http://www.eliyah.com/yahushua.html
Why Yahushua?
(Latest update 2/14/17)
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" (photo). 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?"
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 .
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 and wasn't a form invented by apostate Christians who wanted to honor Zeus/dzyooce in some way.
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GOD JESUS SAVIOR