I had previously thought that the name of our Lord is not to be found in the Old Testament of the Bible. A study of His name traced to its origins in the Hebrew proves otherwise.

The name Jesus comes from the Greek “Iesous” which in turn derives from the Hebrew ” yehôshûa‛ ” which in English is “Joshua”. Joshua the son of Nun was one of the two (Caleb being the other) who brought a good report of the land to Moses. This man is variously called Joshua, Hoshea (Oshea), Jehoshua and Jeshua–possibly more names are given him, I am not sure.

The sound of our “J” in English as opposed to its pronunciation in, or entire absence from (such as Greek) other languages helps understand the change from “Yeshua” to “Jesus”. For example in “Strait of Juan de Fuca” most would recognize the “J” as a “Y” in English pronunciation.

The passage from Isaiah below, shows “salvation” to be a personal pronoun, & could be translated as in the second example.

Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompence before him.  (Isa 62:11)

Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, Jeshua cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompence before him.

The passage below from Habakkuk has an astonishing use of His name including “Christ”. It could be translates as in the second example.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed; Thou didst smite off the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah.  (Hab 3:13)

Thou wentest forth with the Saviour of thy people, Yahsuah Meshyach; Thou didst smite off the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah.

–Messiah, Christ, Anointed, Meshyach–Same word.

Joseph & Mary understood the meaning of the name they were told to call Him by. — “Yeshua, for he shall save”

To see the worksheet for this study go here.