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Is Jesus' name really Yeshua?

by Matt Slick

A lot of people, including some Messianic Jews (Jews who believe Jesus is the
Messiah), will call Jesus by a different name: Yeshua (Hebrew
) . They say
that Yeshua is the Jewish name that Jesus would have been called by those who knew
him. Some messianics and other groups say that Yeshua is Jesus' real name and that
the name "Jesus" is wrong. Others say it is okay to use either one. But then again,
there are those who say that the word "Jesus" is pagan in origin and should not be used
at all. And if that weren't enough, some say that "Jesus" is derived from "Zeus" and
really means "hail Zeus." With all these possibilities is there a real answer to what was
the Messiah's real name? Yes, there is. It is found in the New Testament.

The New Testament was written in Greek. If there were any original documents of the
New Testament written in Hebrew we don't have them. At best, some theorize that there
might have been a gospel or two written in Hebrew. If that is the case, there is no way to
know. The fact is we don't have any Hebrew manuscripts. We only have Greek ones
from that period of time.

Since what we do have is the Greek Manuscripts, it is from them that we need to find out
what the Apostles wrote about Jesus. In other words, we need to make a case out of
what we do have, not what we don't have.

Doing a computer search in the Greek New Testament, the word "Jesus" occurs over
900 times. Following is a chart that lays this out.

What does the Greek actually say?

The Greek word for Jesus is I. It is pronounced as "eeaysoos."

THE SAME NOUN IN ARABIC IS ''EESAA When "eeaysoos" was transliterated into the
English long ago it became Jesus, the term we use in English today.THERE IS A
CHANGE IN THE FIRST CONSONENT THE Y SOUND WAS CHANGED TO
CONSONENTAL DEPHTHONG. ARABIC CHANGED IT TO GUTTURAL AIN.

Some say that if we don't pronounce Jesus' name properly (either as Yeshua and or
Eeaysoos) then we are in sin and serving a false god, but that accusation cannot be
made from scripture. It is not the pronunciation of a word that makes us Christian or not.
It is receiving the messiah, God in flesh, by faith that makes us a Christian. Likewise,
must we say "theos" when saying "God" since that is how the word is pronounced in
Greek? Or what about when we call Jesus the "Savior" as in Phil. 3:20, must we
pronounce the word as it is in Greek (sotare) or is it okay to use the English word
"savior?"

The entire New Testament was written in Greek and the word Jesus is the word that is
used. It is not the Hebrew which is Yeshua. So, it is simple. Jesus is properly
called Jesus.

"And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save
His people from their sins," (Matt. 1:21).
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," (Mark 1:1).
"let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus
Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the deadby this
name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 He is the stone which was
rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very corner stone. 12 And there is
salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given
among men, by which we must be saved," (Acts 4:10-12).
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, acalled as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of
God, (Rom. 1:1).
"But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely,
Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the
grace of God He might taste death for everyone," (Heb. 2:9).
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the
things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to
His bond-servant John," (Rev. 1:1).

As you can see, the New Testament uses "Jesus" as the name and not a Hebrew name.
For people to say that Jesus' real name is Yashua or Yahusha or Yahushua, etc., is
Jesus' real name is just a statement of pushing an agenda and not believing the New
Testament text.

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