# yehōshu'a



## Videolife

...or Yeshua, which is Jesus' name in Hebrew. My questions:

1) What does the full name mean?

2) Does the above name (or *any *Hebrew translational of the above name) have the number one (1) in it?

Thanks.


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## origumi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshua_(name)#Etymology

What do you mean by "number one" in the name? We usually write Hebrew with letters, not digits. The letter ו (waw) may appear in certain spelling and seem similar to Hindu-Arabic digit 1 . There's no א (Aleph), the first letter in the alphabet which may be interpreted as 1 (in "gimatria").


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## Videolife

Thank you for the reply, origumi.

In Ancient Aramaic, "Ea-shoa' M'shee-khah" (Or Jesus) means, "the  anointed One." And the word One ("Khah") is literally in the name. I  wondered if the same can be said for the Hebrew spelling of the name  Jesus.

Apparently (according to Wiki, anyway), Yeho is the name of God and Shua  means, "a cry for help." Is this true? If so, and if that is literally  all there is to the name Yeshua - no deeper explanation, then that would  answer my above question. What do you say?


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## origumi

Videolife said:


> In Ancient Aramaic, "Ea-shoa' M'shee-khah" (Or Jesus) means, "the  anointed One." And the word One ("Khah") is literally in the name. I  wondered if the same can be said for the Hebrew spelling of the name  Jesus.


Hebrew Yehoshua` יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, later shortened to Yeshua` יֵשׁוּעַ, later to Yeshu, is explained in the wiki entry mentioned above. The original Aramaic name was identical to the Hebrew one (as attested for example in the Peshitta =  Aramaic Bible of the Syriac people).

Aramaic Msheekha מְשִׁיחָא (no "h" at the end) is a cognate of Hebrew Hamashiakh הַמָּשִׁיחַ = the anointed one. The Hebrew prefix ha- = Aramaic suffix -a are a definite article (although it lost this meaning in many Aramaic dialects and just creates an alternative pronunciation/spelling for the word). I don't think that "kha" or "khah"  mean "one", Aramaic for one is "khad". But my Aramaic is anything but perfect so if you have a reference please post it.


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## arielipi

Yes, your question was answred, no need to further search, it merely means god [,i] cry/search/looking for help.


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## InfatigableLearner

Videolife said:


> 2) Does the above name (or *any *Hebrew translational of the above name) have the number one (1) in it?


 


Videolife said:


> In Ancient Aramaic, "Ea-shoa' M'shee-khah" (Or Jesus) means, "the anointed One." And the word One ("Khah") is literally in the name. I wondered if the same can be said for the Hebrew spelling of the name Jesus.


 
Videolife,

Just a few things. The “ancient Aramaic” you are speaking of is better spoken of as Syriac, an Aramaic dialect. The phrase you have mentioned is written in Syriac characters as ܝܶܫܽܘܥ ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ but in Aramaic characters as יֵשׁוּע מְשִׁיחָא. The Syriac may be found at Matthew 1:1 in the Peshitta whose text and vocalization is better transliterated as _Yeshu’ Meshicha_.

The word “one” in “the anointed one” (= _Meshicha_, מְשִׁיחָא) is not actually a “number” as you first asked. The word _Meshicha_ is an adjective which here is used as a substantive. Adjectives are words often used to describe nouns. So, for example, in English one says “good boy,” “old man,” etc. where “good” and “old” are adjectives. This kind of usage is called an attributive use. However, sometimes adjectives stand on their own and function as if they were nouns and this is called a substantive use. Thus in English one says “find me a good one” or “I found an old one.” In speaking of more than one thing, one says “find me some good ones” or “I found some good ones.” Here the word “one” is tacked on in English simply to make the adjective able to be used like a noun. In Hebrew and Aramaic, however, a substantive adjective does not require the word “one,” but rather is known by the surrounding context. Thus the word “one” is not found even in the Syriac word _Meshicha_. The word is an adjective meaning “anointed” being used substantively as a noun and thus needs _for English_ to have “one” added in. As for the name Yehoshua, Yeshu, etc., they are names and do not require “one” even in English since they are already proper nouns.

InfatigableLearner


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## Malki92

Videolife said:


> ...or Yeshua, which is Jesus' name in Hebrew. My questions:
> 
> 1) What does the full name mean?
> 
> 2) Does the above name (or *any *Hebrew translational of the above name) have the number one (1) in it?
> 
> Thanks.



Yeshua is the shortened form of the name Yehoshua. We can see this in the Tanakh, for example;

Ezra 3:2:
וַיָּקָם *יֵשׁוּעַ בֶּן־יֹֽוצָדָק* וְאֶחָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים וּזְרֻבָּבֶל בֶּן־שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל וְאֶחָיו וַיִּבְנוּ אֶת־מִזְבַּח אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהַעֲלֹות עָלָיו עֹלֹות כַּכָּתוּב בְּתֹורַת מֹשֶׁה אִישׁ־הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃

Zechariah 6:11:
וְלָקַחְתָּ כֶֽסֶף־וְזָהָב וְעָשִׂיתָ עֲטָרֹות וְשַׂמְתָּ בְּרֹאשׁ *יְהֹושֻׁעַ בֶּן־יְהֹוצָדָק* הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדֹֽול

So if you look at these in their own context, you'll see that it's speaking about the same exact high priest after the Babylonian exile. (Mentioned in Zechariah 3, as well) 

The name means: The Lord saves, and as has been pointed out there is nothing about "one" or such in the name.

On a side note: The name Yeshua was never shortened to Yeshu by anyone who respected the Christian figure Jesus/Yeshua. Yeshu (*ישו*) is actually an acronym for "(*י*מח *ש*מו *ו*זכרו(נו" which is a strong curse in the Hebrew language and shouldn't be used by anyone. If you go to any Christian community in Israel you'll notice that they call him Yeshua and not Yeshu, because of the reason I just gave.


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## Diadem

shaliach said:


> The name means: The Lord saves.



Show us how this is so by dissecting the word into parts in order to prove your assertion. Arielipi has stated otherwise. One of you or even both are wrong, but not both right.


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## Malki92

Diadem said:


> Show us how this is so by dissecting the word into parts in order to prove your assertion. Arielipi has stated otherwise. One of you or even both are wrong, but not both right.



Simply look up the name Joshua in any biblical lexicon or encyclopedia. If I understand the rules correctly, we can't quote extensively from other websites. So, just look it up and there really is no need to be contentious about it.


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## Diadem

shaliach said:


> Simply look up the name Joshua in any biblical lexicon or encyclopedia. If I understand the rules correctly, we can't quote extensively from other websites. So, just look it up and there really is no need to be contentious about it.



I'm not being contentious about it, so please stop being defensive. I'm simply asking you to dissect the word and show us how it means "the Lord is salvation." But, if all you are doing is trusting the word of "any biblical lexicon or encyclopedia," then simply nevermind. People actually come here for accurate information, so if you're going to make an assertion in a thread, please have the ability to prove whatever it is you're asserting.

airelipi is a native Hebrew speaker, and he wrote:



arielipi said:


> Yes, your question was answred, no need to further search, it merely means god [,i] cry/search/looking for help.



I don't think I'm the only one who wants to know which one of you two is correct. Is that too much to ask?


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## Malki92

Diadem said:


> I'm not being contentious about it, so please stop being defensive. I'm simply asking you to dissect the word and show us how it means "the Lord is salvation." But, if all you are doing is trusting the word of "any biblical lexicon or encyclopedia," then simply nevermind. People actually come here for accurate information, so if you're going to make an assertion in a thread, please have the ability to prove whatever it is you're asserting.
> 
> 
> airelipi is a native Hebrew speaker, and he wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think I'm the only one who wants to know which one of you two is correct. Is that too much to ask?


Diadem, 


Not too much to ask at all! ... The word Joshua, in Hebrew contains two words. First the shortened form of Adonai and the word for salvation coming from the root י ש ע: help, rescue, salvation and the like. Hence, the name means: The Lord [is] salvation, the Lord [is] help, and etc. 


Wikipedia says:


> Hebrew יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (yĕhôshúa‘, “Yahweh is salvation”).



One Jewish website says:


> Yehoshua means "God is salvation."...


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## Diadem

shaliach said:


> Diadem,
> 
> 
> Not too much to ask at all! ... The word Joshua, in Hebrew contains two words. First the shortened form of Adonai and the word for salvation coming from the root י ש ע: help, rescue, salvation and the like. Hence, the name means: The Lord [is] salvation, the Lord [is] help, and etc.
> 
> 
> Wikipedia says:
> 
> 
> One Jewish website says:



שׁוּעַ (_shu'a_): http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7769&t=KJV
It means "a cry (for help)."

So, _Yeho_ + _shua_ would mean "YHVH is a cry for help."

How do you get "YHVH is salvation" from that?


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## Malki92

Diadem,

First of all I think it's interesting that the same exact website you posted says exactly what I am saying about the name Joshua. (see here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H3091) Second, the whole concept of salvation has to do with helping/rescuing and I think you'd be surprised if you would actually look up the root for "salvation" and compare it to the root for "help", so just look up the root "י ש ע." Not only that, but I've already given you two sources to substantiate my definition, in addition to the website which you introduced and again I see absolutely no problem between help and salvation being interchangeable in this context.


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## Diadem

shaliach said:


> Diadem,
> 
> First of all I think it's interesting that the same exact website you posted says exactly what I am saying about the name Joshua.



Why would you consider that interesting? The citation from the Wikipedia article on "Joshua" is attributed to:



> _1. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament_ Francis Brown, with S.R. Driver and C.A. Briggs, *based on the lexicon of William Gesenius*. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 221 & 446



The www.blueletterbible.org uses Gesenius' lexicon as their lexical source for the Tanakh. 

I quote from their website,



> The lexicon image is a scanned copy of *Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testamament Scriptures by Wilhelm Gesenius *(often simply referred to as _Gesenius's Lexicon_). This version of _Gesenius's Lexicon_ was prepared by the Blue Letter Bible staff, from a public domain copy. The version of _Gesenius's Lexicon_ used on the site is the translated and edited by S. P. Tregelles in 1847, 1857. Tregelles also added notes enclosed in square brackets. The added notes are generally textually oriented, although some are theologically driven as Tregelles corrects Gesenius's rationalism. Tregelles made his own translation because the "rationalist views" of Gesenius appeared in Robinson's version unchecked and Tregelles also claims that Robinson's edition had the markings of "haste and oversight" (see the preface). More information on _Gesenius's Lexicon_ can be found here.



In other words, the men who wrote the Wikipedia article ultimately derived their information from Gesenius just like the BlueLetterBible website. Therefore, it's not a surprise or interesting in the least that both state the same thing.

Also, let's take a closer examination of this Wikipedia article. In it, it has the following passage:



> The English name Joshua is a rendering of the Hebrew language "*Yahoshua*", meaning "Yahweh is salvation".[6][7] The vocalization of the second name component may be read as Hoshea - the name used in the Torah before Moses added the divine name (Numbers 13:16).[8] "Jesus" is the English of the Greek transliteration of "*Yahoshua*" via Latin. In the Septuagint, all instances of the word "*Yahoshua*" are rendered as "Ἰησοῦς" (Iēsoūs), the closest Greek pronunciation of the Aramaic "Yeshua" (Hebrew word #3443 in Strong's, Nehemiah 8:17).[9][10] Thus in Greek Joshua is called "Jesus son of Nun" (τοῦ Ναυή) to differentiate him from Jesus Christ. This is also true in the Slavic languages following the Eastern Orthodox tradition (e.g. "Иисус Навин" (Iisús Navín) in Russian).



Yahoshua? Yahoshua?

That's not even a Jewish name. I'll just leave it at that.



shaliach said:


> Second, the whole concept of salvation has to do with helping/rescuing and I think you'd be surprised if you would actually look up the root for "salvation" and compare it to the root for "help", so just look up the root "י ש ע."



This is a non-sequitur. _Shua_ doesn't mean "salvation" or "help." It means "cry." Also, please answer this question: is the Pa'al binyan of יש״ע used in the Tanakh?



shaliach said:


> Not only that, but I've already given you two sources to substantiate my definition, in addition to the website which you introduced and again I see absolutely no problem between help and salvation being interchangeable in this context.



You've given me nothing scholarly...just a Wikipedia article obviously written by a Christian who doesn't know Hebrew, and a Jewish website which does not cite any information at all about the derivation of "Yehoshua." I can cite you just as many Jewish websites that argue that it does not mean "YHVH is salvation." Do you really want to play that game?


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## Malki92

Diadem,


Please don't be so presumptuous, that's not at all why I found it to be interesting. I found it interesting because your own source, which you appealed to, had you been consistent and appealed to the same exact source for the meaning of the name we're discussing would say exactly what I am saying. But, instead you're trying to say it's a faulty position which means you are appealing to a source that gives faulty definitions. Of course I don't agree with that, but that's the type of standard you're using here. If you were to look up the definition of Joshua on that website, which you appealed to, you would see that it says that it means "The Lord is salvation." Then you go on to attack straw men and respond to some Wikipedia article (which I didn't even quote) so, irrelevant. 


Let me just point out some more double standards here. If I quote from a source that cites Gesenius' lexicon then it's "non-scholarly" according to you. If I quote from a Jewish website (who obviously know Hebrew) then it's non-scholarly to you because they don't speak about the derivation of the name. But, on the other hand you can quote from a source that uses Gesenius' lexicon and the standard all of the sudden changes and it's  scholarly now? What changed? You initially appealed to the authority of arielipi and said since he's a native Hebrew speaker, let's trust him or that was at least implied. Though arielipi didn't "dissect" the word into parts, so according to your standard you should not accept arielipi's definition. (Because it's an exact parallel to me quoting that Jewish website, which you rejected because they didn't give any information about the derivation of the name "Yehoshua.") Of course I would reject such standards, but I'm trying to demonstrate a point.


You've made it an impossible task to quote you a "scholarly" anything because of the horrid double standards and you obviously reject the authority of lexicons or at least Gesenius' lexicon (which you appealed to, oddly enough) and then you reject Jews', who speak Hebrew, definition if they don't mention the derivation of the word as well. (Which you appealed to as well, oddly enough) and so we're left to playing games, which, unfortunately I must reject your kind offer. Though I do respect you and appreciate what you are _trying_ to say, I don't want to play games with you. 


For the sake of other's I will restate or clarify my position, but I will not be engaging Diadem any longer for the reasons I just gave.


1) I'm suggesting that the name Joshua means; The Lord [is] salvation, The Lord [is our] help, [whose] deliverance/help/salvation [is from] the Lord.[1][2][3][4][5][6]


2) I'm not suggesting that the meaning of the name is restricted to those definitions because I know the root of שוע is י - ש - ע  and could carry various meanings depending on it's context, but, overall it's always referring to the concept of crying for help, helping, saving, rescuing, redeeming and etc.[7]


3) I'm perfectly content with arielipi's or Diadem's definition(s) as being a possibility. 


[1] A Jewish website, www.Aish.com states that: _"Yehoshua means "*God is salvation*."..."_
[2] A general definition on Wikipedia, which cites an authoritative Hebrew lexicon (B-D-B based on the lexicon of William Gesenius (who, by the way, was a scholar in the field of Biblical criticism)) states that: "_Etymology ... Hebrew יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (yĕhôshúa‘, “*Yahweh is salvation*”)_..."
[3] Another Jewish website. www.Chabad.org states that: "_In 1312, he was one of the twelve spies dispatched by Moses to scout the Land of Canaan in preparation for its conquest by the Children of Israel; it was then that Moses added the letter yud to Hosea's name, changing it to *"Joshua" ("G-d will save")* as a prayer and empowerment that "G-d shall save you from the plot of he Spies."_"
[4] Numbers 13:16: אֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח מֹשֶׁה לָתוּר אֶת הָאָרֶץ וַיִּקְרָא מֹשֶׁה לְהוֹשֵׁעַ בִּן נוּן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ and Rashi commented: ויקרא משה להושע וגו': התפלל *עליו יה* *יושיעך* מעצת מרגלים: And in the English translation on Chabad.org it says; the verse: "These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout the Land, and Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. and Rashi commented: *And Moses called Hoshea*…: He prayed on his behalf,“*May God save you* from the counsel of the spies.” _*[The name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ is a compounded form of יוֹשִׁיע‏ ֲיָהּ, May God save you.]- [Sotah 34b]
*_[5] To quote the relevant portion of Sotah 34b, it says: ויקרא משה להושע בן נון יהושע *יה יושיעך* מעצת מרגלים והיינו דכתיב (במדבר יד) א and an online translation of the Talmud renders it as "And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun *Joshua  [meaning], **May Jah save thee [yoshi'aka]* from the plan of the spies.)" 
[6] The Britannica Online Encyclopedia; Encyclopaedia Britannica states that: "_Joshua, also spelled Josue, Hebrew Yehoshua (“*Yahweh is deliverance*”)_..."
[7] The online full version of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia for; salvation; discusses the etymological meanings of the root *י - ש -ע*.


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## arielipi

Again, while it is confusing, it merely means god i cry for help of yours.
Ye = god.
Shua = save.

The root is actually שו"ע not יש"ע.
the latter is salvation.
the former is cry for help.
And yes, im a native speaker, i think i know what it means.

Jehuda - ye-hu-dah means god, _ thank.
Joshua - ye-ho-shu-a' means god,  cry//[you] save._


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## JaiHare

The character in the Bible is called "Hoshea," and his name is later changed to "Yehoshua."

There are two things that we should note:

(1) There appears יהושיע (_yehoshia_) as a future form of the verb הושיע (_hoshia_), "he delivered," in the text of the Bible. יהושע (_yehoshua_) can be read as a name meaning "deliverance" (and, as noted, later shortened to ישוע [_yeshua_], meaning "deliverance," without the inserted heh). It's entirely possible that it is not יהו + שוע — that is, _yeho-_ (an abbreviated prefix of the name YHWH) plus _shua_ (shout, cry for help).

(2) The name of Jesus in Christian sources has always been preserved in Greek (and later in Latin). It is Ἰησοῦς. This could be a transliteration either of ישוע or of יהושע. Both are transliterated the same both in the Septuagint and in the New Testament. It's impossible to be sure what he was called, since all presumed Hebrew or Aramaic original texts are gone.


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## JaiHare

arielipi said:


> Again, while it is confusing, it merely means god i cry for help of yours.
> Ye = god.
> Shua = save.
> 
> The root is actually שו"ע not יש"ע.
> the latter is salvation.
> the former is cry for help.
> And yes, im a native speaker, i think i know what it means.
> 
> Jehuda - ye-hu-dah means god, _ thank.
> Joshua - ye-ho-shu-a' means god,  cry//[you] save._


_

This is not how the name has traditionally been viewed._


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## origumi

JaiHare said:


> This is not how the name has traditionally been viewed.


There are three roots with similar sound and close meaning: שעה, שוע, ישע. Naturally there may be several explanations to the name.


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## tirgumx

There is no way to "dissect" the name "יהושע" or any other biblical name, for that matter. Names are not words nor sentences, they have no subject nor statement. 

One might imagine and theorize such ideas, but they are not very much valid. It CAN be pointed out that the name "יהושע" contains the Name of God, and that it contains the ROOT י.ש.ע or ש.ו.ע ("kill me", but I'm not sure which one). 

A root however is NOT a word that can be used in a sentence, and sometimes may have many meanings (see the case of יוסף, אסף or יצחק regarding different meanings of roots in names, even if you do accept for some reason their etymologies as presented in the Bible). It can of course be understood with good chances that the name יהושע has something to do with salvation and may even directly mean "God is Salvation" as has been suggested here, but that suggestion is indeed merely a suggestion, a "hunch", unless backed up by serious linguistic research. Until then, it is merely religious wishes.


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## JaiHare

tirgumx said:


> There is no way to "dissect" the name "יהושע" or any other biblical name, for that matter. Names are not words nor sentences, they have no subject nor statement.
> 
> One might imagine and theorize such ideas, but they are not very much valid. It CAN be pointed out that the name "יהושע" contains the Name of God, and that it contains the ROOT י.ש.ע or ש.ו.ע ("kill me", but I'm not sure which one).
> 
> A root however is NOT a word that can be used in a sentence, and sometimes may have many meanings (see the case of יוסף, אסף or יצחק regarding different meanings of roots in names, even if you do accept for some reason their etymologies as presented in the Bible). It can of course be understood with good chances that the name יהושע has something to do with salvation and may even directly mean "God is Salvation" as has been suggested here, but that suggestion is indeed merely a suggestion, a "hunch", unless backed up by serious linguistic research. Until then, it is merely religious wishes.



Agreed.


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## arielipi

Names of yaakovs sons are shown to have reasons for their given names is just one example. People choose in hebrew names BECAUSE they have a meaning.


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