Is it right to use the name Jesus? Some people, including ourselves, desiring to walk in truth have been
studying the Hebraic Roots of their
Christian faith, and have realised that many celebrations and festivals have pagan origins (see our articles
on Christmas and Easter). Because of this they sincerely seek to find out if anything else of paganity is
within their faith. The name Jesus comes into question. "Is this the correct name for our Saviour?"
they ask, and quickly begin to realise that the name Jesus stems from Greek.
Some have gone so far as to say, simply because the name Jesus sounds similar, that the name
of Jesus sprung from the name of the god Zeus, and they wrongfully assume that when we say Je-sus we are saying
"Hail Zeus".
How strange that people tie together two completely different words in two different languages just because
they sound similar! We don't usually assume that two similar sounding words from two languages sounding the
same have the same meaning! For example, the word "Cochon" in French sounds the same as our word cushion,
but far from meaning a bag of cloth stuffed with a mass of soft material,
"Cochon" in French means pig!
Also, some think that the change of the name Yahshua to Jesus was a conspiracy to
change the name of
our Messiah, but the name Yeshua or Jesus was written in the Septuagint as Iesous long before Yahshua was born.
Have these
people grounds for their beliefs about this?
A little study of the progression of the Name Yahshua/Yeshua,
the name of our Saviour in its original language
Hebrew, to the name Jesus mostly used in the West, quickly dispels these erroneous beliefs, and assures
us that there is nothing at all wrong with using the name Jesus when addressing our Saviour. Those who state
blindly that Jesus is a form of Zeus clearly have not studied the Greek text.
The preference which many believers have in using the name Yahshua/Yeshua is an entirely voluntary thing, and
also not to be scorned or found fault with. Yahshua/Jesus loves His people, whichever name they give Him.
He looks on the heart, and enjoys our worship using either of these names.
How can I substantiate these conclusions? Here, I will give a step by step progression of how the Hebrew name
Yahshua/Yeshua became Jesus in English.
How "Yahshua/Yeshua became Jesus."
1. The name Jesus is a transliteration of the Greek name, Iesous, which is the transliteration of the Hebrew/Aramaic
name, Yeshua.
2. How did Yahshua become Iesous? Let us first split up the name. Y = Ie, sh = s, ua = ou. The Ie represents the
y sound, the s represents the sh sound, and the ou represents the ua sound. Then an 's' is added
to make the name masculine in Greek. So, the Name Yahshua in Hebrew, became Iesous in Greek. Nothing there to suggest
the name of an idol.
3. The closest you could spell Yahshua in Greek would be Iesous.
4. If you transliterate the name Yahshua (Hebrew) straight into English you would arrive at Joshua. If you
transliterate the name Iesous from Greek to English you get Jesus. The names Joshua and Jesus in English are
essentially the same.
The name Iesous was used in Greek, Latin and English until the 17th Century, when the letter 'I' was replaced
in English by the letter 'J' when used as a consonant. Thus the name of our Saviour became Jesus.
There is no scholarly connection between the name Zeus, which is the name of a false
god, with the name Jesus. If you would like further evidence, and to hear a very enlightening study on the
subject, follow this link.