What Was Jesus' Real Name? (2024)

FAQs

What was Jesus' full real name? ›

Jesus' name in Hebrew was “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua. So how did we get the name “Jesus”?

Jesus, which is the name used by most English-speaking people today, is an English transliteration of a Germanic adaptation, of a Latin transliteration, of a Greek transliteration of an originally Hebrew name, that is simply Yeshua. This is a fact.

Jesus' name in Aramaic is Yeshua (Joshua). But because the New Testament was written in Greek, we call Him Jesus, because Jesus is the Greek equivalent of Yeshua. The name Jesus (Yeshua) means “Yahweh is salvation” or “The Lord saves”.

Light of the World

In John 8:12 Jesus applies the title to himself while debating with the Jews, and states: I am the light of the world: he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

In the post-exilic books, Joshua the son of Nun is called both Yeshua bin-Nun (Nehemiah 8:17) and Yahoshua (1 Chronicles 7:27). The short form Yeshua was used for Jesus ben Sirach in Hebrew fragments of the Wisdom of Sirach.

Its preface states: "the distinctive Hebrew name for God (usually transliterated Jehovah or Yahweh) is in this translation represented by 'The Lord'." A footnote to Exodus 3:14 states: "I am sounds like the Hebrew name Yahweh traditionally transliterated as Jehovah." The New International Version (1978, revised 2011).

Due to the numerous translations, the Bible has undergone, "Jesus" is the modern term for the Son of God. His original Hebrew name is Yeshua, which is short for yehōshu'a.

Jesus (/ˈdʒiːzəs/) is a masculine given name derived from Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς; Iesus in Classical Latin) the Ancient Greek form of the Hebrew name Yeshua (ישוע).

That is, “YHWH” does not mean “Jesus” in Hebrew. The identification of Jesus with YHWH does not come through etymologizing these names, but through seeing how the New Testament confesses Jesus to be kurios—the LORD.

What does the H stand for in Jesus' name? ›

It comes from the christogram JHC, a variant of JHS more commonly spelled IHS. It is an abbreviation of the name Jesus in Greek (Iesous), the letters stand for Iota (I/J) Eta (H) and Sigma (S/C) the reason J and I as well as S and C are interchangeable is due to different forms of romanization.

Jesus didn't have a middle name - and “Christ” is not His surname either! “Christ” is a title meaning “the anointed one”.