- there are 70 faces to 
Why Only Yeshua, Yehoshua, or Jesus? Why Not Say the Name?
Jul 5, 2020 16:32:42 GMT -8
garrett likes this
Post by alon on Jul 5, 2020 16:32:42 GMT -8
Why do We Accept Only Yeshua or Yehoshua as the Hebrew Name for Jesus? And why not say the Name of God?
From the Rules:
9.Please note that it is not permitted on this forum to attempt to spell out the sacred personal name of Adonai or teach people "Sacred Name" theology:
10. Also, the Hebrew name of the Messiah should be spelled "Yeshua" or the possible variant of "Yehoshua". Any "Sacred Name" variations that find no authenticity in the scriptures or in history should not be used. Although we should ideally use the name "Yeshua"...the use of the name "Jesus" is permissable.
So why is it we do not allow Sacred Names theologies, and only the variants “Yeshua, Yehoshua, and Jesus” here? Is this just arbitrary, or is there some reason? Well, the preference for Yeshua and Jesus may be somewhat arbitrary, although those proponents of Yehoshua do seem at times to be about one step away from falling into the Sacred Names trap. But there is sound reasoning behind only allowing those three variants on the name of Yeshua. And as we’ll necessarily start with the Name of God we’ll see why we do not speak, or write the Name as it would sound when spoken.
The Covenant Name of the Most High has always been revered in Judaism. We do not know how much it might have been spoken by the common man at different times in history, but at some point the correct pronunciation was lost altogether.
“The avoidance to saying the name YHVH is generally ascribed to a sense of reverence. More precisely, it was caused by a misunderstanding of the Third Commandment (Ex. 20:7; Deut. 5:11) as meaning ‘ Thou shalt not take the name of YHVH thy God in vain,’ whereas it really means ‘You shall not swear falsely by the name of YHVH thy God’ (JPS)” (Matthew Suriano, Hebrew/Bible scholar writing in the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics)
This was taken to extremes by the Rabbonim of the 2nd-4th centuries CE who made their own traditions, effectively making a distinct religion which only marginally resembled the Judaism of the 1st cen CE and before. These rabbi’s placed many fences around Torah so as to avoid the possibility of transgression- to the point the new restrictions also became ‘law,’ and we often end up with fences around the fences. They understood the Name could be said in the wrong way, so the fence was to not say the name at all, preferring instead to substitute names for The Name; and then the fence on the fence was to say another substitution, which had the effect of further obscuring the Name. Masoretic tradition and others already intentionally obscured pronunciation of the Name, and many different substitutes were formulated for use instead of (mis)pronouncing YHVH: HaShem; HaKadosh Baruch Hur (Holy One, Blessed be He); Adonai; etc. That not being enough, substitutes for the substitutes were sometimes used, usually taking only the first and last letters (G-d) or even just taking one middle letter (EloKim) of the substitute to represent the Name יהוה YHVH.
Now we start to come to the crux of the problem with Sacred Names interpolations. Speculation about the Name of God after it is no longer pronounced leads some to associate it with mysticism and magic. The mystery surrounding the “Name above all names” leads to beliefs in its magical powers. We find this in Zohar, Kabbalah, Merkabah mysticism, antinomian Sabbateanism, and other esoteric knowledge. This is all very similar to what is found in paganism.
Here is a very telling early medieval Jewish polemic text and how Yeshua was seen by the Rabbonim:
“After king Jannaeus, his wife Helene [Salome Alexandria, reignes 76-67 BCE] ruled over all Israel. In the Temple was found to be the Foundation Stone on which were engraven the letters of God’s ineffable (unpronounceable) Name. Whoever learned the secret of the Name and its use would be able to do whatever he wished. Therefore, the sages took measures so that no one should gain this knowledge. Lions of brass were bound to two iron pillars at the gate of the place of burnt offerings. Should anyone enter and learn the Name, when he left the lions would roar at him and immediately the valuable secret would be forgotten.”
“Yeshu came and learned the letters of the Name; he wrote them on a parchment which he placed in an open cut on his thigh and then drew the flesh over the parchment. As he left the lions roared and he forgot the secret. But when he came to his house, he reopened the cut in his flesh with a knife and lifted out the writing. Then he remembered and obtained the use of the letters. The insurgents with him replied that if Yeshu was the Messiah he should give them a convincing sign. They terefore brought him a lame man who had never walked. Yeshu spoke over the man the letters of the ineffable Name, and the leper was healed. Thereupon they worshiped him as the Messiah, Son of the Highest.” (Toldot Yeshu, the Generations or Origins of Jesus)
Not sure why the discrepancy where they brought Him a lame man but He healed a leper.
It should be noted that Yeshu was used as a diminutive epithet for Yeshua, found on at least one ossuary, and is the contemporary name for Yeshua ha'Notzri in Israel. But it was also used as a slanderous name by the rabbis using the formula (ימח שמו וזכרו(נו (Y'mach Sh'mo V'Zichro(no)), meaning "may his name and memory be obliterated." So we do not use this name here either. But the rabbonim accept Yeshua’s ability to perform miracles, and they offer an explanation for this. However, even more noteworthy is the fact this explanation relies on a belief in the magical properties of the Name of God, and the ability to correctly pronounce the Name, which is a closely held secret. Now, our Elohim is very open, and commands us not to be part of any secret societies:
Amos 3:7 ESV “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
1 John 1:5 ESV This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
“No darkness,” no hidden magical/mystical formulae that would allow us to do as we wish. No “secret” powers in abstruse pronunciations. Only His Name, and its meaning which we can uncover through study; the only power being our trust in the One to whom the Name refers:
Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
If HaShem had lions about, this is what they'd roar!
Be aware, it is witchcraft and other demonic rituals that seek old, secret knowledge in order to impose your will on others, events, and ostensibly upon the servants of the Most High God Himself. Any participation with this secretive “magic,” even the beliefs in the magical powers of the Name of God (magic is magic, and it is proscribed) may open you up to the authority of the demonic forces associated with magic, its rituals and formulae. You place yourself under their authority by your participation.
Now let’s move on to how Christianity looks at the Name of God. In the 2nd to 4th centuries CE Christianity is starting to take on cohesive form, moving towards the universal (catholic) church and Roman Christianity. We get a “New Testament,” held to be different than the Old Testament. Covenants are replaced by a legalistic system of "testaments" (testament is a legal term, as in a 'Last Will and Testament'). This includes a seemingly different God, One who is God of a different people (Gentiles). This is all taking place around the same time as the rabbonim gain control of Judaism. Jews and Christians are both making substitutions for the Name. “The Lord” in English Bible translations is only a “nomina sacra” translational substitute for the Name of God, not a translation of the Name itself. This again results in a loss of meaning. How then is the Name of God treated in New Testament Christian writings? Our texts today use kyrios (as in the LXX).
ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 22:36 Διδάσκαλε, ποία ἐντολὴ μεγάλη ἐν τῷ νόμῳ; ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτῷ· Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου·
Matthew 22:36-37 (NASB) “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”
The Hebrew equivalent is found in Deyteronomy 6:5, read today as Adonai Elohecha:
Devarim 6:5 (WLC) וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
The name Yeshua is treated somewhat ambivalently, however. ישוע Yeshua, meaning “salvation” occurs 29 times in the TNK. It is short for יהושע Yehoshua, Joshua, meaning “YHVH is salvation.”
In the Hellenistic period, Greek sources transliterate, or Hellinize יהושע Yehoshua and ישוע Yeshua both as Ἰησοῦς Iēsous, “Yeshua, Jesus, Joshua.”
Numbers 11:28 (LXX) καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυὴ ὁ παρεστηκὼς Μωυσῇ, ὁ ἐκλεκτός, εἶπε· κύριε Μωυσῆ, κώλυσον αὐτούς.
Numbers 11:28 (ESV) And Joshua Ιησοῦς the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.”
Just one place where the name Ἰησοῦς Iēsous was given:
ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 1:1 (TR1550) βιβλος γενεσεως ιησου χριστου υιου δαβιδ υιου αβρααμ
Matthew 1:1 (ESV) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
The name of Yeshua/Joshua/Jesus written in Greek is ιησου Iēsous. So in the source texts the only meanings can be one (or all) of those three. The Hebrew name ישוע Yeshua (GK Ιησοῦς) was very common among Jews of the Second Temple period as attested on Hebrew inscriptions on ossuaries of the time. When however we only use the name Jesus, we miss the meaning of salvation. But knowing Iēsous, transliterated Jesus in our Bibles is Greek for both Yeshua and Yehoshua gives us this meaning. This is why we accept those names for HaMoshiach- Jesus, possibly Yehoshua, and preferably Yeshua.
Why not other variants?
Christian tradition has many secret societies of its own: Jesuits, Freemasons (who use many rituals right out of witchcraft), and others. But one of the most pervasive today is (sadly) shared with, and even more prevalent in Messianism. And that is the Sacred Names movement. All of its many, many sub-groups claim to know the true pronunciation of both the (at least today) unknowable Name of God, as well as the very knowable, but to them very different name of our Moshiach. The most common pronunciation for the Name of God is “Yaweh.” I would hasten to point out that being common does not make it right, nor excuse its use knowing there is every possibility, even the outright probability this is wrong. So too are others, such as the Jehova’s witnesses who, as their name would suggest prefer the name Jehovah, with a hard “J.” Another popular variant in Messianic circles is the name Jehovah with the Germanic “J,” said like a “Y.” This is the one I used for years, however now after studying the subject whenever I need to use the Name itself, I simply spell it out: יהוה, YHVH, or yud heh vav heh (the letter “heh” is pronounced “hey”). Of course the Sacred Namers can come up with other variations, but most I’ve known stick close to these. [Note I give these variants for instructional purposes only, and I decline to say how or where the accented syllables are.]
Sacred Namers will however spend literally hours trying to teach you just how to get every nuance of their own preferred variation of the pronunciation correct. And even more time teaching their ridiculous variations on the name Yeshua. Because, you see, these give special access to the Deity in prayer. Your prayers won’t be answered unless you get the Names right, starting with salvation. You cannot even be saved unless you say the Names of God and Yeshua perfectly, as only they know how. And so while they won’t admit it, they are into Christian/Messianic mysticism, ascribing special powers to knowing the correct pronunciation of Names, especially that of Yeshua with their secret, magical variant.
One theory they assert is the name was not ישוע Yeshua, but יהשוח Yahshuah or יהשוע Yehushua; or some other concocted variant not found in scripture in any source documents available today, nor in historical documents indicating there ever were such scriptural texts. There is also no linguistic evidence of the existence of these terms. However they argue Yeshua’s name must contain the mystical meaning of the Name of God for Him to fulfill His destiny as ha’moshiach, the anointed one of God. So the name יהשוע Yehushua or the variant יהשו Yahshuah is presumably a combination of יה Yah and שוח shuah (or שו shua; note the extra letters). יהשו Yahshuah comes from 16th cen Renaissance occultism. Contemporary use is qualified to be more plausible from a Hebraic standpoint, ending in ע ayin. And presumably the name יהושוע Yehushua alludes to the name Yehoshua/Joshua. However Yehushua is not found in any ancient sources we have with us today.
The Sacred Namers do (of course) have a supposed scriptural basis for their views:
John 5:43a (ESV) I have come in my Father's name, …
They say this means Messiah’s own name has to include at least part of YHVH, however that is not the meaning of “in someone’s name.” This is an idiom in both Hebrew and English for “in someone’s authority.” And as we said previously, Yehoshua already associates with YHVH. Sacred Name proponents claim “Jesus” and “Yeshua” are empty (i.e. meaningless) names; however we have only to trace these back to the meaning in the original Hebrew, which is easily done, and we get the full meaning of these names; “salvation.”
Acts 4:10-12 (ESV) let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This One is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Yeshua, Jesus, or if you prefer Yehoshua, and none other. He knows who you mean, and will hear your prayer. But our God has no part in magic or mysticism, and I have to believe when His Name is put to such use He must take particular offense. He freely gives both salvation and knowledge to those who truly seek His face, to walk with Him as did Adam in the Garden. A relationship with our Elohim does not require “magic”; in fact, magic is to those seeking God proscribed, forbidden.
Out of respect, we do not try to pronounce the Name יהוה, preferring instead to do as both later Jews and Christians did and substitute apropriate terms for the Name of the Most High. And we use only the names with solid, textual backing for our Messiah- Yeshua, Yehoshua, or Jesus. And teaching others how to say any of these Names or using some made up variant is strictly forbidden.
In Yeshua,
Dan C
Mekarot: I must give credit to Dr Yeshua Gruber of the Israel Bible Center for much of this information. The rest is from my notes from independent studies and personal contact with many of the groups mentioned, including several Sacred Names groups. Fortunately I never fell into their perverse system of beliefs, baruch HaShem!
From the Rules:
9.Please note that it is not permitted on this forum to attempt to spell out the sacred personal name of Adonai or teach people "Sacred Name" theology:
10. Also, the Hebrew name of the Messiah should be spelled "Yeshua" or the possible variant of "Yehoshua". Any "Sacred Name" variations that find no authenticity in the scriptures or in history should not be used. Although we should ideally use the name "Yeshua"...the use of the name "Jesus" is permissable.
So why is it we do not allow Sacred Names theologies, and only the variants “Yeshua, Yehoshua, and Jesus” here? Is this just arbitrary, or is there some reason? Well, the preference for Yeshua and Jesus may be somewhat arbitrary, although those proponents of Yehoshua do seem at times to be about one step away from falling into the Sacred Names trap. But there is sound reasoning behind only allowing those three variants on the name of Yeshua. And as we’ll necessarily start with the Name of God we’ll see why we do not speak, or write the Name as it would sound when spoken.
The Covenant Name of the Most High has always been revered in Judaism. We do not know how much it might have been spoken by the common man at different times in history, but at some point the correct pronunciation was lost altogether.
“The avoidance to saying the name YHVH is generally ascribed to a sense of reverence. More precisely, it was caused by a misunderstanding of the Third Commandment (Ex. 20:7; Deut. 5:11) as meaning ‘ Thou shalt not take the name of YHVH thy God in vain,’ whereas it really means ‘You shall not swear falsely by the name of YHVH thy God’ (JPS)” (Matthew Suriano, Hebrew/Bible scholar writing in the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics)
This was taken to extremes by the Rabbonim of the 2nd-4th centuries CE who made their own traditions, effectively making a distinct religion which only marginally resembled the Judaism of the 1st cen CE and before. These rabbi’s placed many fences around Torah so as to avoid the possibility of transgression- to the point the new restrictions also became ‘law,’ and we often end up with fences around the fences. They understood the Name could be said in the wrong way, so the fence was to not say the name at all, preferring instead to substitute names for The Name; and then the fence on the fence was to say another substitution, which had the effect of further obscuring the Name. Masoretic tradition and others already intentionally obscured pronunciation of the Name, and many different substitutes were formulated for use instead of (mis)pronouncing YHVH: HaShem; HaKadosh Baruch Hur (Holy One, Blessed be He); Adonai; etc. That not being enough, substitutes for the substitutes were sometimes used, usually taking only the first and last letters (G-d) or even just taking one middle letter (EloKim) of the substitute to represent the Name יהוה YHVH.
Now we start to come to the crux of the problem with Sacred Names interpolations. Speculation about the Name of God after it is no longer pronounced leads some to associate it with mysticism and magic. The mystery surrounding the “Name above all names” leads to beliefs in its magical powers. We find this in Zohar, Kabbalah, Merkabah mysticism, antinomian Sabbateanism, and other esoteric knowledge. This is all very similar to what is found in paganism.
Here is a very telling early medieval Jewish polemic text and how Yeshua was seen by the Rabbonim:
“After king Jannaeus, his wife Helene [Salome Alexandria, reignes 76-67 BCE] ruled over all Israel. In the Temple was found to be the Foundation Stone on which were engraven the letters of God’s ineffable (unpronounceable) Name. Whoever learned the secret of the Name and its use would be able to do whatever he wished. Therefore, the sages took measures so that no one should gain this knowledge. Lions of brass were bound to two iron pillars at the gate of the place of burnt offerings. Should anyone enter and learn the Name, when he left the lions would roar at him and immediately the valuable secret would be forgotten.”
“Yeshu came and learned the letters of the Name; he wrote them on a parchment which he placed in an open cut on his thigh and then drew the flesh over the parchment. As he left the lions roared and he forgot the secret. But when he came to his house, he reopened the cut in his flesh with a knife and lifted out the writing. Then he remembered and obtained the use of the letters. The insurgents with him replied that if Yeshu was the Messiah he should give them a convincing sign. They terefore brought him a lame man who had never walked. Yeshu spoke over the man the letters of the ineffable Name, and the leper was healed. Thereupon they worshiped him as the Messiah, Son of the Highest.” (Toldot Yeshu, the Generations or Origins of Jesus)
Not sure why the discrepancy where they brought Him a lame man but He healed a leper.
It should be noted that Yeshu was used as a diminutive epithet for Yeshua, found on at least one ossuary, and is the contemporary name for Yeshua ha'Notzri in Israel. But it was also used as a slanderous name by the rabbis using the formula (ימח שמו וזכרו(נו (Y'mach Sh'mo V'Zichro(no)), meaning "may his name and memory be obliterated." So we do not use this name here either. But the rabbonim accept Yeshua’s ability to perform miracles, and they offer an explanation for this. However, even more noteworthy is the fact this explanation relies on a belief in the magical properties of the Name of God, and the ability to correctly pronounce the Name, which is a closely held secret. Now, our Elohim is very open, and commands us not to be part of any secret societies:
Amos 3:7 ESV “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
1 John 1:5 ESV This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
“No darkness,” no hidden magical/mystical formulae that would allow us to do as we wish. No “secret” powers in abstruse pronunciations. Only His Name, and its meaning which we can uncover through study; the only power being our trust in the One to whom the Name refers:
Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
If HaShem had lions about, this is what they'd roar!
Be aware, it is witchcraft and other demonic rituals that seek old, secret knowledge in order to impose your will on others, events, and ostensibly upon the servants of the Most High God Himself. Any participation with this secretive “magic,” even the beliefs in the magical powers of the Name of God (magic is magic, and it is proscribed) may open you up to the authority of the demonic forces associated with magic, its rituals and formulae. You place yourself under their authority by your participation.
Now let’s move on to how Christianity looks at the Name of God. In the 2nd to 4th centuries CE Christianity is starting to take on cohesive form, moving towards the universal (catholic) church and Roman Christianity. We get a “New Testament,” held to be different than the Old Testament. Covenants are replaced by a legalistic system of "testaments" (testament is a legal term, as in a 'Last Will and Testament'). This includes a seemingly different God, One who is God of a different people (Gentiles). This is all taking place around the same time as the rabbonim gain control of Judaism. Jews and Christians are both making substitutions for the Name. “The Lord” in English Bible translations is only a “nomina sacra” translational substitute for the Name of God, not a translation of the Name itself. This again results in a loss of meaning. How then is the Name of God treated in New Testament Christian writings? Our texts today use kyrios (as in the LXX).
ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 22:36 Διδάσκαλε, ποία ἐντολὴ μεγάλη ἐν τῷ νόμῳ; ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτῷ· Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου·
Matthew 22:36-37 (NASB) “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”
The Hebrew equivalent is found in Deyteronomy 6:5, read today as Adonai Elohecha:
Devarim 6:5 (WLC) וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
The name Yeshua is treated somewhat ambivalently, however. ישוע Yeshua, meaning “salvation” occurs 29 times in the TNK. It is short for יהושע Yehoshua, Joshua, meaning “YHVH is salvation.”
In the Hellenistic period, Greek sources transliterate, or Hellinize יהושע Yehoshua and ישוע Yeshua both as Ἰησοῦς Iēsous, “Yeshua, Jesus, Joshua.”
Numbers 11:28 (LXX) καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυὴ ὁ παρεστηκὼς Μωυσῇ, ὁ ἐκλεκτός, εἶπε· κύριε Μωυσῆ, κώλυσον αὐτούς.
Numbers 11:28 (ESV) And Joshua Ιησοῦς the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.”
Just one place where the name Ἰησοῦς Iēsous was given:
ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 1:1 (TR1550) βιβλος γενεσεως ιησου χριστου υιου δαβιδ υιου αβρααμ
Matthew 1:1 (ESV) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
The name of Yeshua/Joshua/Jesus written in Greek is ιησου Iēsous. So in the source texts the only meanings can be one (or all) of those three. The Hebrew name ישוע Yeshua (GK Ιησοῦς) was very common among Jews of the Second Temple period as attested on Hebrew inscriptions on ossuaries of the time. When however we only use the name Jesus, we miss the meaning of salvation. But knowing Iēsous, transliterated Jesus in our Bibles is Greek for both Yeshua and Yehoshua gives us this meaning. This is why we accept those names for HaMoshiach- Jesus, possibly Yehoshua, and preferably Yeshua.
Why not other variants?
Christian tradition has many secret societies of its own: Jesuits, Freemasons (who use many rituals right out of witchcraft), and others. But one of the most pervasive today is (sadly) shared with, and even more prevalent in Messianism. And that is the Sacred Names movement. All of its many, many sub-groups claim to know the true pronunciation of both the (at least today) unknowable Name of God, as well as the very knowable, but to them very different name of our Moshiach. The most common pronunciation for the Name of God is “Yaweh.” I would hasten to point out that being common does not make it right, nor excuse its use knowing there is every possibility, even the outright probability this is wrong. So too are others, such as the Jehova’s witnesses who, as their name would suggest prefer the name Jehovah, with a hard “J.” Another popular variant in Messianic circles is the name Jehovah with the Germanic “J,” said like a “Y.” This is the one I used for years, however now after studying the subject whenever I need to use the Name itself, I simply spell it out: יהוה, YHVH, or yud heh vav heh (the letter “heh” is pronounced “hey”). Of course the Sacred Namers can come up with other variations, but most I’ve known stick close to these. [Note I give these variants for instructional purposes only, and I decline to say how or where the accented syllables are.]
Sacred Namers will however spend literally hours trying to teach you just how to get every nuance of their own preferred variation of the pronunciation correct. And even more time teaching their ridiculous variations on the name Yeshua. Because, you see, these give special access to the Deity in prayer. Your prayers won’t be answered unless you get the Names right, starting with salvation. You cannot even be saved unless you say the Names of God and Yeshua perfectly, as only they know how. And so while they won’t admit it, they are into Christian/Messianic mysticism, ascribing special powers to knowing the correct pronunciation of Names, especially that of Yeshua with their secret, magical variant.
One theory they assert is the name was not ישוע Yeshua, but יהשוח Yahshuah or יהשוע Yehushua; or some other concocted variant not found in scripture in any source documents available today, nor in historical documents indicating there ever were such scriptural texts. There is also no linguistic evidence of the existence of these terms. However they argue Yeshua’s name must contain the mystical meaning of the Name of God for Him to fulfill His destiny as ha’moshiach, the anointed one of God. So the name יהשוע Yehushua or the variant יהשו Yahshuah is presumably a combination of יה Yah and שוח shuah (or שו shua; note the extra letters). יהשו Yahshuah comes from 16th cen Renaissance occultism. Contemporary use is qualified to be more plausible from a Hebraic standpoint, ending in ע ayin. And presumably the name יהושוע Yehushua alludes to the name Yehoshua/Joshua. However Yehushua is not found in any ancient sources we have with us today.
The Sacred Namers do (of course) have a supposed scriptural basis for their views:
John 5:43a (ESV) I have come in my Father's name, …
They say this means Messiah’s own name has to include at least part of YHVH, however that is not the meaning of “in someone’s name.” This is an idiom in both Hebrew and English for “in someone’s authority.” And as we said previously, Yehoshua already associates with YHVH. Sacred Name proponents claim “Jesus” and “Yeshua” are empty (i.e. meaningless) names; however we have only to trace these back to the meaning in the original Hebrew, which is easily done, and we get the full meaning of these names; “salvation.”
Acts 4:10-12 (ESV) let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This One is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Yeshua, Jesus, or if you prefer Yehoshua, and none other. He knows who you mean, and will hear your prayer. But our God has no part in magic or mysticism, and I have to believe when His Name is put to such use He must take particular offense. He freely gives both salvation and knowledge to those who truly seek His face, to walk with Him as did Adam in the Garden. A relationship with our Elohim does not require “magic”; in fact, magic is to those seeking God proscribed, forbidden.
Out of respect, we do not try to pronounce the Name יהוה, preferring instead to do as both later Jews and Christians did and substitute apropriate terms for the Name of the Most High. And we use only the names with solid, textual backing for our Messiah- Yeshua, Yehoshua, or Jesus. And teaching others how to say any of these Names or using some made up variant is strictly forbidden.
In Yeshua,
Dan C
Mekarot: I must give credit to Dr Yeshua Gruber of the Israel Bible Center for much of this information. The rest is from my notes from independent studies and personal contact with many of the groups mentioned, including several Sacred Names groups. Fortunately I never fell into their perverse system of beliefs, baruch HaShem!
