Over the course of this study one of our readers asked about the name Yeshua. For the uninitiated, Yeshua (also Yehoshuah) is the Hebrew name of Jesus and it means “salvation.” If this is Jesus’ Hebrew name, how did we come to know the Son of God as Jesus? More scholarly men than I have tackled this question, but the simple answer is language. When the Hebrew name was translated into Greek it became Iesous (as anyone who has seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade knows, there is no letter J in Hebrew). When translated from Greek into Latin it became Iesus, and from Latin into English we derive Jesus. Simple? Well, kind of.

It could be argued (and has been) that early translators didn’t do us any favors by moving from language to language when we could have easily translated straight from Hebrew into English. While that’s true, and that would have resulted in Joshua instead of Jesus, it hardly matters; as Shakespeare pointed out a rose (even the Rose of Sharon) by any other name is still the same, and Jesus, Joshua or Yeshua still means “salvation” to all mankind.

Some Christians have taken to using the Hebrew name instead of the poorly translated English name, which is fine but unnecessary. It is fine to use either name in prayer or in speaking about our Savior. Just be careful when using the name among those who have not yet put their trust in him for their salvation, as it could result in confusion. The gospel is so simple and easy to understand, there is no reason to make it hard to understand or to insist on a name usage that the Bible itself doesn’t require.

An interesting fact is the use of the name Yeshua in a Hebrew prayer cited during the reprieve of the first horn blasts in the feast of Yom Kippur. For those who don’t remember, this feast is the celebration of atonement and repentance. It is the holiest 25 hours in the Jewish year. The hours of Yom Kippur are used for public and private confessions of guilt, and the sins of the nation would be covered by a special Temple sacrifice on the feast day. Jesus is the last sacrifice ever needed and is now the Savior, so finding the name Yeshua in the formal prayer of Yom Kippur is startling. The reference is made in a Jewish prayer book, the Machzor, in a prayer titled Sar HaPanim:

“May it be Your will that the sounding of the shofar, which we have done, will be embroidered in the veil by the appointed angel, as You accepted it by Elijah, of blessed memory and by Yeshua, the Prince of the Face (Face of Hashem) (Prince of God’s Presence) and the one who sits on God’s throne. May You be filled with compassion toward us. Deserving of praise are You, LORD of compassion.”

Some Rabbi’s have suggested that the reference is not to Jesus, but rather to the High Priest mentioned in Zechariah 3. While there was a High Priest named Yeshua, he most certainly never sat on the throne of God or was ever called the LORD of compassion. Jesus on the other hand has been called both.

Knowing the names of God may lead us to all kinds of discoveries about the one we serve and opens one’s relationship up to the Creator in a very personal way.