YAHUSHUA HAMASHIACH
"The original name of
JESUS The MESSIAH"
Pronunciation of the Messiah’s Name (Yahushua)
This site is for every nationality that falls under the umbrella of a believer according to what the scriptures have said, both
JEWS AND GENTILES(NONJEWS) ALIKE.
As a reminder under the New covenant one is not better than the other. We are all one in Yahushua HaMashiach/Jesus the Messiah.
Colossians 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Galatians 3:26-29 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Yahushua HaMashiach). For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Neither do we promote anyone to become opposite of how they were first called into Christ.
1 Corinthians 7:17-20
17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches. 18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. 20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
Galatians 5:4-6
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Galatians 6:12-17 12 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. 13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. 14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Now let's get into the lesson.
The Following Video covers this topic of pronunciation of the Messiah's name in more depth:
Tom Martincic and family is credited for the contents of above video and in depth writing below. Thanks Tom.
"Some have written me asking for an explanation of why I use the form “Yahushua” in reference to the Messiah while others use “Yahshua”, “Yeshua” or “Yehoshua”. With an open mind, and with grace offered to any who may see it differently, the purpose of this study share the reasons why I use “Yahushua.”
I’m not one that believes that you need to pronounce the Messiah’s name exactly like I do in order to be saved. However, the issue of the Messiah’s name was an important issue among the first century believers in Messiah.
To demonstrate this, consider the following scriptures:
Acts 2:38- Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahushua Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 3:6- Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Yahushua Messiah of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Acts 3:16- “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which [comes] through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Acts 4:7- And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
Acts 4:10- “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Yahushua Messiah of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom Elohim raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
Acts 4:12- “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:17- “But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” 18 – And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Yahushua.
Acts 4:30- “by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Yahushua.”
Acts 5:28- saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”
Acts 5:40- And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten [them], they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Yahushua, and let them go. 41 – So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
Acts 8:12- But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of Elohim and the name of Yahushua Messiah, both men and women were baptized.
Acts 8:16- For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Master Yahushua.
Acts 9:14- “And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 – But the Master said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 – For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Acts 9:21- Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”
Acts 9:27- But Barnabas took him and brought [him] to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Master on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Yahushua.
Acts 9:29- And he spoke boldly in the name of the Master Yahushua and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.
Acts 10:43- “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
Acts 15:14- “Simon has declared how Elohim at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
Acts 15:26- men who have risked their lives for the name of our Master Yahushua Messiah.
Acts 16:18- And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Yahushua Messiah to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.
Acts 18:15- “But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look [to] [it] yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such [matters].”
Acts 19:5- When they heard [this], they were baptized in the name of the Master Yahushua.
Acts 19:13- Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Master Yahushua over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Yahushua whom Paul preaches.”
Acts 19:17- This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Master Yahushua was magnified.
Acts 21:13- Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Master Yahushua.”
And this is just in the book of Acts! The name of Yahushua is intricately linked with the person of Yahushua. So in light of the numerous scriptures which show us the importance of His name, we should at least seek to understand how it is pronounced. It is obviously important according to scripture.
Origin of the name “Jesus”
According to the “American Heritage Dictionary,” the etymological origin of “Jesus” is:
Jesus ..Middle English, from Late Latin Isus, from Greek Isous, from Hebrew yû‘, from yhôûa‘, Joshua…
Notice that it says that the origin of His name is from Latin, then Greek, then Hebrew. So the name “Jesus” is the result of 3 different languages placing their influence on the original name the disciples were proclaiming, baptizing in and praying in. Some of the influence is quite recent.
In the 1611 King James Version, it originally had “Iesus” rather than “Jesus” (see image below). Later revisions of the KJV changed it to “Jesus”. This leads me to ask some important questions: “Who is the one who gets to decide what it is changed to? Man or Yahweh? And if Yahushua is supposed to be the same yesterday, today and forever, why do they keep changing His name?”
The word “Jesus” is not even in the 1611 KJV
If you look up the name “Jesus” in a Strong’s lexicon it has “Iesous”:
“2424 Iesous ee-ay-sooce’ of Hebrew origin (3091); Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Israelites:–Jesus.”
Notice that it traces the name of Messiah to Hebrew word #3091 in the Strong’s lexicon. This name is the same name as “Joshua, Son of Nun”. In the Hebrew, this name is spelled יהושע .
While there are some out there claiming that “Jesus” is somehow derived from “Zeus”, I have yet to find anyone who is willing to present hard evidence of this claim. One person wrote a book which claimed that “Iesous” means “Hail Zeus”. When I contacted him by phone and asked him for evidence of this claim, he said “Iesous” means “Hail Zeus” in the sense that when you say the “Ie” it sounds like “Yaayy” and “Yaayy” is what people do in modern sports games when they hail their team. Thus, the statement that “Iesous” meant “Hail Zeus” had nothing to do with its meaning in the Greek language.
In fact, the Greek language spells Zeus (#2203 in the Strong’s Lexicon) as Ζευς and doesn’t even have the same letters (Zeta/epsilon/upsilon/sigma) or sound as the second syllable in “Iesous,” which is Ιησους (Sigma/Omicron/upsilon/sigma). First of all, the Ζ in Ζευς produces a “dz” sound, not an “s” sound as in “sous.” Also the ευ combination in Ζευς sounds like “eu as in feud“, a letter combination not found in any form of Ιησους/Iesous. So is Ζευς is actually pronounced “Dzyooce” and not “Sooce”. These things alone make it quite impossible that Iesous comes from “Zeus”. Look at the first page of the Greek Lexicon in your Strong’s concordance if you want confirmation of the sounds of these Greek letters.
Another important point is that the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures that was completed many years before Yahushua came to earth, also rendered the Hebrew name “Yahushua” as Ιησους(Iesous). This fact alone clearly demonstrates that “Iesous” is a Greek form of יהושע and wasn’t a form invented by apostate Christians who wanted to honor Zeus/dzyooce in some way.
Interestingly, there is evidence that although the name of Yahushua was written in Greek as Ιησους, it may have actually been pronounced the way a Hebrew speaking person would pronounce it. Around 178 CE, a pagan by the name of Celsus engaged in written debates with Christians. In one of them, Celsus (speaking of Christians) said:
“But of course they think otherwise: they assume that by pronouncing the name of their teacher they are armored against the powers of the earth and air. And they are quite insistent on the efficacy of the name as a means of protection: pronounce it improperly, they say, and it is ineffective. Greek and Latin will not do; it must be said in a barbarian tongue to work. Silly as they are, one finds them standing next to a a statue of Zeus or Apollo or some other god, and shouting, “see here: I blaspheme it and strike it, but it is powerless against me for I am a Christian.”
Celsus on the True Doctrine, A Discourse Against the Christians, R. Joseph Hoffman (page118)
Notice that Celsus was quoting Christians as saying that the name of “their teacher” (Yahushua no doubt) must not be spoken “improperly” and that it must not be spoken in a “Greek” way or “Latin” way, but in a “Barbarian tongue” for it to be effective.
Of course, to the pagans the Hebrew language was nothing more than a barbarian language. This lends evidence that even though the name of Yahushua was written as Ιησους, there were at least some people speaking it in the Hebrew way. The Greek alphabet simply lacks the letters necessary to correctly convey how the name is pronounced in Hebrew.
So how is the name pronounced? This will take some study. After all, we are English speakers so it is going to take a certain amount of concentration and diligence to try and understand how a Hebrew word is pronounced. But if you are willing to diligently search this out with me, I think you’ll better understand Hebrew and conclude with me that His name should be pronounced “Yahushua.” Click here to listen to how “Yahushua” is pronounced.
Let’s start with the form that is found in various Hebrew Lexicons: “Yehoshua.”
Yehoshua
In the Strong’s concordance and other Hebrew Lexicons, the pronunciation listed for the Messiah’s name is typically “Yehoshua.” While I do not believe we should be getting all of our Hebrew learning from a Strong’s lexicon alone (that would be dangerous), most of us do own a Strong’s Concordance so I will be using it during this study for the purposes of illustration.
The reason for the “Yehoshua” pronunciation is due to the Hebrew vowel pointing added by the Masorite scribes. The vowel points are the little dots and dashes under and above certain Hebrew letters. Unlike English, Hebrew was written with mostly all consonants. It was up to the reader to supply the vowels in each word based on the context of the word.
The Masorites were concerned that Hebrew was becoming a lost language so they invented the vowel point system to preserve the sounds of the Hebrew language. However, in keeping with tradition they were concerned that someone might accidentally mispronounce the letters that followed יהו . Thus, they pointed יהו to produce the same sound seen in “Yehovah.”
To avoid speaking the Heavenly Father’s name, the Jewish tradition was to say “Adonai” (“Lord”) instead of Yahweh. For this reason, our English bibles also say “LORD” instead of “Yahweh”. So rather than supplying the true vowels of the Heavenly Father’s name, the scribes inserted the vowels for “Adonai” so that the reader would be reminded to say “Adonai” rather than Yahweh.
But what if the Hebrew scriptures contained a phrase such as “Adonai Yahweh” (Master Yahweh)? They would then have to say “Adonai Adonai”, a rather odd (if not a bit embarrassing) phrase. Their solution was to put the vowel points for “Elohim” within the Heavenly Father’s name so that they would be reminded to say “Adonai Elohim” instead of “Adonai adonai”. This is even mentioned in the Strong’s lexicon and it lists it as a different word number. Read what it says:
Yehoshua
“136” is the Hebrew word “Adonai” and “430” is the Hebrew word “Elohim”. So these vowel points are used within the Father’s name whenever His name follows 136 (Adonai). And they pronounce this as 430 (Elohim) to avoid having to say Adonai twice. For this reason, many English translations will render “Adonai Yahweh” as “the Lord GOD” with “GOD” being in all capitals to let the reader know that this is where the sacred name is found in the Hebrew. Very few even know that this is why “GOD” is sometimes in all capital letters (See Gen 15:2 for one of hundreds of examples of this). It is amazing how far men will go in order to cleave to tradition!
So how does this relate to the pronunciation of the Messiah’s name? Let’s take a look at His name again in the Strong’s Lexicon:
Notice that there are other names listed in the Strong’s Concordance which contain the first three letters of Yahweh’s name. And just like Yahweh’s name which starts with the “Yeho” vowel points, they use the “Yeho” vowel points in “Yehoram”, “Yehosheba”, “Yehoshaphat” and numerous other names which contain the first part of Yahweh’s name. Consistently, the scribes did not want anyone to accidentally pronounce the Heavenly Father’s name when saying these other names, so they changed the vowel points of names that began with יהו.
Interestingly, they did not change the pronunciation of these same three letters when it was at the end of a person’s name. For instance, look at how Zechariah’s name is presented in the Hebrew text:
Notice the different vowel pointing and pronunciation herein (“ZecharYahu“). There were no concerns by the scribes that His name would accidentally be pronounced when there were no Hebrew letters that followed after יהו and so they provided the correct vowels.
Phonetically, the first three letters in the Heavenly Father’s name are also pronounced “Yahu”. For this reason, the Heavenly Father’s name can be written as “YAHUeh” or “YAHWeh” and the same pronunciation will result, just as in the word “Persuade” could also be spelled “Perswade”. I prefer to use a W so that there is less confusion over how the name is to be pronounced. For if I wrote His name as “Yahueh” most readers would pronounce the ‘hu’ part of His name as ‘Hoo” and this is not how I believe the Father’s name was pronounced.
So the scribes had no problem giving the correct pronunciation of these three letters at the end of a name. Because it ends in ‘Yahu’, there was considered to be no risk in accidentally saying “Yahueh/Yahweh”. This would also explain why the scribes used the correct vowel points in the shortened form of Yahweh’s name (“Yah”):
They even used the correct vowel pointing in “HalleluYah” and even the Greek New Testament properly transliterates this phrase as “HalleluYah” (See Strong’s Lexicon #239).
Thus, the only time they would revert to the “Yeho” pronunciation of these three letters was when it was at the beginning of a Hebrew name. Personally, I want nothing to do with the unscriptural tradition of saying “Adonai/Lord/Elohim/God” in place of Yahweh. That is one reason I do not refer to the Messiah as “Yehoshua.” For it is not “Yeho(wah)” (Jehovah) that saves, it is “Yahu(eh)/Yahweh” that saves!
Having said this, there are some Hebrew students and scholars who have noticed that a natural progression of Hebrew language is to shorten initial vowels whenever an accent is on the later syllables of Hebrew words. This tendency is said to result in the “Y’hoshua” or “Yehoshua” pronunciation. For this reason, some believe “Yehoshua” to actually be the correct pronunciation.
But while this may be true in some Hebrew words, there is evidence to support that this was not necessarily true in ancient times. At a minimum, it may have not been true in personal names containing the name of our Heavenly Father. During times before the “Rabbis” came to prominence, Yahweh’s name was considered to be very important to pronounce. And ancient evidence suggests that they did not shorten or eliminate the sounds in Yahweh’s name.
Cuneiform tablets (also containing vowels) were discovered near the Ishtar gate in Babylon which give a list of workers and captives to whom rations were given. Cuneiform scripts contain vowels. In addition to validating the biblical account in 2Kings 25:27-29 where it mentions that Jehoiachin (Yahuiachin) ate at the king’s table, these tablets help to establish the way these names were pronounced before the Masorite scribes inserted their vowel pointing, based on tradition:
“Yaukin, king of the land of Yahud,” (“Jehoiachin, the king of the land of Judah”)
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary
Also, a family of Jewish businessmen living in the Mesopotamian city of Kippur in the fifth century BC left behind a collection of clay tablets recording their commercial transactions. The clay tablets, known as the Murashu documents, contain vowels and list the names of about 70 Jewish settlers in Persia. The Hebrew names which begin with יהו (Yod Heh Waw) are all written “Yahu-” and never “Yeho”.
“In the cuneiform texts Yeho [YHW], Yo [YW] and Yah [YH] are written Yahu, as for example in the names Jehu (Yahu-a), Jehoahaz (Yahu-khazi) and Hezekiah (Khazaqi-yahu)” A. H. Sayce in “Higher Criticism” on p. 87
“The evidence from the Murashu documents thus corresponds to that from other sources: after the Exile the ordinary form of the divine name used as an initial theophorous element was yahu”
“Patterns in Jewish Personal Names in the Babylonian Diaspora” JSJ, Vol. 4 Issue 2 Pg. 188
Notice that not only were names beginning with “Yeho” written as “Yahu”, but also names beginning with “Yo” such as “Yochanan” (John) and “Yoel” (Joel) were written as “Yahu”. This indicates John and Joel were originally pronounced “Yahuchanan” and “Yahuel”.
A third witness is found in an inscription of the Assyrian monarch Tiglath-pileser III (Gressmann Bilder 348; ANET 282a). When listing those kings who were paying tribute to this Assyrian King, it mentions “Yauhazi”, also known as “Ahaz”. Various lexicons such as the New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon (p. 219 b) and the Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (under “Ahaz”) mention this inscription as well.
With all the evidence, it becomes clear that the name was never originally pronounced “Yehoshua”. Rather “Yahushua” is more correct and there is no reason to mispronounce the Heavenly Father’s name when speaking the name of His Son. Just as names which end with a reference to Yahweh correctly convey the Father’s name (“ZecharYah/ZecharYahu”), so do the names which begin with it.
Yeshua
Much used by the Messianic movement, “Yeshua” is actually an Aramaic form of the Hebrew name “Yahushua”. In the Hebrew script, Yeshua ישוע is not spelled the same as Yahushua יהושע. The “Yeshua” name, spelled ישוע (Yod Shin Waw Ayin), is found in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra where it lists the names of those who returned from the Babylonian exile. One of them is called “Jeshua, the son of Jozadak”:
Ezra 3:2- Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the Elohim of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of Elohim.
“Jeshua the Son of Jozadak” is the same High Priest mentioned in Zechariah 6:
Zechariah 6:11- Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
Notice that in Zechariah, he is not called “Jeshua the son of Jozadak” but he is called “Joshua the son of Josedech” (Heb. Yahushua the son of Yahutsadak). This reflects the Hebrew spelling of the same name. So in Zechariah, he is called Yahushua but in Ezra he is called Yeshua. The book of Nehemiah also changes the name of Joshua the son of Nun to “Jeshua, the son of Nun”:
Nehemiah 8:17- And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
The change in spelling to “Jeshua/Yeshua” (ישוע “Yod Shin Waw Ayin” ) is due to the Aramaic influence during the exile. In fact, parts of the book of Ezra are written in Aramaic. For confirmation, look at your Strong’s Lexicon:
Notice that #3442 and #3443 are the same exact word with the same Hebrew spelling, but this lexicon lists them separately. Why is this?
If you looked up “Jeshua” in the concordance, you will notice that it lists “Jeshua” in Ezra 3:2 as coming from #3442 and “Jeshua” in Ezra 5:2 coming from #3443. The reason for the two different Strong’s word numbers is Ezra 5:2 is a part of the book of Ezra which was written in Aramaic (Ezra 4:8 through 6:18; 7:12-26). This is why #3443 mentions “Yeshuwa” as coming from “Chaldean” (Aramaic) in the above definition (3443. ישוע Yeshuwa’ (Chald.)).
Therefore, “Yeshua” is actually an Aramaic rendering of “Yahushua”. Only #3443 lists the spelling as Chaldean, but #3442 is spelled the same. 1st and 2nd Chronicles, post-exilic books that were written by Ezra the scribe, (compare the ending of 2 Chronicles to the beginning of Ezra) also have this Aramaic spelling. This late pronunciation is found nowhere else in the the scriptures.
Now, some claim that Yeshua ישוע is a pure Hebrew word which isn’t derived from “Yahushua” at all, but that it is a Hebrew word meaning “Salvation.” The problem with this is the Hebrew word for “Salvation” is not ישוע(yeshua) at all! The Hebrew word for “Salvation” is word number #3444. Take a look again in the above lexicon graphic and see the differences between 3442/3443 and 3444. They are:
-
There is an additional Hebrew letter at the end (the “Heh”). ישוע uses the silent (but anciently guttural) “Ayin” letter to end the word, but #3444 ends in the letter “Heh”. While vowel letters under both words indicate they have have a similar sounding ending, the different spelling indicates they are two different words.
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In #3444 (Yeshuwah) there is a different vowel pointing under the first Hebrew letter (Yod [remember Hebrew reads from right to left]). 3442/3443 (YESHUA) has 2 horizontal dots underneath the first letter like this: These two horizontal dots represent the Hebrew Vowel point “Tsere” (pronounced Tsey-rey) which produces the “ey” sound as in the English word “Hey”. But #3444 has two vertical dotsunderneath the first letter like this . The two vertical dots represent the Hebrew vowel point “Sheva” which is a very short “e”, somewhat like our “E” sound in the word “Average” (Check the first page of your Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon for verification of this).
Incidentally, the (Sheva) is also the vowel point used by the scribes in “Yehoshua” and it is why you will sometimes see “Yehoshua” or “Yeshua” written as “Y’hoshua” and “Y’shua”. The purpose of the ‘ is to indicate the presence of the sheva vowel point in Hebrew. But as you can see, “Yeshua” does not contain that vowel point at all. “Yeshua” uses the “Tsere” Hebrew vowel point which produces an “ey” sound. So Yeshua and Y’shuah are actually pronounced differently. The Strong’s Lexicon indicated this when it gave the pronunciation of ישוע as ‘yay-shoo-ah‘, but #3444 as ‘yesh-oo-aw‘.
So the name “Yeshua” and the Hebrew word “Y’shuah” are not the same. “Yeshua” is the Aramaic form of “Yahushua” and “Y’shuah” is the Hebrew word for “Salvation”. Therefore, in spite of what some may say, I find no evidence to suggest that ישוע (“Yeshua”) means “Salvation” in Hebrew. I’m not refuting Strong’s definition. Perhaps it means this in Aramaic, or perhaps it means “he is salvation” in Aramaic, but “Yeshua” is actually not an authentic Hebrew word meaning “salvation”. For it to mean “Salvation” it would have to have the Hebrew letter “heh” added to the end of it, changing the spelling to ישועה (Yod Shin Waw AyinHeh) and it would need to have the “Sheva” vowel point under the Yod. These things further indicate that “Yeshua” isn’t from Hebrew, but is an Aramaic form of “Yahushua”.
But does the presence of the Aramaic form “Yeshua” justify its use over the Hebrew “Yahushua” when it comes to our Savior’s name? In light of the scriptural importance of our Savior’s name, I would be cautious of assuming that what’s acceptable for a common man (Yahushua son of Yahutsadak) is just as acceptable for the King of Kings, to whom all power and authority in heaven and earth is given. Acts 4:12 states that there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. How then can I find comfort and a clear conscience if I choose to willfully change and alter it in any way?
Since the Heavenly Father’s name (Yahweh) is a Hebrew name, I would not expect to see His Son’s name coming from some other language, whether it be Greek, Latin, Aramaic or English. The synagogues of the first century read from the Hebrew Torah scrolls, so the people certainly knew Hebrew in those days…even if Aramaic was also spoken.
There is archaeological evidence that the form יהושע was in use during the first century, for an ossuary was discovered which appears to contain this name (see below). Ossuaries (burial bone boxes) have only found to be in use during the late first century BC to 70AD.
So while the other forms seem to be more popular today, in my mind “Yeshua” (Aramaic) is no different than other flawed transliterations such as “Iesous” (Greek), “Iesus” (Latin), or “Joshua/Jesus” (English). None of these languages accurately convey the original Hebrew pronunciation, so why not return to the original, correct, Hebraic form? If none of those languages render “Yahushua” correctly, then it would be most prudent to just skip all of them and go back to the Hebrew!
Also, I should note that there is one prophecy in scripture where the Messiah’s name is predicted. This prophecy is found in Zechariah, chapter 6, and it contains the full Hebrew form. More on this later.
Yahusha
This form gaining in popularity fairly recently. However, it is easily proven to be incorrect. Let’s examine the Strong’s Lexicon entry that represents the Messiah’s name again:
Notice in the Hebrew letters that there are two variant spellings of the Messiah’s name here. The first spelling has 6 letters יהושוע and the second spelling has 5 letters יהושע. This is because both spellings are used in scripture. The predominant spelling is יהושע but the longer spelling is also found in scripture. Here are two places in the Masoretic Text where the longer spelling is employed:
Deuteronomy 3:21- “And I commanded Joshua יהושוע at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your Elohim has done to these two kings; so will Yahweh do to all the kingdoms through which you pass.
Judges 2:7- So the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua יהושוע, who had seen all the great works of Yahweh which He had done for Israel.
Dead Sea Scrolls Manuscript
As indicated above, the Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts, shows the longer spelling is also found in the following verses:
Joshua 8:3 – So יהושוע arose and the whole army [rose up and marched on Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men], valiant warriors and he sen[t] them out [at night]. (4QJoshA, bracketed text missing from manuscript)
Joshua 6:7 – Then יהושוע [said] to the people, [“Go forward, march around the city, and let the armed guard march ahead of the ark of Yahweh”] (4QJoshA, bracketed text missing from manuscript)
The longer spelling is also found in Deuteronomy 3:21 of the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QDeutM). A fragment for Judges 2:7 was not found at all in the Dead Sea Scrolls so no one is able to know which spelling would have been used for that verse. (See image above of the Dead Sea Scrolls Manuscript.)
Variant spellings are common in Hebrew (especially in names) and usually the longer spelling is the older form and the newer spelling was the result of an extra letter that was not needed. Due to the fact that the Dead Sea Scrolls are older than the Masoretic text, and the longer spelling is more frequent in the Dead Sea Scrolls than the Masoretic text, it would appear to me that the longer spelling was the original.
Because Hebrew does not need to have the extra “waw” ו to give us the “shua” sound (the Hebrew language does not always supply vowels), this would explain the shorter spelling. It does not mean that the shorter spelling represents the pronunciation “Yahusha,” it simply means that the extra letter was unnecessary for one get the “shua” sound at the end of the name. To conclude that the shorter spelling must mean His name is also pronounced “Yahusha” ignores the fact that Hebrew words do not usually supply us with vowel sounds. It does supply us with all the vowel sounds in יהושוע but it does not NEED to.
Here is how each letter is pronounced:
י Yod – Produces a “Y” or “I” sound.
ה Heh – As a Hebrew vowel letter it can produce the “Ah” (like in #8283 “Sarah“).
ו Waw – Also called “Vav”. As a Hebrew vowel letter it can produce an “oo” (u) sound like in #7307 Ruach.
ש Shin – Produces the “sh” sound. The following “oo” sound is indicated by a vowel pointing but Deut. 3:21 and Judges 2:7 actually gives us another “waw” after this letter, proving the “shu” pronunciation as valid. This is why Strong’s 3091 gives 2 possible spellings (see above lexicon graphic). This also eliminates “Yasha/Yahusha” and “Yahoshea/Yahushea” as being possibilities.
ו Waw – Again, produces an “oo” (u) sound as in #7307 Ruach. This is the ignored letter in the pronunciation “Yahusha.” As it is common that Hebrew words do not supply all the vowel sounds, this letter is not always used.
ע Ayin – Silent without a vowel point but indicates an “ah” sound at the end of “Yahushua”.
Those who use “Yahusha” will sometimes claim that “shua” can actually mean “riches.” This word “Shua” and the “riches” definition is found as Hebrew word #7769 in the Strong’s lexicon. But when you examine how the word “shua” is actually used in the Hebrew, it becomes evident that the Strong’s Lexicon may not be correct about that.
The word “shua” is only found in two verses, making it more difficult to determine the meaning.
The first is in Job 30:24:
Job 30:24- “Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out (“shua”) when He destroys it.
Obviously “Riches” would not be an appropriate meaning here. It sounds more like someone “crying out” to save them from destruction.
The Young’s Literal Translation reads it this way:
Job 30:24- Surely not against the heap Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety (“shua”, salvation)
So the word could legitimately come from “yasha” and carry the meaning of “salvation.”
In the second instance, it is alluding to one trying to make their riches their salvation, saying Yahweh ultimately owns all the gold and has all the forces of power. Again, from the Young’s Literal Translation:
Job 36:19- Doth He value thy riches (shua, salvation)? He hath gold, and all the forces of power.
So it certainly is possible the “shua” is rooted in the verb “yasha.” The Strong’s word #3444 is pronounced “Yeshuah” but it is derived from #3467 “Yasha.” This shows that the “shua” sound can indeed be derived from the root word for salvation, “Yasha.” It’s just the Passive Participle form of “Yasha.” Thus, “shua” can also be derived from “yasha”
Therefore, “shua” might indeed legitimately be rooted in the Hebrew “yasha” meaning “save.”
For this reason, it seems plausible that “shua” in these instances may actually be rooted in the Hebrew word “Yasha.” In fact, the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament makes a comment that “shua” could legitimately be derived from either “yasha” (save) or “shawa” (cry).
“Shua. Cry, if it is from shua; opulence, “relief” if it is from yasha “to save, deliver” (cf. BDB p. 447b and 1002b). The first meaning is likely in Job 30:24, though the second meaning cannot be ruled out”
So Lexicon writers don’t have assurance as to its meaning, and the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon even says its “meaning is dubious.”
If you still aren’t convinced, consider the following points:
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The Aramaic form of Yahushua (as we discussed earlier) uses “Yeshua” ישוע and just like יהושוע uses a “waw” ( ו )to give us the “shoo” sound in “shua.” If the original Hebrew form were “Yahusha,” the Aramaic form of the same name would not have been pronounced “Yeshua” (#3442) to begin with. But the Aramaic form is found in the scriptures in 29 verses of inspired scripture (e.g. 1Chron 24:11, 2Chron. 31:15, Strong’s #3442). Where are they getting the “shu” in “Yeshua” if the Messiah’s name had no “shu” sound?
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The Greek form of the name “Iesous” gives us an “oo” sound at the end of the name. Since the “Iesous” form is found in the Septuagint, a translation of the scriptures into Greek that was completed 200 years before Messiah came, it shows that the “oo” sound existed at the end of Yahushua prior to the time that Yahushua came and died for our sins.
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The Masoretic Hebrew vowel points give us a “shua” ending in יהושוע and in יהושע. That’s why all Hebrew lexicons give us the “shua” pronunciation in this name. The two spellings do not necessarily mean there are two different pronunciations. The vowel points under the Hebrew letters give us the “shua” ending with both spellings.
Thus, in spite of those who claim it cannot, the Messiah’s name can have the “shua” sound even though it is derived from “yasha” (meaning “salvation”) and there are clear examples in the scripture where “Yahusha” would be an impossible rendition of the Messiah’s name.
So the pronunciation “Yahusha” can be proven wrong by simply looking at the scriptures and knowing that in order to arrive at the “Yahusha” pronunciation, we would need to ignore the scriptures which clearly have a ו (oo sound) after the ש (sh sound).
Yahshua
This is another popular way of writing the Messiah’s name but I have never seen an example of this word anywhere in scripture.
It appears to have its origins in the Sacred Name movement in the 1930’s when certain men saw that “Jesus” was derived from “Joshua”. Since they understood that the “J” sound is not in the Hebrew language, “Yahshua” was apparently considered correct. It made sense so I used this form for many years. However, I later learned that “Yahshua” clearly ignores the third letter of the Messiah’s name (Waw) which gives us the “oo” (u) sound in Yahushua. To demonstrate this, let’s look at the individual letters of יהושע.
י Yod – Produces a “Y” or “I” sound.
ה Heh – As a Hebrew vowel letter it produces the “Ah” or “Oh” sound (like in #8283 “Sarah” and #8010 Sh’lomoh). Otherwise produces the “H” sound and the “ah” sound would have to be supplied by the reader.
ו Waw – Also called “Vav”. As a Hebrew vowel letter it produces an “oo” (u) or “oh” sound (like in #7307 Ruach). Otherwise produces a “W” sound. This is the ignored letter in the pronunciation “Yahshua”. This letter is nowhere represented. Where is the W or initial U??
ש Shin – Produces the “sh” sound. The following “oo” sound is indicated by a vowel pointing but Deut. 3:21 and Judges 2:7 actually gives us another “waw” after this letter, proving the “shu” pronunciation as valid. This is why Strong’s 3091 gives 2 possible spellings (see above lexicon graphic). This also eliminates “Yasha/Yahusha” and “Yahoshea/Yahushea” as being possibilities.
ע Ayin – Silent without a vowel point but indicates an “ah” sound at the end of “Yahushua”.
So if the Messiah’s name was “Yahshua”, we would have to delete the third letter (waw) in יהושע. For this reason, יהושע cannot be pronounced “Yahshua”.
There are some who claim that “Yahshua” is actually the correct pronunciation of the Aramaic word ישוע(“Yeshua”) and the Hebrew scribes simply took out the proper vowel sounds, replacing the “Yah” with “Ye”. But as mentioned before, ישוע is not a legitimate Hebrew word. It’s Aramaic.
Also, as seen in the above scans of the Strong’s Lexicon (and the Hebrew manuscripts as well), the scribes used the “Sheva” vowel pointing to replace the “Ah” sound in “Yahweh” and “Yahushua”, not the “Tsere” vowel pointing as is found in the name “Yeshua”. If they were interested in changing the vocalization of “Yeshua” to fit their tradition, one would expect them to use the as they did in יהושע and all of the other names beginning with “Yah”.
Why use Yahushua?
Since we seek to walk in the truth, we should want to proclaim His name as Yahweh gave it. Some of this may seem confusing, but it’s rooted in the fact that our scriptures were written in a different language. For one who could speak the ancient language, no confusion would exist.
One thing is clear. Yahweh is the one who named His Son and we simply have no business changing it. It is all these changes that have brought about the confusion. It can be complicated to sort through it all, but truth seeking is an honorable thing that is pleasing in Yahweh’s eyes.
Of course, if we are somehow unable to pronounce the Messiah’s name, certainly Yahweh is able to show mercy. But if we are able to, what reason do we have to continue in error? It is better to cleave to what Yahweh gave rather than continuing in the traditions and mistakes of men. Continuing in error is never superior to walking in the truth.
Yahweh predicted what His Son’s name would be, so we have something we can look to for clarification. In the book of Zechariah, it states:
Zechariah 6:9- Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying: 10 – “Receive the gift from the captives– from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon– and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. 11 – Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of יהושע (Yahushua) the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 – Then speak to him, saying,`Thus says Yahweh of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of Yahweh; 13 – Yes, He shall build the temple of Yahweh. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”‘
Notice that this “BRANCH” would be both a priest and a King. Obviously, this is not literally speaking of the man ‘Yahushua, son of Yahuzadak.’ It is speaking of the Messiah, called “The Branch” who would be a Priest AND King. This was the role of the Messiah (Compare Psalm 110, Isaiah 9:6). Another scripture mentioning the “BRANCH” is Jeremiah 23:5, and its’ clearly Messianic:
Jeremiah 23:5- “Behold, the days are coming,” says Yahweh, “That I will raise to David a BRANCH of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
The same Hebrew word is used here so Zechariah 6 is a quite clear Messianic prophecy. So what we have in Zechariah is a prophecy of what the Messiah’s name would be called.
Zechariah was instructed to take a crown and place it on the head of Yahushua, the son of Yahutsadak (in the Hebrew it does not have “Yeshua” here, but rather “Yahushua” יהושע). When placing the crown on the head of Yahushua יהושע the High Priest, Zechariah was told to proclaim:
“Behold the man whose NAME is the BRANCH.”
Thus, this High Priest (Yahushua) had the same name as the coming Messiah who would reign as a priest on His throne. He had the NAME of the Messiah, and Yahweh predicted and revealed what the Messiah’s name would be through this beautiful object lesson. So why not call Him by that name?
Also, notice that it was not Moshe (Moses) who was able to bring the children of Israel across the Jordan, but rather it took a man named Yahushua (Joshua) the Son of Nun to lead them across the Jordan and into the promised land. In this is a lesson, for Moshe can show us the right way to live, but the law cannot save us. We need a man named Yahushua to lead us across the Jordan and into the Promised Land.
At the beginning of this study I shared a number of examples where the first century believers who were proclaiming His name, baptizing in His name, healing in His name, being persecuted for His name, etc. I say, let’s be willing to do the same by using the Messiah’s name as it is written and understood in Hebrew, a name that is proclaimed in the law and prophets, a name with a very important Hebrew meaning:
יהושע
Yahweh saves!
How Yahushua is pronounced
Listen to the below audio to hear how the Messiah’s name is pronounced:
You’ll notice that I do not vocalize the “H” when pronouncing His name. This is because a hard “H” is not heard in Yahweh’s name, and the first 3 letters in Yahweh’s name are also used in the Messiah’s name.
Also, you’ll notice that some Hebrew names that started with “Yahu” got shortened to “Yo.” For instance, “Yahu-el” is vowel pointed by the Masorites as “Yo-el” (Joel) and “Yahu-ab” was vowel pointed as “Yo-ab” (Joab). This is because the letter “Heh” was dropped entirely from those names.
Remember earlier in this study that names beginning with “Yeho” were anciently written as “Yahu”, and names beginning with “Yo” such as “Yochanan” (John) and “Yoel” (Joel) were written as “Yahu”. This indicates John and Joel were originally pronounced “Yahuchanan” and “Yahuel”. What could possibly be the reason for the drop in the letter? It would make sense that if a hard H was not actually pronounced, a Hebrew reader still pronounce the יו as Yau if the “ah” was already understood and supplied by the reader.
To me this further proves the “Yah-u” pronunciation without a hard H. For when you pronounce “ah-oo” very quickly, it almost resembles an “oh” sound. Perhaps that is why we have “Yau-el” developing into “Yo-el.”
In those cases, the Masorites could have placed a vowel point under the י to indicate the “ah” sound and vowel pointed the ו to produce an “oo” sound. Possibly the Masorites, just as they improperly vowel pointed the Messiah’s name as “Yeho-shua,” didn’t vowel point those names properly to avoid accidental pronunciation of the Heavenly Father’s name, Yahweh."