If Jesus was a Jew, why did he have a non-Jewish name?
Virtually no sane person today would dispute the historicity of the person of Jesus. There are simply too many historical witnesses to do so. The fact that Jesus was a Jew is no longer a secret either. Surely there are still some savages who, wanting to defend the dignity of «their Jesus» from such an «insult», would even get into a fight. But let me ask you, who could be the man who was born and lived a purely Jewish life in ancient Israel? Russian? Ukrainian? French? German?
Well, no. Even orthodox Jews today recognize him as one of the greatest Jews of all time. In 2015, dozens of rabbis signed a declaration (read the original here) which states, among other things
«Rabbi Jacob Emden wrote that «...he [Jesus] exalted the Torah of Moses majestically ... and spoke more forcefully about the immutability of the Torah than all our sages.».
Pinchas Lapid, back in 1976, wrote the following in his book «Jesus in Conflict»
«Rabbi Jacob Emden wrote that «...he [Jesus] exalted the Torah of Moses majestically ... and spoke more forcefully about the immutability of the Torah than all our sages.».
So why is he Jesus and not Izzy, Yasha or at least Misha?
Exactly! And what Jews, except «Russians», call their daughters Mary, as the name of Jesus« mother? And in general, where in ancient Israel he found all these guys with Russian names, who became his disciples: Peter, Ivan/John, Matthew, Paul, etc.? Usually, by the way, it is somehow intuitively clear to everyone that Judas Iscariot was »certainly a Jew". But what does that have to do with everyone else?
Well, Jesus' father-in-law from Jewish history - Joshua, who lived 1500 years B.C. - will help us to understand. In the Jewish Tanakh (an acronym from Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuyim) there is a whole book dedicated to this hero. This is the second leader after Moshe (Moses) of the recently liberated Israel from Egyptian slavery. Since the ancient book of Joshua was written entirely in Hebrew it is worth recording that in the original he is not Joshua at all, but Yehoshua/יהשׁוע ben Nun, that is, YehOshua, son of Noon.
Incidentally, it is Hebrew names that archaeologists recognize by the name of the G-d of Israel (יהוה) often inserted in them. Characteristically, if a divine syllable is inserted at the beginning of a human name, it is usually a Yo- or Yeho- (as in the name of a Jewish king) Yehоshafat/יהושׁפט of 3.Samuel 22:42) and if at the end, then. -Yave or -Yahoo (as in the name of the Hebrew prophet Yesha).yahу/ישׁעיהו, Isaiah 1:1, or in the well-known surname Netanusyahу = given by G-d).
In the Hebrew name. Yehоshua is observed on the floor of the speaker. «Yeho-» is the name of God, and «-shua» means «salvation» (from the Hebrew word for Yeshua/ישׁוע). That is, the Hebrew name Ye.hoshua means «G-d saves» or «G-d saves». The shortened form of this name (Yeshua/ישׁוע) we find n.p. in the book of Ezra-Nehemiah (Ezra 2:2, 6, 36, 40, etc.).
But what does «Jesus» have to do with it?
Very simple. When in the middle of the third century B.C. Jewish sages translated the Holy Scriptures into Greek (the so-called Septuagint), which served as the international language of the time, all the names, which are usually not translated but transliterated (written in letters and corresponding sounds available in the target language), were rewritten in Greek. And since there are no «y» or «sh» sounds in the Greek language, then accordingly from Yehoshafat was “Jehoshaphat” (Ιωσαφατ), from Yeshaya.hΗσαιας, and from Ye.hoshua - Jessus (Ἰησοῦς). The Russian language has almost literally adopted the Greek transliteration: Jehoshaphat, Isaiah, and Jesus.
So what-is it, then, that «Jesus» is a Hebrew name?
Exactly! In the original, it's Yehoshua or Yeshua, for short. It can even be argued that the name Jesus was popular in ancient Israel (over two hundred uses in the Tanakh) and periodically pops up among modern Jewish names today.
The same can be said for all the other names in the Hebrew classic, the New Testament:
- «Maria» was actually the name Miriam («Maria Magdalena» appropriately - Miriam of Magdala)
- «Ivan/Joan» is actually Yohanan (which means «G-d is merciful»)
- «Matthew was Matityahu («Gift of G-d»)
- Paul's name was actually Shaul, but he also had a Greek name, Paulos.
- Well, «Peter» was a simple Jewish fisherman. Shimon, to whom Joshua gave an Aramaic nickname Kefa («stone»), which in Greek would be «Petros.». That's what «Peter» is.
- «Judah» was a Jew with a great name Yehuda («verbiage/glorification»), whose name proved more beautiful than his despicable character. «Iscariot» is from the Hebrew «isch kariot», that is, «a man from (the village of) Kariot».
Anyway, it turns out that Jesus is just a Jewish name!
What about his last name, «Christ»?
