When it comes to words, I’m not perfect and all knowing, but I try to say them correctly. I have two names in particular that I’d like to address here; one being the name of God (יהוה), and the other His Son (ישוע).

ישוע


Let’s start off with the latter, the Son; aka Jesus in all English speaking parts of the world. First off, Jesus was a Jew in every way, shape and form. He was a Jewish boy so he would have had a Jewish name. Jesus is an Anglican name, not a Jewish name. Jesus, when He was here 2000 years ago was never addressed as “Jesus” but rather “Yeshua.” Some people have made a case for “Yehoshua” which in English is for Joshua and means “YHWH will save” (more on YHWH later), and in some very rare cases Yahushua. Jewish names carried meanings for what they hoped their child would be and Yeshua means “salvation” in Hebrew (
Matt 1:21And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (NKJV)
Matt 1:21 ). In my bible it has an alternate term for “Jesus” in Matt 1:21 which is “savior.” This makes perfect sense because it states His name and then is followed by the definition. For this reason Messianic Jews tend to use Yeshua far more often than Yehoshua (meaning “YHWH will save”). Here is a really good video that explains the differences very well ("Real Name of Jesus"), enjoy!

The story of how Yeshua became Jesus is very interesting. If this was a book, the back cover would have had a line like:

It is a spell binding story of one word crossing two languages and the linguistics that goes with each language.

Transliterate means that you take each sound of a word in its original language and give them the letter or letters in the target language that makes that sound. Sometimes you don’t have a letter(s) in your language that match the sound so you get as close as possible (which will change the sound of the name once it becomes part of the language) or you omit them completely. Transliterating Yeshua to Jesus is actually a double transliteration. Yeshua was transliterated from Hebrew/Aramaic to Greek, then the Greek was transliterated to English.

Another factor is that languages are always in the state of flux. Languages are constantly changing. Take English for an example. The King James Bible was first published in 1611, essentially 400 years ago.
  • There are many words that still exist but have completely different meanings. Take the word “suffer” in
    Matt 19:14But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (KJV)
    Matt 19:14 , “But Jesus said, Suffer little children…”
  • Some letters have changed how they are pronounced. We pronounce the letter “j” like in “jet” but 400 years ago it was pronounced like the “y” in “yellow.”
  • In many cases spelling has changed completely. Here is a verse most of us are very familiar with,
    John 3:16

    (1611 KJV)
    John 3:16 from the 1611 King James Bible “For God so loued þe world, that he gaue his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life.”
There are several explanations of how Yeshua became Jesus; ranging from simple to downright conspiracy theory. My belief is a simple transliteration theory. As I mentioned it is a double transliteration mixed with linguistics.

Let’s examine the first transliteration, Hebrew/Aramaic to Greek:


HebrewGreekComments
YeIeGreek has no "Y" sound so two sounds were combined to make a simular sound (saying it fast helps); iota sounds like "I" in "fit" and eta sounds like "e" in "fey"
shsoGreek has no "sh" sound so two letters were combined again to make a simular sound; sigma making an "s" sound and omicron sounding like "o" in "pot"
uuFinally a matching sound!
aThe last Hebrew letter is an 'ayin' (ע) which has no equivalent in any language so it was dropped which was a mistake since the "a" sound is from a vowel not the 'ayin'
sGreek generally add a "s" to denote males; which happened a lot with names in the bible when converted to Greek

Now let’s take a look at the transliteration from Greek to English:
GreekKJV EnglishComments
IIWhen transliterated to English the letter "I" sounded like the "y" in "yellow"
eeThis was a straight transliteration
ssThe sigma (Σ) is exactly like an English "s"
oThe "o" was dropped. I speculate that was because the KJV scholars knew the "o" in Greek was combined with the sigma to loosly give it an "sh" sound which wasn't correct
uuThe "u" was a straight transliteration
ssThe "s" was mistakenly transliterated

And the fun isn’t over because languages are always changing! Here is what time has done in just over 400 years:
KJV EnglishNew EnglishComments
IJOver time the "I" became a "J" and still sounded like a "y" then some time later took on the sound we know today and the spelling was never updated.
eeOver time changed from an "e" as in "bet" to an "e" sound like in "bee"
ssStayed the same
uuChanged from an "oo" sound to the "u" sound in "bus"
ssStayed the same

For those of you who have a KJV bible and want to boggle your mind, make some comparisons with the 1611 King James Bible!

There was so much lost because of the double transliteration. If the scholars of the King James Bible would have transliterated “Yeshua” from the Hebrew/Aramaic to English it would have been an exact transliteration, except for the ‘ayin’ at the end of Yeshua (which, these days, is typically silent).

There are many stories of how Yeshua became Jesus. Here is another example, that is a slight twist, of how this happened (How "Yeshua" Became "Jesus"), again, enjoy!

How you address Him, be it Yeshua, Jesus, Yehoshua, or however His name is pronounced in your part of the world, is between you and Him. I know that my name, Bill (William) is Guillermo in Spanish and Guglielmo in Italian. Yeshua is known by many different names throughout the world and there is NO problem with that.

Most of my Christian walk I used Jesus. When I first started using Yeshua it was very difficult and just seemed awkward but now I feel odd when I use Jesus (though I still use Jesus depending on who I am talking with). I personally prefer Yeshua since that was how people addressed Him 2000 years ago and I will use Yeshua throughout this site.

יהוה

Now for the name of God. In the Old Testament God’s name is represented by the four consonants of His name (יהוה). This is referred to as the “Tetragrammaton” which in English is YHWH – “Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey” This is not His name but rather consonants that make up His name because early Hebrew didn’t use any vowels in their writing but passed them on via oral tradition. Wow, imagine doing that in English!

NOTE: Did you catch the example of a linguistic change in Hebrew? YHWH is Yod Hey Vav Hey; Vav isn’t a “W” it’s a “V” but back in the time of Ancient Hebrew it was “Wah.” Modern Hebrew doesn’t have a “W” sound in it!

The reality is that no one really knows the correct spelling or pronunciation of YHWH because we don’t know what the vowels are. For example, let’s say you only knew my name by the consonants “BLL” and time has gone by and no one knows what vowel(s) belonged there. Just think of what you could come up with; Ball, Bell, Bill, or Bull. While the last one may have a positive secular connotation, that wouldn’t be my name.

The really good news is that Yeshua is our example of how we should be. He addressed Him as “Father.” Within the Christian covenant we have moved into a Father, son/daughter relationship (
Matt 5:45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (NKJV)
Matt 5:45 ,
John 1:12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (NKJV)
John 1:12 ,
Rom 8:14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (NKJV)
Rom 8:14 ,
Philippians 2:15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, (NKJV)
Philippians 2:15 ). I know my earthly father’s name but I feel really awkward when I have to say or give my father’s name. The reality is that it would be disrespectful to address my earthly dad by his name. It would also be disrespectful to use his name in conversations like I would use a friend’s name. How much more so is it with our heavenly Father if that is the type of relationship we have entered into? Yeshua always addressed YHWH as Father or generically as God or Lord. We don’t have any record of Yeshua addressing Him by His actual name. While I have a pretty good idea of what God’s name probably is, or at least very close, just like using my earthly dad’s name isn’t respectful to say, neither is using God’s name, even if you knew what it was. I like it how Yeshua put it, “Father” (
John 17:1Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, (NKJV)
John 17:1 ,
Mark 14:36And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” (NKJV)
Mark 14:36 ,
Matt 26:39He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (NKJV)
Matt 26:39 ,
Luke 23:46And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last. (NKJV)
Luke 23:46 ), and I’m good with that.

That is where I left it until I started thinking…

How did Yeshua refer to “God the Almighty?” Quickly I came back with “Father,” “God,” and “Lord” (by all means let me know if you came up with something else). I can’t say I’ve ever seen any study that looked at this so I took several hours and crunched the numbers and I was absolutely amazed at the results I came up with.

For the rest of this study when you see “Father,” “God,” or “Lord” I am referring to the times that Yeshua was referring to the “Almighty” because He uses these words in other contexts that are not referring to the “Almighty.”

Here are some general observations I noticed while doing this study:
  • “Father” is never used as quoted scripture (at the time this would be what we call the Old Testament, the Jewish Tanakh).
  • “God” is used in quoted scripture but is commonly used as a general reference to the Deity. I also counted the Aramaic/Hebrew references (
    Mark 15:34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (NKJV)
    Mark 15:34 is Aramaic and
    Matt 27:46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (NKJV)
    Matt 27:46 is Hebrew, which makes sense since Matthew’s emphasis is Yeshua’s Jewishness) that are translated “God.”
  • “Lord” is most commonly used from quoted scripture or as a title, not a name. “Lord” would be one who has rule over his subjects but typically has no personal relationship.
  • “Father” is a title but denotes being a child of God’s family; it involves a personal relationship.

    • When most people think of Yeshua talking, they immediately think of the gospels:

    Many people will recall that Yeshua had a lot of dialog near the beginning of Revelation but most people won’t think about His words that are scattered throughout Acts of which there are only 3 verses that reference the “Almighty”:

    Then I combined all the results for the collective point of view:

    The one that caught my eye was comparing the first gospel written, Mark, with the last written gospel , John. What a difference 25 years makes! It went from 5 references to “Father” to 111 references, where the number of references to “God” stays about identical.

    The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John have about the same references to “God” but Luke uses “God” over 50% more than John (the next greatest user of “God”). Luke used “God” almost three times as much as “Father” and “Lord” combined.

    The gospels of Matthew and Luke were both believed to have been written about 15 years after the Gospel of Mark, however Matthew references “Father” almost three times as much as the writer of the Gospel of Luke.

    The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are the only place where Yeshua uses the word “Lord” when referring to the “Almighty.”

    In the Gospel of John, Yeshua uses “Father” 2.7 times more than using “God” in reference to the “Almighty”.

    There seem to be two places where Yeshua says He has made God’s name known.
    John 17:6“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. (NKJV)
    John 17:6 while Yeshua is praying to His Father says “I [Yeshua] have manifested Your [God’s] name to the men...” Later in that same prayer,
    John 17:26And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (NKJV)
    John 17:26 , Yeshua says “And I [Yeshua] have declared to them Your [God’s] name, and will declare it,”

    In
    John 17:6“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. (NKJV)
    John 17:6 the Greek word for “manifested” is phaneroō (φανερόω) which denotes “showing” something. It is a visual thing rather than a verbal thing. This is where you get things like “...He who has seen Me has seen the Father...” (
    John 14:9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (NKJV)
    John 14:9 ). This is not saying that God’s name is...

    On the other hand, in
    John 17:26And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (NKJV)
    John 17:26 , the Greek word for “declared” is gnōrizō (γνωρίζω) which means to “make known.” This is the only place where Yeshua makes this declaration.

    Yeshua is noted for quoting many of scriptures. Some of these quotes were scriptures that contained the name of God, YHWH (יהוה). One of the best examples is where Yeshua is in the wilderness being tempted by Satan (
    Matt 4:1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

    4But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

    5Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

    7Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

    8Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

    10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

    11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. (NKJV)
    Matt 4:1-11 ,
    Luke 4:1Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

    3And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

    4But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”

    5Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

    8And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

    9Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ 11and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

    12And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

    13Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. (NKJV)
    Luke 4:1-13 ,
    Mark 1:12Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. (NKJV)
    Mark 1:12,13 ; Mark being the hyper abridged version). All three quotes from Yeshua (
    Deut 8:3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (NKJV)
    Deut 8:3 ,
    Deut 6:13You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. (NKJV)
    Deut 6:13 ,
    Deut 6:16“You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah. (NKJV)
    Deut 6:16 ) contain the name of God. However, when dealing with quoted scriptures, the authors of the New Testament always rendered the word that is the name of God as theos (Θεός), which is simply a generic word for “god.”

    The Greco-Roman world was polytheistic, which means they believed in more than one god. They did not have a word for the an exclusive “Almighty” god so they used the same word for the Jewish God as they used for any of their other gods, theos (Θεός). In Greek Christian writing they would use a definite article (the word “the” in front of theos) which ultimately was rendered as “God” in English to denote the “Almighty”.

    You would think that just as Yeshua was transliterated into Greek as Iēsoûs (Ἰησοῦς), God’s name would have been transliterated, or like in the Septuagint, would have added the Paleo-Hebrew Tetragrammaton. This never happen though.

    It should also be noted that in Greek the word for “Lord,” kurios (κύριος), works the same way as the word for “god.” This can be seen in Mark 12:36 where Yeshua quoted a scripture “… the LORD said to my Lord…” (KJV) The English translation renders “Lord” in two different ways; “LORD” (all caps to clarify the “Almighty God”) and “Lord” when referring to Christ. The reality is that the Greek scriptures use kurios for both occurrences of “Lord.” The variations of capped letters came hundreds of years later, just like the chapter and verses numbers.

    Since the only claim we have of Yeshua making God’s name known is found in
    John 17:26And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (NKJV)
    John 17:26 , to understand what the author was saying in proper context, we must limit our references to John. Let’s take a look at what we do know because speculation is no basis for “fact.”
  • In the Gospel of John, Yeshua only referred to the “Almighty” as “Father” or “God” and never as “Lord.”
  • In the Gospel of John there are a couple times where “God” is used and it wouldn’t make any sense if we inserted YHWH (יהוה) there (
    John 17:3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (NKJV)
    John 17:3 and
    John 20:17Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” (NKJV)
    John 20:17 ).
  • Yeshua continually referred to His relationship to the “Almighty” as a Father/Son relationship.
  • Referring to us, Yeshua used “your Father” to describe our relationship with the “Almighty” in two places, one a direct correlation and the other implied (
    John 20:17Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” (NKJV)
    John 20:17 and
    John 8:42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. (NKJV)
    John 8:42-44 ).
  • In prayer Yeshua always addressed the “Almighty” as “Father” (
    John 12:27“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” (NKJV)
    John 12:27-28 ,
    John 17:1Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, (NKJV)
    John 17:1 ,
    John 17:5And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. (NKJV)
    5 ,
    John 17:11Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. (NKJV)
    11 ,
    John 17:21that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. (NKJV)
    21 ,
    John 17:24“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. (NKJV)
    24-25 ).
  • Unlike the Septuagint God’s name (יהוה) does not show up in the New Testament as Paleo-Hebrew text.
  • Unlike Yeshua’s name, there is no transliteration of God’s name in the New Testament.
  • To “manifest thy name” doesn’t have to mean saying “God’s name is…” It could be as simple as “...He who has seen Me has seen the Father...” (
    John 14:9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (NKJV)
    John 14:9 also supported by
    John 5:19Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (NKJV)
    John 5:19 ,
    John 8:18I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” (NKJV)
    John 8:18 ,
    John 8:28Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. (NKJV)
    John 8:28 ,
    John 10:30I and My Father are one.” (NKJV)
    John 10:30 ,
    John 12:49For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. (NKJV)
    John 12:49 ,
    John 14:7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” (NKJV)
    John 14:7 )
  • While Yeshua is quoted as saying “I have declared unto them thy [God’s] name,” any place Yeshua may have used God’s actual name, it was rendered as theos (Θεός). This is also true of all the words of Yeshua throughout the New Testament.