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Shem Yeshua Mashiach
by Paul Sumner |
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In the Hebrew Bible God's personal name is the most often used noun. It occurs over 6,800 times. In Hebrew texts it is spelled only with consonants: Y-H-V-H, and it is called the "Four-Letter" name or Tetragrammaton in Greek.
Rabbinic Judaism refers to it as "haShem"—literally, "The Name" (the "ha" is the attached prefix article "the"). In biblical times "YHVH" was spoken with accompanying vowel sounds. But sometime prior to the first century that pronunciation was gradually suppressed out of reverence. Based on linguistic evidence, historians have reconstructed how it was probably pronounced. [For the difference between "YHVH" and "YHWH," see "Background Details" below.]
In the Bible, some people's names contained a form of God's Name (Joshua, Isaiah, Hosea). The Greek Jewish name "Jesus" is also linked in Hebrew to the Tetragrammaton, a fact that opens insights into passages in the New Testament. [On this website, I use modern Israeli (Sefardic) Hebrew transliteration because I believe Hebrew is and should be treated as a living language, not as Semitic bones studied only by scholars. See Transliteration for specifics.]
In the ancient world of the Bible, names had meaning. Some names depicted the wish of parents (or of God) for a child to fulfill a certain destiny. Or a name could describe a child's hoped-for character. Or if in later life he did not live up to his character name, he might be renamed. Sometimes God renamed people. We have Abram/Abraham, Jacob/Israel, Jedidiah/Solomon. [Top] God's personal name—YHVH—can be defined etymologically or grammatically. Hebrew linguists believe yhvh is a form of the verb havah, meaning "to be or become."
Specifically, many linguists say yhvh is a Qal imperfect third masculine singular. Following normal Hebrew grammar patterns, the vowels "a" and "e" would be added to these consonants, giving us the word "YaHVeH." This pronunciation is supported by early biblical texts in Greek that spell the name "Iaoue" (Ya-oo-eh) and "Iabe" (Yabe; there is no "v" sound in Greek). [The spelling "Yahweh" is discussed below.]
As he revealed it to Moses, God's full name is actually Ehyeh asher Ehyeh—"I will be what I will be." Ehyeh is the Qal imperfect first person form of the verb havah: "I will be."
God says to Moses: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'Ehyeh—I will be' has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14-15). Ehyeh by itself is God's shortened name when he speaks of himself in the first person:
In contrast, when people refer to God in the third person, he taught them to say "Yahveh—He will be" (not "I will be"). [Insights from Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms Volume 1, p. 210] [Top]
Grammatical analysis, however, doesn't lift the veil much on the mystery of the Creator's name. Yet for the One who forbids all static images of himself, the idea that he will be or become what he wants to be—that he is more like wind and fire than frozen images in stone or gold—the vagueness of his Name is appropriate. A technical definition remains intriguing. His "person" is another matter. [Top]
God's name is not a magic amulet that must be pronounced correctly in order to conjure him or to persuade him to hear one's prayers. His name conveys his character, the essence of his person. It says something about who he is. When God explains his name to Moses on Mount Sinai, he doesn't expound on Hebrew grammar but reveals character: YHVH passed by in front of him and proclaimed:God's self-revealed name is here woven into the covenant which he made with Israel. YHVH—He will be always himself, always righteous, always holy, always loyal to those who keep his covenant. "This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations" (Exod 3:15). The Name is always linked to what he is doing for his people within their covenant relationship. "YHVH" could be called God's Covenant Name, for he is the "Guardian of Covenant Love" (notzer hesed) (Exod 36:7). [Top] Throughout the Scriptures, God puts his personal name on certain places, objects or persons. This act implied several things: ownership, adoption, even marriage. It meant that that place or person would (should) demonstrate God's character, or would be a living demonstration of a particular principle that God wanted other human beings to observe. When the "Blessing of Aaron" (Numbers 6:24-26) is spoken over the people, the divine word follows: "So they shall invoke [lit. put] my Name on the children of Israel" (v. 27). [See the Hebrew text and transcription of Aaron's Blessing.] [Top] In time there is a narrowing of focus. God begins to put his name on one specific town on one specific hill on one specific building. There is even deeper meaning to come. [Top]
Much more important than geography and architecture are the occupants of Jerusalem on Mount Zion. God speaks of "my people who are called by my name" (2 Chron 7:14). He doesn't say, "My shops and houses, streets and great temple which are called by my name." In the book of Jeremiah, God gives his name both to the future son of David (the Messiah) and to Jerusalem, the occupants. King and people share a common identity: I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch…;Messiah ben David and Jerusalem are both supposed to wear a single family mantle—the very one worn by and given by God himself.
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Further illustrating this principle, we find the Tetragrammaton embedded in names of several men and some women.
As a pre element, it is abbreviated Yeho-:
The pre-element can be abbreviated as Ye- or Yo-: As an after element, it appears as -yah or -yahu: The Name appears in the famous Halleluyah (Hallelujah). The word is literally a command in Hebrew: Hallelu-Yah: "All of you praise Yah, the Lord." [In some documents it appears as "Alleluiah." The ending -iah comes from the Greek Septuagint Bible and is pronounced "-yah."]
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The Name also appears in names in combination with the Hebrew verb yasha, meaning to help, deliver, rescue or save. Here are two significant examples. 1) Joshua, Moses' lieutenant and successor, was originally not named Joshua. Numbers 13:16 records: "Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua." Grammatically, "Hoshea" seems to mean "Help! Save!" [Hifil, infinitive absolute, command form of yasha]. In contrast, "Joshua" in Hebrew is "Yehoshua" and means "YHVH, the LORD, helps or saves." The name change focused attention on the Source of help. Through Yehoshua, YHVH would rescue his people. (In the Apocrypha, one writer recognized the symbolism of his name: "Joshua…according to his name was made great for the saving of the elect of God"; Sirach 46:1).
Throughout the early books of the Hebrew Bible, Joshua's name is spelled Yehoshua. After the Babylonian Exile, the name underwent a shortening, apparently to remove the holy name element (Yeho-) so pagans wouldn't profane it. Thus in the post-exile book Nehemiah, Joshua is called "Yeshua the son of Nun" (Neh 8:17). Here is the progression: Even the abbreviated form "Yeshua" retains the original meaning: "the LORD will save." In the Greek Bible (the Septuagint, LXX), Yehoshua and Yeshua are both represented by one name: Yesous. This is also the name used later in the Greek New Testament for both Joshua (Acts 7:45; Heb 4:8) and Jesus.
Thus Jesus' Jewish Greek name represents the Hebrew "Yehoshua" and "Yeshua." [Top]
[Top] 2) The prophet Isaiah's Hebrew name occurs in two forms in the Bible: Yeshayahu and Yeshayah (shortened). Like Joshua's name ("Yehoshua") this name has the same two elements: yasha (to save) and Yah(u). But the order is reversed. Yesha–yahu means "salvation or deliverance (from) the LORD." And just like Joshua's new name form, Isaiah's name locates the Source of deliverance: God himself.
Careful readers of Isaiah will note that the theme yeshuah (salvation) runs throughout the book. In later times other men wore the names Yeshayahu (1 Chron 25:3, 15; 26:25) and Yeshayah (1 Chron 3:21; Ezra 8:7, 19; Neh 11:7). This suggests either admiration for the prophet Isaiah or perhaps a revival of the biblical theme that only in God would Israel's deliverance appear. [Top] The Man with The Name This pattern of naming individuals in order to exemplify the principle that the God of Israel will deliver his people is very powerful. Over the centuries Israel expected God to live up to his Name and keep his covenant, as he had defined it to Moses on Mount Sinai at the founding of the nation: Loyal Covenant Guardian (Exod 34:6-8). When they were in Babylon in exile they especially called upon him to rescue them. They believed in his name, what it stood for. I don't think it's an accident of history or a fascinating coincidence that the name of the man from
His name fit the moment and his character. This biblical Hebrew background is, I believe, important for understanding how first century Jews might have perceived Yeshua and his mission.
The Name that God once "explained" to Moses in Exodus 34, then demonstrated to Israel throughout their history, is the same name this Nazarean also "characterized" with his whole life. He embodied the essence of the Name. He demonstrated God's character, will and purpose to deliver his people. He both came in his Father's name and revealed it. Hebrew-speaking Jews would hear a rich echo when they heard the name "Yeshua" spoken. [* Note]
For more on the name "Yeshua" see Shem Yeshua Mashiach.
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Scattered throughout the NT is evidence that its Jewish writers and teachers were aware of this linguistic and theological link. Let's substitue Hebrew names for those in Greek, then listen.
There is salvation [Heb. yeshuah] in no one else; for there is no other Name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved [Heb. yasha]. (Acts 4:12)
God highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the Name which is above every name, that at the name of Yehoshua every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Yeshua Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
I have come in my Father's Name...[Father] I have manifested Your Name to those whom you have given to me."
* Note:
In Medieval English, the name Jesus was not pronounced "Jeezus." Back then, as in Latin, the English "J" was spoken as "Y" and the vowels "e" and "u" were both long. Thus, the name was pronounced Yaysoos, which is how it is said in Latin and NT Greek. [Return to text ]
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