Monday, August 20, 2018

Should Christians call Jesus “Yeshua” and God “Yahweh”?



A small, but growing, number of Christians prefer to call Jesus “Yehshua” and prefer to refer to God as “Yahweh.” There are variations of this. For example, some Christians use “Yahshua,” “Yehoshua” or some other variation for the name of Jesus. I’ve noticed this in facebook conversations and in Christian songs. I’m also aware that there are some churches which have embraced this practice. In this post, I will try to explain this issue.

Names are Often Pronounced Differently in Different Languages

There are some advantages to having lived in another country and spoken another language. For one thing, it becomes obvious that it is perfectly normal for English names to be pronounced differently in other languages and vice versa. Sometimes the difference in pronunciation is small and sometimes the pronunciation is so different that you would never guess it was the same name. Here are some examples:




Many more examples could be given of how names change in different languages. Since it is totally normal for the way names are written and pronounced to change in different languages (and even in the same language over time), there seems to be no good reason that the same thing should not be true for the name of Jesus. After all, while the Bible contains extraordinary truths and revelation, it is written in ordinary human language. But since the Bible says things like “there is no other name under Heaven given to people by which we may be saved” (Acts 4:12, CSB), some people feel it is important to not to change how the original name of Jesus is pronounced. Let’s look at this more closely.

The New Testament Example

The short version: Jesus name in Hebrew was Yeshua, but the New Testament never uses His Name in Hebrew, but rather translates it into Greek as Iēsous. Since God inspired the authors of the Greek New Testament to translate the name of Jesus into the form usually used in Greek, it is proper for us to translate the name of Jesus into English as – Jesus!

The long version:

1.The New Testament was written originally in Greek. In the original Greek, Jesus’s name was Ἰησοῦς
(Iēsous).
2. There is abundant evidence that the Greek name Iēsous was a translation of the Hebrew name Joshua. For example, all throughout the LXX (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament which was produced before Jesus was born) the name Joshua was translated as Iēsous.
3. In Hebrew, at the time Joshua lived, his name was יהוֹשׁוּעַ (Yehoshua). Later this name was shortened and it appears that by the time Jesus was born the same name was more commonly pronounced יֵשׁ֙וּעַ  (Yeshua).




4. Based on all this, it is most likely that Mary called Jesus “Yeshua.” The fact that this is nowhere explicitly stated in Scripture supports our view that it is proper to translate the name of Jesus into different languages. Nowhere do the inspired New Testament authors ever use the Hebrew version of Jesus’s name in the original text of the New Testament.
5. If the inspired authors of the New Testament did not think it was important to call Jesus “Yeshua,” why should we?

The Slightly more Complex Issue of Yahweh

God’s name in the Old Testament was Yahweh. When the Old Testament was translated in Greek before Jesus was born, instead of using the personal name Yahweh, they used the title “Lord,” which in Greek is kurios. In most English translations, Yahweh is translated by LORD, where all capital letters are used to show that the original was Yahweh. Was it alright for the translators of the LXX to use the title LORD instead of using the name Yahweh? We know that it was alright because when God inspired the New Testament authors to quote passages from the Old Testament, they consistently used kurios (LORD) rather than Yahweh.

The name Yahweh never appears in the Greek New Testament except in the shortened form “Yah” in the word “hallelujah.”

As with the name of Jesus, we know that it is not wrong for us to use “LORD” instead of Yahweh because we are following the inspired example of the New Testament.

Are Christians wrong when they use Yeshua or Yahweh?

I’ve explained why it is acceptable to use Jesus and LORD. But is there anything wrong with English speaking Christians using Yeshua or Yahweh? I think it depends on their reasons, motives, and attitudes as explained in this chart:



There are a number of reasons a Christian might occasionally use Yahweh and/or Yeshua. They might want to catch people’s attention, or make a song with a Jewish feel, or remind people of the Jewish/Old Testament roots of names and of our faith. If this is done humbly, I see no problem with it. I personally like and feel blessed by some of the Christian praise music that uses the name Yahweh.

However, if a Christian using Yeshua or Yahweh begins to feel that they are better, or more accurate, than their brothers and sisters in Christ who use Jesus and LORD, that can become dangerous, harmful pride. Do they think they are better than John, Peter, and Paul, all of who never used Yeshua or Yahweh when they were writing parts of the Bible! And if a Christian or a church begins to teach that other Christians are wrong because they use the common “LORD” and “Jesus” instead of “Jehovah,” “Yahweh,” “Yeshua,” or something similar, that’s a big problem. That’s wrong, judgmental, and divisive. Such Christians should be gently warned, and efforts should be made to explain to them why they are wrong. If they don’t listen, avoid them as you would avoid any Christian or church which is stubbornly causing division (Titus 3:10).

Learning from the seven sons of Sceva

In the book of Acts (Acts 19:11-17), we are told about seven sons of Sceva who heard that demons could be cast out by using the name of Jesus. They attempted to do this, but the evil spirit mocked them, and the demon possessed man severely beat all seven of them. The problem was not that they were pronouncing the name of Jesus wrong. The problem is that they didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus and thus were not filled with the Holy Spirit and did not have power to confront the demons. Jesus’s name does not work like a magic spell in Harry Potter, where if you don’t pronounce it just right it doesn’t work. The Name of Jesus is powerful to the extent that we know Him as Lord and Savior and are walking with Him.

Conclusion

In light of all the above, I feel that most of the time when we are speaking in English and are speaking to other English speakers, we should use Jesus and LORD. This is less confusing, and less likely to result in pride and division. This is also in line with the New Testament example of translating the name of God and of Jesus into the normal, common way people in a given language say those names. However, when done humbly and with the right motives, the occasional use of Yahweh or Yeshua is acceptable, and occasionally even beautifully uplifting.


Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .

4 comments:

  1. You are correct. However, I have also noticed that those who make a big issue about the name have screwy christologies, too.

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  2. Very informative, Mark. Thanks!

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  3. Thank you for a very helpful article!
    May I add that it's OK to adopt other titles for God (such as Allah) when you're carrying the Gospel into other cultures?
    Paul did!
    When reaching out to Greeks, Paul did not use any of the many Hebrew titles for God.
    He used "Theos," which was the creator deity to the Greeks.
    A Hebrew word would have made God sound foreign to the Greeks.
    It's as if Paul was saying, "You believe in Creator Theos, which is good. Let me correct some ideas you have about him, and let me tell you about his Son."

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  4. Don't most denominations exist because someone took a doctrine or teaching(man-made or biblical)and elevated it to the point that they had to divide themselves from other Christians and other churches. Think of all the minor teachings that are elevated to the point that a person has to start a new church. There's a lot of Pride and and "I am better and more holy" than you are

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