is partly based on others wanting to educate Christians on what these terms mean, and this is a start.
Doubting Thomas ~ Christmas is so special to us and a wonderful excuse to teach our children and those around us, about our Christ. We certainly don’t wish to offend or disrespect those who choose not to celebrate, but for those of us who do, I find it one of the few seasons in the year that we really are focusing on Jesus as a culture, and people may be more receptive to hearing the Gospel message, and being saved. 🙂 Wishing you a VERY Merry CHRISTmas, Thomas!!
“I remember from last Christmas that there are some on this site that don’t celebrate Christmas (which I respect). But I do, it is my favorite time of the year. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one that looks forward to Christmas. ”
Thomas
Yes and i was one of them, but I believe I have made peace with my belief and Christmas. The last 2 years I was at odds with it but because of family I still observed it as family time suppressing the false doctrine of it.
I can not believe that loving my family could effect my salvation and with those that believe Jesus is the reason for the season I now can also not believe their love for Jesus could effect their salvation.
I hope it is an enjoyable time for all.
For everyone that celebrates Christmas, I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. For those that don’t celebrate Christmas, I’d like to wish you all a Merry holiday season and a Happy and prosperous New Year in 2011.
May the peace, joy, and love of God be with us all, throughout the entire year…
DT
Likewise, praying that one day we may all come to a unity of faith [Acts 2.44; 4.32].
I understand that being the language police can be extreme, but wouldn’t you rather want to use the pronunciations in the original language? This is very educational, as the Hebrew language reflects meaning that is lost in translation with any name. Saying Yeshua HaMashiach, rather than Jesus Christ, rings out our Messiah’s Jewish roots in the very words we speak.
I’m not saying that it is wrong to use translations, but it seems odd to not want to learn the original pronunciations/meanings.
Joseph,
unfortunately, when I hear many Christians try to go the route of Biblical “original language” names pronounciation, I’ve heard several “versions” (which one or how many of these are actually correct, I don’t know) and seen different spellings (with just about none of them even using the original language alphabets) … making it quite obvious that the persons are really not knowledgeable of the language to the degree where it would really make sense that they utilize the name in that language.
It seems to be a rather modern day trend (perhaps over the last 2-3 decades) to use “original language” terminology for just about anything wherewith one would like to make an impression or show off that one is “with it”, even though one does not really speak the language … granted, people in the USA or other English speaking countries may not realize this as much as people of other native languages.
I agree that it would be educational to learn the language … but sometimes one makes a fool of oneself trying to give an impression of being knowledgeable or proficient in something when that really is not even the case.
What’s the use of showing off one’s supposed Hebrew/Aramaic “names & titloes expertise” when the people to whom one is speaking don’t understand these, but would immediately understand what one is talking about if one were to use the commonly used translated/transliterated names and titles instead?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
PS: wishing all some happy holidays during this Christmas season …
Wolfgang,
I agree about those who use all sorts of ways to create a name in the Hebrew to fit their own personal beliefs, such as the Sacred Namers, ect. As they will come up with made up names like Yahushua, Yahshua, ect, to support their own doctrines.
But I’m not talking about those guys. I’m talking about using the correct pronunciation that Jesus would have recognized, which to the best of my knowledge it would be, Yeshua HaMashiach. Or in Hebrew, ישוע המשיח. Yeshua of course being the Hebrew/Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yehushua.
But, not everyone is like you and me where we have studied these matters. Most people don’t know any Hebrew which I find striking for someone who pins their salvation upon the Bible. So I think there is a benefit to using the original language, especially when you speak it and people then ask you what that is. It can really spark a great conversation into the fundamentals of the language used in the Bible, a knowledge that many people lack. The greatest of religious minds learned the original languages because they knew that this is where the meat of understanding between the lines was hidden.
Joseph,
thanks for your further notes. Indeed, in years past, anyone involving themselves in the study of the Scriptures would basically have to first learn the biblical languages first, since there were no “easy ways around it”, that is, there were no materials available which would enable a person to study quite a bit of the Scriptures without really knowing the underlying biblical language (as became the case especially for English speaking people when concordances, lexicons, strong’s numbering system, etc. became available as study resources).
Btw, I don’t think that there is any understanding “between” the lines … I do think that the understanding is “in/on” the lines. And hidden it is to those who do not apply themselves to carefully and correctly reading the lines which have been written, rather than speculating what has not been written and what they suspect might be “between” the lines of the text.
Cheers,
Wolfgang
Joseph,
What convinced me to pronounce Jesus’ name as Yeshua was the fact that you had pointed out to me that this is what His family and friends would have called Him. At first I found it very uncomfortable. In my posts I would usually write Yeshua/Jesus. After some time I became more comfortable with the name Yeshua. Like you said it sounds more Jewish that the name Jesus. Now I am comfortable with the name and almost always use the name Yeshua by itself when I’m posting.
There might be some people who come across this blog and don’t know who Yeshua is referring to, but I think most people know that this is His Jewish name. I usually refer to God as Yahweh/God. Again it is because I am still finding the name Yahweh uncomfortable. It will probably take some time for me to get used to it so that I can just use the name Yahweh by itself.
Jaco wrote an article entitled “The Pronunciation of the Name” dated March 11th. 2010, which stated that he believed the proper pronunciation was Yehovah, with the emphasis on the ‘vah’. I have found that most people don’t spell it that way. From what I can see most people spell it Yahweh. So I’m not even sure if I’m spelling God’s/Yahweh’s name correctly or not.
I will paste the link to Jaco’s article below:
http://kingdomready.org/blog/2010/03/11/the-pronunciation-of-the-name/
I have noticed that most Jews and Jewish Christians refuse to write the name of God/Yahweh and will usually write G*d or YHWH. I’m just wondering if this is based on something written in the O.T. or if this is just an oral tradition that has been passed down from ancient times???
Joseph,
Robert just emailed me and told me Jesus’ name is actually Yahshua not Yeshua. He said, “His name means Yahweh(Yah) Saves( shua)”. I guess it’s not so easy, for us Gentiles, to come up with the proper pronunciation in the original language…
DT,
From what I have studied on the subject, Yeshua would been what Jesus would have recognized. It also could have been that since Aramaic was widley used at that time that his name could have been the Hebrew equivalent Yehushua (Joshua), and was called Yeshua in the Aramaic as this language would have been used much of the time.
Robert is wrong. There never has been a name pronounced Yahshua, with the ‘Yah.’ There is no such name, I’ve looked for it. This is a perverted way of saying Yeshua for those who want to support the believe that Yeshua is Yah, by combining the two. I’m not saying that Robert believes this, but I challenge him to find me evidence that has the pronunciation of YAHshua. I can find plenty that suggest Yeshua starting with the Aramaic Old Syriac Bible (c. 200 AD), and the Peshitta. They preserve this same spelling but using the equivalent Aramaic letters, come up with YEHshu, which is still the pronunciation used in the West Syriac dialect, where as East Syriac has rendered the pronunciation of these same letters.
All occurrences of Yeshua in the Hebrew Bible are in I Chron. 24:11, II Chron. 31:15, Ezra, and Nehemiah where it is transliterated into English as Jeshua.
Let’s take a look at the Hebrew from I Chron. 24:11…
הַתְּשִ××¢Ö´Ö”×™ לִשְ××›Ö·× Ö°×™Ö¸Ö–×”×•Ö¼ הָעֲשִׂרִֽי׃ לְיֵש×֙וּעַ֙
Take note of the bold above, it is the word Yeshua with the Hebrew letters, yud, sheen, vav, ayin. If you even look closer you will see the dots and dashes of the vowels around the letters. The first letter ‘yud’ has two small dots below it for the vowel sound ‘eh’. Granted, the original writings did not have the vowels, but the Masoretic text did, and shows this as well. So all evidence points to Yeshua as the correct pronunciation in Hebrew or Aramaic.
‘YAH’shua is not even a name in the Bible. Is would be like saying that your name in English is Thamos, when it is really Thomas. YAHshua would also be like saying in English, Jases, instead of Jesus.
Another thing. Robert is under the impression that Jesus’ name needs to have the word ‘YAH’ in it to show that it means, ‘God saves.’ This is incorrect. If that was the case, then we should also pronounce, Yehushua (Joshua) as YAHushua (Jashua), even though Yehushua means, “YHVH is salvation”, without saying YAHhushua.
Here is a another reference…
“Christians, historians, and linguists outside the sacred name movement for the most part reject the term Yahshua in favor of Yeshua (ישוע) as the original pronunciation…
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.”
Wolfgang,
You misunderstood me. I don’t believe that there is some kind of secret meaning having weight on issues such as salvation. That is not what I meant by ‘between the lines.’ What I meant is that by reading the text in the original language you can literally gain more knowledge from it. For example, take a look at Hebrew names. In English they mean nothing, but in Hebrew they are quite literal meanings and phrases. And by knowing that meaning in the Hebrew can bring more clarity to a passage in the Bible, or to the purpose of that person. This is a very important part of the Jewish life today also, is your name and what it means, not how it sounds.
Also take for example in Genesis where God’s spirit hovering above the waters is the Hebrew word for ‘Wind.’ By knowing that Hebrew used the word ‘ruach’ or ‘wind’ in place of the English spirit, one can see that perhaps this Spirit is not a separate entity as Trinitarians would believe, but rather God’s force and power metaphorically speaking.
Joseph,
Thank you for your response. I will continue to refer to Jesus as Yeshua as I have gotten used to it by now. I also found your explanation that ‘ruach’ not only means “God’s Spirit” but also means ‘wind’ quite fascinating. However, you didn’t answer my question as to why Jews and Jewish Christians write G-d or YHWH instead of the proper name??? I’m just curious if there is any basis in the O.T. for this…
Joseph,
you wrote above
well, if the word used was indeed the Hebrew word for “wind”, then the correct English translation should be “God’s wind” ?
Is it not rather true that the Hebrew word that is used in the text in Genesis does in fact mean “spirit” as well as “wind”, and is used in different contexts accordingly? The context in which the word is used determines its usage and meaning, and one must not take the meaning a word has in one context and apply it to a different context … or?
Joseph,
In msg. #8 above you said, “I’m not saying that it is wrong to use translations, but it seems odd to not want to learn the original pronunciations/meanings.”
It is difficult for us to know how they might have pronounced Yeshua’s name 2,000 years ago. Robert sent me an interesting link from the “Catholic Digest, January 1992, vol.32, no.6”. It also claims the proper spelling is Yahshua pronounced Yay-shoo-ah. It appears to me that the Catholic Digest is a neutral publication, in that they have no hang-ups about pronouncing or writing God’s proper name “Yah” (unlike Jews or Jewish Christians).
I will paste the link here -> http://tabilogalfonso.blogspot.com/
Like I said above in msg. #13, “I guess it’s not so easy, for us Gentiles, to come up with the proper pronunciation in the original language.” Especially when the original language hasn’t been spoken or written in almost 2,000 years…
DT, Sorry for not getting back sooner, been busy, a few things here…
I’m not the language police, you can refer to Yeshua however you are most comfortable with. The Apostles seemed to have no problem by translating the name into the Greek for communication purposes. I’m just saying that it feels more natural to want to use the name in it’s original form and is more educational.
I know that the Targums omit the divine Name and they are quite old. The practice of name ommission was prevalent in the time of Yeshua, and even occurs in the book of Matthew where the phrase kingdom of heaven occurs instead of kingdom of God as in the book of Mark. Further, it seems that Yeshua is condemned by the leaders in the book of John for his use of the Name.
Also, during the time of Yeshua, the divine name was probably only pronounced by the cohanim (temple priests) during the temple service. In the Talmud it is said, the Levites where said to play the instruments louder, so that nobody could hear the divine name.
I personally still use YHVH when writing God’s name, and don’t pretend to know the pronunciation. Is Jaco right?, or, is Yahweh the correct pronunciation? Maybe, but probably not.
Here is a snipet from that article you linked to…
‘YAH’, is not a prefix, it is a actual title.
Firstly, he is assuming that Yahweh is the correct pronunciation of YHVH, secondly, the Masoritic text does not have a shewa (:) and pronounces the name as Yeshua with the vowel ‘tsere (..)’ which is two dots below the first letter ‘yud.’ Furthermore, as I pointed out, both the eastern syraic and western aramaic pronounce the name with a ‘eh’ sound. Robert or this fellow have still shown no proof in manuscripts. I was waiting for this author to provide such evidence but nothing was given for references.
This is purely the authors opinion. It’s not about the Jews for Jesus, it’s about what the manuscripts tell us. And we know that the Hebrew is ‘Yehushua’, not ‘Yahushua.’ The aramaic is ‘Yeshu’ not ‘Yahshu.’ And the Hebrew for Jeshua is ‘Yeshua’ not ‘Yahshua.’
He can talk about his own opinions till he goes blue in the face, but it still doesn’t change the evidence. That is why the scholarly community agrees on the pronunciation as ‘YEHshua.’
Here is a audio from how the masorites would have inserted the vowels. You can hear the Hebrew speaker pronounce the name as Yeshua in vs. 11. Click on listen to chapter in Hebrew… http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt25a24.htm
If you want further evidence I can prove that the Aramaic pronounces with a ‘eh’ sound as well.
Wolfgang,
Right, that is the point, that a Hebrew word for wind can also be used of a Spirit. This shows us that the Hebrew can be very misleading if not read, in context. But who decides the context? One must be familiar with the original language to know the context. English translations leave out a lot of that context. As I said before, with names and even words that can hold a deeper meaning that get lost in English, German, ect. That is why I said it is important to study the Hebrew so that we can know what context is meant and how much more is revealed to us. Again, I’m not talking about salvational issues here.
Did you know that each Hebrew letter has a meaning to itself? This can also reveal how a word is created and what depth is within a simple word.
Joseph,
You said, “DT, Sorry for not getting back sooner, been busy…”
No problem.
You also said, “Robert or this fellow have still shown no proof in manuscripts. I was waiting for this author to provide such evidence but nothing was given for references.”
I’m only guessing, but if there was a prohibition on writing God’s proper name that would mean that there would be no proof in a manuscript form. Which make me wonder, How can they know??? To be quite honest I find all these references to Strong’s, etc… very confusing. I am not a linguist, nor am I well educated. I just barely get by with writing and understanding English (my spelling is horrific).
Robert’s arguments seem convincing to me, but you also make some good points as well. I need to give this some more prayerful thought. Again, thank-you for your response…
Joseph,
you wrote above
Careful … it is not that a word for one thing can be used for another thing! Rather, linguistically there is either the situation that two words for two different things happen to be spelled the same, or else the same one word carries slightly different meanings in different contexts.
Careful … it is NOT that the language (i.e. Hebrew) is misleading! If anything, readers are misleading themselves if they have not learned such details about a language.
A context is decided by the speaker or writer since he/she is the one telling “the story” and using words and expressions within a particular thought content framework.
Thus, “context” has as such nothing to do with an “original” or “translated” language … In order to understand a language one needs to be familiar with that language. If the content is communicated in a different language from the one which oneself understands and speaks, it becomes necessary to either learn the other language or to rely on translators who can translate from the one language to the other and thus make it available from someone not knowledgable of the original language to understand the content written in that knowledge.
Joseph and DT
Thank you for your well-researched information regarding the Hebrew/Aramaic form of the Messiah’s name.
I agree with Joseph here. The Hebrew/Aramaic letters used result in the expression Y’shua (yod, shin, waw, ayin). The polemic regarding the pronunciation of the Sacred Name or theophoric names never involved the deletion/addition of letters. The expression YaHShUA requires the addition of a “heh” which is unwarranted.
Furthermore, I also find the explanation problematic regarding the concealment of the Sacred Name as a motivation for the form Yahshua. I concur that Jewish piety had them refraining from pronouncing the Name in many practices (with surprising exceptions, however.) BUT, and this is essential: The ineffability of the Name never had them change other theophoric names in order to avoid pronouncing the Name. In the LXX and NT we have theophoric names containing parts of the Name, such as Yeho-shua, Yeho-nathan, Yeho-hanan, Matit-Yahu, Yeho-nadab, etc. The Apocalypse of John contains the doxology, aleluia (Greek transliteration of Hallelujah). All these words contain parts of the Sacred Name. My question is, if concealment of the Name were so commonplace, such as resulted in the corruption of the Messiah’s name from Yahshua to Y’shua/Yehoshua, why the overwhelming inconsistency, even contradiction in phenomena, as can be seen in the above examples?
Finally, the Greek transliteration of names strongly indicates that the Messiah’s name was close to Y’shua. Josephus transliterates the Sacred Name in Greek vowels, IEUE. The Name in mystic texts were transliterated IAO and IAOE. Close to a tri-syllable form of the Name. Likewise with the Messiah it was transliterated Iesu (no equivalent for the “sh” sound in Greek.)
Finally, the “ah” sound such as in HallelujAH, AdoniAH, etc. occurs at the END of the name, never (as far as I know) at the beginning. The initial syllables to Theophoric names containing parts of the Sacred Name were never “Yah-” but “Yeh(o)-.”
These are but few reasons I could think about as to why the form, Yahshua, is problematic.
In His Service,
Jaco
Jaco,
Thanks for your well thought out response. As a non-linguist and a layman I don’t see how I can know the correct way to spell our Lord and Savior’s name (it is obviously much more complicated than I had originally thought). I really don’t see how anyone can know how His name was pronounced by His followers some 2,000 years ago, since languages are constantly evolving and changing.
The way I see it the best solution would be for me is to just spell His name as Y’shua from now on. Of course I’m still not sure if I should be pronouncing it Yeh-shua, Yah-shua or Yay-shua, but at least I think I have found a way of spelling it that is close to the original. It might not be the perfect solution, but finding common (middle) ground is usually the best solution for something that is this complex and hard (for me) to understand.
Thanks again for giving me your opinion (I really appreciate it). God Bless…
Jaco & DT
What, pray tell, is wrong with using the Greek name of Iesous [Jesus]?
Or calling “the God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ” simply as “God the Father”?
I am really baffled by the time and debate spent on these “Divine Name” stuff.
Xavier,
There is nothing wrong with using the Greek name Iesous. According to the MSS that’s what the early Greek followers called him. There is also nothing wrong with calling him Jesus, except there is no corresponding “J” sound in either the ancient Hebrew or the ancient Greek. From what I understand the early followers would have pronounced it Yey-sous, with the emphasis on the last syllable.
But, since it was some 2 thousand years ago we can’t know “for certain” how his followers (Greek or otherwise) would have pronounced his name. From my reading it seems the Y’shua spelling would be close to the original Hebrew/Aramaic spelling (transliterated into English of course). Since that is what his friends, family, and disciples would have called him, I don’t see anything wrong with me also using this spelling.
How Y’shua was pronounced is another story, with many differing opinions (at least from what I have read). Robert is convinced it was pronounced Yah-shua and spelled Yashua, whereas Joseph and Jaco believe it was pronounced Yeh-shua and spelled Yeshua. I personally believe that it is impossible for us to know for certain. But, then again I am just a layman and am not well educated in these things.
BTW- I hope you and your family have not been negatively affected by the floods down there in Australia…
DT
Thanx for your querie but I am no longer in Australia. I did live in Sydney and not Brisbane, QLD, where it is apparently very very bad.