Jesus=Yeshua?

[paul11b]

Does anyone know why we call our Savior Jesus when His actual name was Yeshua? I mean I think I get it that Jesus is the English version of Yeshua but why don't we just call Him by the name He was called by when he walked the Earth?

[drforjc]

It's been common practice throughout Church history to transliterate divine names and titles into the local language.
For example, the French call God "Dieu," the Spanish "Dio," and the Germans "Gott."

Similarly, for "Jesus," "Christ," etc.

It is simply the equivalent in each language. The translators of Scripture did the same, even in the earliest known manuscripts, so the practice is obviously ancient.

[svid2]

We also call the Blessed Mother, Mary. Nobody called Miryam that when she graced our world.

And, by the way, the capital of Russ-ya is Moskva, but we seem to think that the capital of Rush-uh is Moscow.

I wonder what the Chinese call Walla Walla, Washington? Somebody go over there and find out.

In other words, I agree with you. If many millions can pronounce it and spell it (if they're literate), why can't millions more.

If we're ever in charge of this planet, there'll be some serious changes, huh?

[Inkwell]

People know Him as Jesus, and it's not excessively relevant what people called him then and now. If you went on about Yeshua then many people wouldn't have a clue who you're talking about and you'd alienate yourself from them- Jesus is simply the "Pop" name of the Messiah, just as Madiba's "Pop" name is Mandela.

[Splagchnizomai]

Jesus in Greek is Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), which is the Greek version of the Hebrew Yehoshua (Joshua). When you see the transliterated Iēsoûs, you can begin to see how Jesus came from it.

Iēsoûs=Jesus

[iohanne]

We English speakers began using the word "Jesus" in the 12th century. Prior to that, the word "haeland" was simply used among the Anglo-Saxons and mostly all written references to Jesus was in Latin. We took the word "Jesus" from this Latin which came from the Greek "Iesous" which came from the Aramaic "Yeshu3a" (the 3 represents a voiced pharyngeal fricative which has no Roman alphabet equivalent).

The Aramaic name "Yeshua" was already common long before Jesus because it was the Aramaic form of the Hebrew "Yehoshua", Joshua - the successor of Moses. The Greek version of the name, "Iesous", was already common among Hellenised Jews since probably the time of Alexander the Great when many eastern Mediterranean cultures were heavily Hellenised, probably since 300 BC. There was probably a Jewish colony early on in Rome and if there were any "Yeshua" among them, you can bet that they called themselves "Iesus" among Latin-speakers and were called so by the native Romans. So when the most important Jesus of all was crucified, died, buried and rose, His followers probably used the linguistic conventions already in place to refer to Him.

I suspect the same to be true for many of the early saints names - particularly the Semitic names - these names may already have been in use all around the Roman Empire. Certainly there were Miryams everywhere and Yosefs everywhere and Yehudas everywhere, etc. The Greek names and Latin names of the early saints were probably also in use everywhere in the Empire since many of these names are not Semitic in origin but are actually pagan in origin which then became "christened", so to speak, by the blood of any given Christian martyr.

[Alfonsus]

I for one always puzzled, how on earth the name Ioaness (Greek) can become John in English. When I took English as second language, it took me quite a time to remember it.

Another one is Iacobus (Iacob, Ya'kub), while the English word Jacob is there, but became James although in Latin and Greek, the name for Apostle James and Patriarch Jacob is of the same spelling.

[Cavaradossi]

Originally Posted by Alfonsus

I for one always puzzled, how on earth the name Ioaness (Greek) can become John in English. When I took English as second language, it took me quite a time to remember it.

Another one is Iacobus (Iacob, Ya'kub), while the English word Jacob is there, but became James although in Latin and Greek, the name for Apostle James and Patriarch Jacob is of the same spelling.

James/Jacob is probably not that surprising when you look at certain forms of the name James in other languages, like Italian, which has Jacob rendered as "Giacomo" or Catalan, which renders the name Jacob as "Jaume".

John similarly has many colloquial variants in other languages which are similar, like "Gianni" (almost sounds exactly like how we would pronounce Johnny) in Italian, "Johann" in German, "Jan" in Polish, and "Jean" in French.

[JimmytheButcher]

Originally Posted by paul11b

Does anyone know why we call our Savior Jesus when His actual name was Yeshua? I mean I think I get it that Jesus is the English version of Yeshua but why don't we just call Him by the name He was called by when he walked the Earth?

The English equivalent of Jesus is Joshua.

So remember this if anyone jeers at the idea of a Hispanic being named Jesus.

[PacoG]

Originally Posted by Alfonsus

Another one is Iacobus (Iacob, Ya'kub), while the English word Jacob is there, but became James although in Latin and Greek, the name for Apostle James and Patriarch Jacob is of the same spelling.

And how does James become Santiago and Diego in Spanish....

And in Spanish Jesus Christ is Jesucristo....one word.

[PacoG]

Originally Posted by JimmytheButcher

The English equivalent of Jesus is Joshua.

So remember this if anyone jeers at the idea of a Hispanic being named Jesus.

Joshua is either Jesus or Josue in Spanish.

[PacoG]

Originally Posted by Cavaradossi

James/Jacob is probably not that surprising when you look at certain forms of the name James in other languages, like Italian, which has Jacob rendered as "Giacomo" or Catalan, which renders the name Jacob as "Jaume".

John similarly has many colloquial variants in other languages which are similar, like "Gianni" (almost sounds exactly like how we would pronounce Johnny) in Italian, "Johann" in German, "Jan" in Polish, and "Jean" in French.

James can be Santiago, Diego, Jaime and (and I guess) Jacobo in Spanish.

[Evan]

Originally Posted by Cavaradossi

James/Jacob is probably not that surprising when you look at certain forms of the name James in other languages, like Italian, which has Jacob rendered as "Giacomo" or Catalan, which renders the name Jacob as "Jaume".

John similarly has many colloquial variants in other languages which are similar, like "Gianni" (almost sounds exactly like how we would pronounce Johnny) in Italian, "Johann" in German, "Jan" in Polish, and "Jean" in French.

You missed me!! John is "Evan" in welsh, "Ivan" in Russian, "Juan" in Spanish.

[ProVobis]

The inscription on the cross identifies Him as "IESVS."

[jonbhorton]

Originally Posted by ProVobis

The inscription on the cross identifies Him as "IESVS."

Which is Latin for Jesus, which is found as Yeshua in Aramaic and Yehoshua in Hebrew, and truly "Joshua" in English; Yeshu would be analogous to "Josh" though the actual meaning is retained despite the semantics argued otherwise by the people convinced that somehow 13.3 Million people who can't even agree on whether or not it's OK to turn on a light switch on Saturday = lighting a fire on Shabbat, are somehow trying to take over the world. I often wonder if these people ever heard of "Pie Iesu" and couldn't just put two and two together.

John 19:19 explains the inscription on the Cross was written in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.

The "J" being pronounced in a hard manner, as well as the "E" being made a long vowel, as well as the two "S" being given a hard hiss instead of a soft "sh", and the "U" being made a short vowel when it's long just smacks of the variant pronunciations over the centuries.

Yeshua/Yehoshua/Yeshu all would have been names Jesus might have gone by at certain periods, in certain context. "Gee-zuss" (phonetic), not so much.

Language rules win over historical-revisionism and ignorance to actual pronunciation/inability to form the sound 10 out of 10 times.