Where did the letter “J” come from in Jesus’ name?
Some Jewish Bibles list the name of Jesus as Yahusha. Some believe a person must use the name of God’s only begotten son in the Hebrew language, thinking that if people don’t use “Yahusha,” neither God nor his son will recognize their prayers. They may even doubt their salvation. However, all of the New Testament books (except for the Gospel of Matthew) were originally written in Greek. The Greek name for God’s son was used. This is the way Jesus is written in the Greek New Testament: Ἰησοῦς . These Greek letters spelled with English letters look like Iēsoûs, and pronounced ee-ay-sooce’.
What does the Bible teach about our Savior’s name?
Consider Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV), “Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
This scripture is all about honoring the name of God’s holy son. If using the Hebrew name Yahusha were very important to God and to Jesus, we would assume the Apostle Paul would have written “Yahusha” in these verses. Paul was a brilliant Hebrew scholar and could easily have written Jesus’ name in Hebrew. But Paul wrote Ἰησοῦς.
In Romans 10:9,13 (NKJV), Paul also wrote:
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
This scripture directly addresses salvation and again uses Ἰησοῦς.
Both God and Jesus understand all languages. “Yahusha” is the name in Hebrew, Ἰησοῦς in Greek, and Jesus in English. Jesus is simply the anglicized pronunciation of Joshua, Yeshuas, or Jehoshua. There is no “J” in Hebrew; it is a “Y”.
God and Jesus are interested in our hearts, not the language we use to address them. “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness,” Romans 10:10. It truly doesn’t matter which language people use.
To learn more about Jesus listen to, “Can Jesus’ Resurrection Revive My Faltering Faith?”
For more on the names of Jesus watch, “What Are Some Other Names for Jesus?”
