How are you feeling? Swell I hope. My feelings are rollercoaster-y. As you may have surmised from my last post, I was on the verge of cancelling my kissing date with Trudy (she's that bank teller I like?) because Damien (my mortal enemy and Trudy's ex) warned me that he implanted some nano robots in her mouth that would knock my teeth out and give me AIDS. Oh. And they would make all future hot dogs taste like pee. Anyweird, I decided NOT to cancel the date because "Jesus Christ always keeps his promises." (While catchy, that tagline can be difficult to live by at times. Why didn't I come up with a tagline like, "You have a friend in the diamond business"?) However, while I wasn't going to cancel the date, that did NOT mean I was going to kiss Trudy on the mouth and risk a life of illness, and dislike of hot dogs. And gumming those hot dogs. Instead of riding our bikes back to her house, where we would eat Nutty Buddies on her stoop, I would feign some sort of emergency, and dash away into the night.
As always, my plan neglected to go as planned.
First of all, apparently I wore too much Axe Body Spray, and the managers kicked Trudy and I out of the theater. Secondly, Trudy's bike tire had a flat, and I had to give her a ride home on my handlebars. Thirdly, it was hot, so Trudy and I broke into a motel pool for a late night swim. Fourthly, she was all wet and pretty, and looking into my eyes, and I started feeling all woozy in my head, and our lips got closer and closer until I suddenly came to my senses and screamed, "NANO ROBOTS!" And fifthly, I swam away as fast as I could.
"Oh, for the love of… what NOW?" Trudy exclaimed.
"Fact or fiction: You have nano robots in your mouth."
"Ummm… I believe that would be fiction," she said. "What in the world are you talking about?"
"Someone informed me that you and I shouldn't kiss because you have nano robots in your mouth that would disintegrate my teeth, make hot dogs taste like urine… and… and… that's kind of ridiculous, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Trudy said. "It kind of is. And that 'someone' you're talking about is Damien, isn't it?"
"Yup."
"Is that also why you stink of Axe Body Spray?"
"Yup."
"Swim back over here," she said.
I did.
"Look," she said. "I don't know what's going to happen with you and me. Maybe we'll date, maybe we'll stay friends, but I'm only going to say this once. Damien was a mistake—and maybe I dated him because I thought you never would like me. But things are different now. I'm fine with the way things are between you and me. Okay? That means if we need to take things slow, then we…"
That's when I kissed her. On the mouth.
It was nice, and confusing, and exciting, and I don't know what's going to happen with me and Trudy—but I'll always remember the two of us in that pool. Her looking so pretty and me kissing her. On the mouth.
And not a single nano robot got in.
(I know, because I ate a hot dog when I got home.)
36 comments:
GO JESUS! Nice. Very happy for you.
All right my man J.C.
Way to Rock It Baby!
You are one smooth criminal..
You make me proud to be your friend.
Holla Ninja.
BM
Trudy is very sweet and so is your first kiss with her. I'm very happy for you both, Jesus! May this be the first of many wonderful times for you two kooky kids. :-)
great job, jesus. what did i tell ya? the holy spirit will never let you down.
hooray!
SCORE!!!! Huzzah!
Congrats, J.C.! I knew you'd be able to pull through and have an enjoyable night with Trudy the bank teller.
Thank whomever that there weren't any nano-bots - if they can make hot dogs taste like pee pee, I'd be scared of what they'd do to hamburgers...
Looking foward to your next adventure in the diamond business! (On the corner of HWY 217 and Scholls Ferry Road, open Monday through Friday 8-5!)
You made my day. High five, Jesus!
That'a boyyyyyyy!
Dear Jesus,
You go, ninja! Yay for you and Trudy (the bank teller). High fives all around!
Now stop worrying so much. And say hey to Karen for me!
'Bout damn time. JC you are my ninja..
My prayers were answered!!!!
(if you know what I mean....)
((burrito and big headed jen: nothing bad...))
Uhh, were you swimming in your ROBE?!? The only reason I am asking is because that would sound, you know, kinda odd and waterloggy...
I am also going to assume that she had a nice dress or pretty pant suit on that she wouldn't want to get wet...
Which leads me to believe that YA'LL WERE SKINNY DIPPING!!! Or at least she was in a skimpy little bra and g-string and you were skinny dipping since I figure you were rollin' comando (or "free ballin'" as the kids say)... WOW!!!
So you were naked, in a pool, kissin' a pretty girl...
LUCKY!!!
I am happy for you!
A happy, non-nano-robots ending. Take it slow, Jesus.
Question: Do the holes in your wrists inhibit your swimming abilities?
Nano robots don't exist.
1) I know! I'm so happy nano robots aren't real.
2) Watch me moon walk.
3) You should write greeting cards!
4) You mean Doris the holy spirit? Didn't she advise me to buy Trudy a steak and have sex with her? (PMF.)
5) GOOOOOOAAALLL!
6) I bet nano robots make hamburgers taste like cow poopy. (PMF.)
7) High five!
8) Outtasight!
9) I'll pass your message along to Trudy (she's a bank teller).
10) Ninjas do it slowly. (I should put that on a t-shirt!)
11) I like it that people are praying for me to get lucky.
12) EWWW! I wasn't naked! (However, I was swimming in my Green Lantern underoos.)
13) The holes in my wrists actually help my swimming by cutting resistance. You should try it.
doris is always right (as is steak and sex).
she told me she's totally ok with you easing to that point. chickostick and kissing one day...steak and sex the next. a sweet, sweet slippery slope!!
Published in
Catholic Digest
January 1992
vol.32,no.6
The Mystery of the Magi
How Yeshu’a become Jesus
page 17
How
Yeshu’a
become
Jesus
By:JOSEPH STALLINGS
We usually don’t think about it, but our Lord’s name was not always Jesus. It was in fact originally the popular Aramaic name Yeshu’a.
.
In first century Judea and Galilee, the name Yeshu’a was very common and shared fifth place with Eleazar (Lazarus) in popularity as a name for Jewish men. The most popular male names at that time were Shime’on (Simon), Yosef (Joseph), Yehuda (Judah or Judas) and Yochanan (John).
In the Holy Land at the time of Christ, Aramaic had replaced Hebrew in everyday conversation, but Hebrew remained the holy language and was used in worship and daily prayers. The rabbis also used Hebrew when instructing their disciples. The two languages were closely related, however, as close as Italian is to Spanish, and both used the same alphabet.
Yeshu’a was the Aramaic version of the Hebrew name Yehoshu’a (Joshua), and means “Yahweh saves”.
Throughout Christ’s lifetime in Galilee, Samaria and Judea of course the name Yeshu’a presented no problem for those who spoke Aramaic and read the Bible and prayed in Hebrew. But outside the Holy Land it become a different story as Good News spread.
The Gentiles of the Roman Empire spoke Greek and Latin and simply could not pronounce Yeshu’a. It contained sounds that did not exist in their language. When the Gospels were written in Greek, therefore, the Evangelists had a real problem regarding how they might render our Lord’s name into acceptable Greek.
The initially ‘Y’ (Hebrew and Aramaic letter ‘yod’) was easy. The Evangelists could use the Greek letter ‘iota’, written ‘I,’ since it was pronounced like the ‘y’ in yet.
The next sound was a vowel, and that was a little more difficult. Unlike Greek, all the letters of the Aramaic-Hebrew alphabet are consonants. The marks for the vowels were not invented until some centuries after Christ and were simple dots and dashes, placed above or beneath the letters. At the time of Christ apparently, the first vowel in our Lord’s name was pronounced like the ‘a’ in gate. And the Evangelists believed they could approximate that sound by using the Greek letter ‘eta’. (The capital Greek letter looks just like our English letter H).
Then followed the first of two almost insurmountable problems with Hebrew and Aramaic pronunciation. There was no letter for the ‘sh’ sound in the Greek alphabet. Such a familiar name as Solomon was actually Sh’lomo in Hebrew, Samson was Shimson and Samuel was Sh’mu-El. Like the Greek translators of these Old Testament Hebrew names, the Evangelists used the Greek sigma (s) for the Hebrew shin (sh) when rendering Christ’s name.
The first three Greek letters ‘iota’, ‘eta’, and ‘sigma’, moreover came to be used in early Byzantine religious art as an abbreviation of Jesus name. As they look very much like the Latin letters HIS, the letters were adapted in Western European religious paintings and church architecture as a symbol for Christ’s name.
The next letter in the Aramaic name Yeshu’a was the Hebrew letter ‘waw’, which here represents the sound ‘oo’, as in too. It was easy for the Evangelists to duplicate this sound in Greek. It takes two letters, however, the omicron (o) and upsilon (u).
But that easy substitution was followed by the biggest problem of all: the final ‘a’ sound. In Greek, there was no substitute for the Hebrew letter ‘aiyin’. Though the ‘aiyin’ has no sound of its own, it causes the vowel that it controls to be pronounced deep in the throat. The Greek couldn’t do that, and neither could the Romans when speaking in Latin. Usually, a Greek or Roman would pronounce an ‘aiyin’-controlled ‘a’ like the ‘a’ in father.
A final ‘a’ on a name however was most commonly feminine in both Greek and Latin. Thus it was decided to drop the Hebrew ‘aiyin’ completely and replace it with the final Greek sigma (s) which most often indicates the masculine gender in nouns.
Throughout the Roman Empire then our Lord’s Aramaic name Yeshu’a, had become the Greek name Iesous, pronounced yeh-SOOS. And this remained Christ’s name throughout the Roman Empire as long as Greek remained the dominant language.
But after some centuries Greek lost its favored position and Latin took its place. In the last quarter of the fourth century, the Bible was translated from Greek into Latin by *St. Jerome who had no trouble rendering the Greek Iesous into Latin, it became Iesus. The accent, however, was moved to the first syllable and the name pronounced YAY-soos, since the Romans liked to accent the second from the last syllable.
In about 14th century, in the scriptoria of the monasteries where Bibles were copied by hand, Monks began to elongate the initial ‘I’ of the words into a ‘J’. (The pronounciation remained the same-like the ‘y’ in yet but the Monks thought a ‘J’ looked better). Probably the first Monks to do this were Germans because the letter ‘j’ in that language sounds the same as the ‘y’ in English. The name Iesus, consequently, evolved into the familiar written form of Jesus by the 17th century. Everyone still pronounced it YAY-soos, however, as it was in the official liturgical Latin.
Way back in the fifth and sixth centuries, some pagan Germanic tribes called the Angles and Saxons invaded England. St Augustine of Canterbury came to convert them to Christianity in A.D.396. Of course St. Augustine established Jerome’s Latin translation as England’s official Bible. The Anglo-Saxon learned that our Lord’s official Latin name was Iesus. Naturally the Germanic Anglo-Saxon converted the initial Latin ‘I’ into the German ‘J’. They pronounced the name, however, as YAY-zoos, since a single ‘s’ between two vowels is sounded like our ‘z’ in Germanic languages.
When the Normans invaded England in A.D.1066 they brought with them the French language. Since neither the Anglo-Saxons nor the Normans would surrender their language to the other, the two become wedded and eventually evolved into Modern English.
The Normans did influence the pronunciation of the first letter of Our Lord’s name, though, they brought the French pronunciation of ‘j’ (jh), which evolved into our English sound of ‘j’.
When King James commissioned the first official translation of the Bibles into English in the early 17th century, the Latin Jesus was carried over unchanged into the new English Bible. The average English citizen of the day probably pronounced the name JAY-zus which ultimately evolved into our modern English JEE-zus.
The long process was now complete. A name that began as the Aramaic Yeshu’a would remain written in English as it was in Medieval Latin, but now would be pronounced in English speaking countries as the familiar and loving name of the One who is our Savior, JESUS.
• Eusebius Hieronymus A.D.347 – A.D.419
The Letter J in our Alphabets
The Encyclopedia Americana contains the following on the J:
“The form of J was unknown in any alphabet until the 14th century. Either symbol (J, I) used initially generally had the consonantal sound of Y as in year. Gradually, the two symbols (J, I) were differentiated, the J usually acquiring consonantal force and thus becoming regarded as a consonant, and the I becoming a vowel. It was not until 1630 that the differentiation became general in England.”
The New Book of Knowledge reads:
“J, the tenth letter of the English alphabet, is the youngest of the 26 letters. It is a descendant of the letter I and was not generally considered a separate letter until the 17th century. The early history of the letter J is the same as the history of the letter I. I is a descendant of the ancient Phoenician and Hebrew letter yod and the Greek letter iota” (Vol. 10, 1992 ed.).
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language says about the J:
“The tenth letter of the English alphabet developed as a variant form of I in Medieval Latin, and except for the preference for the J as an initial letter, the two were used interchangeably, both serving to represent the vowel (i) and the consonant (y). Later, through specialization, it came to be distinguished as a separate sign, acquiring its present phonetic value under the influence of the French.”
The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition, under “J,” offers additional information:
“J, a letter of the alphabet which, as far as form is concerned, is only a modification of the Latin I and dates back with a separate value only to the 15th century. It was first used as a special form of initial I, the ordinary form being kept for use in other positions. As, however, in many cases initial i had the consonantal value of the English y in iugum (yoke), &c., the symbol came to be used for the value of y, a value which it still retains in German: Ja! Jung, & c. Initially it is pronounced in English as an affricate dzh. The great majority of English words beginning with j are of foreign (mostly French) origin, as ‘jaundice,’ ‘judge’”…(p.103).
Funk and Wagnall’s Encyclopedia (1979 edition), volume 14, page 94 under “J,” states:
“J, the tenth letter and seventh consonant in the English alphabet. It is the latest addition to the English script and has been inserted in the alphabet after I, from which it was developed, just as V and W follow U, the letter from which they arose. In form, J was originally merely a variation of I; J appeared first in Roman times, when it was used sometimes to indicate the long i vowel sound, but was often used interchangeably with I. The Romans pronounced I as a vowel in some words, such as iter, and as a semi-vowel in others, for example, iuvenis, spelled presently juvenis. The only difference in spelling, however, was the occasional use of double i for the y sound for example, in maiior, spelled presently major. In the Middle Ages the elongated form (j) was used as an ornamental device, most often initially and in numeral series; many old French manuscripts indicate the numeral 4 by the letter sequence iiij. The use of j as an initial led ultimately to its specialized use to indicate both the old semi-vowel sound y, found in German, and the new palatal consonant sounds (z) and (dz), found in French, Spanish and English. Not until the middle of the 17th century did this usage become universal in English books; in the King James Bible of 1611, for example, the words Jesus and judge are invariably Iesus and iudge. Long after the invention of printing, j thus became more than a mere calligraphic variation of i (which in Latin could be either vowel or semi-vowel), and, j became restricted to a consonantal function.
“In English, j has the composite sound of d + zh, as in journal. In French, on the other hand, the zh sound alone is given the letter, as in jour; German has retained the original y sound of the Latin i consonant, as in jahr; and Spanish has introduced a new sound resembling a guttural ch, as in Jerez. In Middle English, before the differentiation of i and j, the combination gi was sometimes used to represent the dzh sounds, such as in Giew for Jew, and in modern times the soft g is used for the same sound, as in general…”
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary confirms how the J developed from the I and became a consonant only a few centuries ago:
“J, j (ja), n. 1. The tenth letter of the English alphabet: formerly a variant of I, i, in the seventeenth century it became established as a consonant only, as in Julius, originally spelled Iulius.”
The letter J was often used instead of the letter I, especially at the beginning of a word. This became common in the 1600s (World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, 1995 ed). Medieval scribes added a tail to the second I when two I’s appeared together. Because a beginning I almost always has a consonant sound, the long form, J, came to be used generally for the consonant sound of the letter (New Book of Knowledge).
It became necessary to distinguish between the J and the I when the dictionary came into being. In the seventeenth century, the dictionary’s appearance forced a consistent spelling. Using either I or J became mandatory to ensure proper alphabetical positioning. Owing to this close kinship with I, J was inserted immediately following I in our English alphabet.
Note the substantiating comments on the J from the Encyclopedia Americana:
“It is one of the few permanent additions to those alphabets, made in medieval or modern times. More exactly, it was not an addition, but a differentiation from an existing letter, I, which in Latin, besides being a vowel (as in index), had also the consonantal value of ‘Y’ (as in maior, pronounced ‘mayor’).
“At a later state, the symbol ‘J’ was used for the distinctive purposes, particularly when the ‘I’ had to be written initially (or in conjunction with another ‘I’). Either symbol used initially generally had the consonantal sound of ‘Y’ (as in Year) so that the Latin pronunciation of either Ianuarius or Januarius was as though the spelling was ‘Yanuarius.’ While in some words of Hebrew and other origin (such as Hallelujah or Junker), ‘J’ has the phonetic value of ‘Y.’”
We discover, then, that the letter J derived from the vowel letter I and originally had the same sound as the vowel I. That is why the lower case j still has a dot over it. The letter I represents the Greek iota (I), which usually corresponds to the Hebrew yothe (Y as in yes). The letter J has a Y sound (as in “hallelujah”) in Latin, German, and Scandinavian languages. In Spanish, J is an aspirate, having the sound of H.
The J was first pronounced as the I at the time of the introduction of the printing press. Dutch printers fostered utilizing the J, especially at the beginning of a word. The letter J eventually acquired its own sound. It was the French who gave the letter J the present sound of the soft letter g as in “large” or “purge.” In Latin, German, and other languages the J is pronounced more like Y with an “ee” sound. The Spanish J is more like an aspirant as in San Jose. Some old European maps still show the spelling of countries like Jugoslavia (Yugoslavia) or Sowjet (Soviet) Russia. It is only in the last century that the letter J has firmly taken on the French pronunciation as in joy or journal.
Webster’s Universal Dictionary (1936) reinforces the fact of the early relationship of the letter J to I:
“As a character it was formerly used interchangeably with ‘I,’ both letters having originally the same sound and after the ‘J’ sound came to be common in English, it was often written where this sound must have been pronounced. The separation of these two letters is of comparatively recent date, being brought about through the influence of the Dutch printers.”
Oscar Ogg’s books, The 26 Letters, which gives a history of each letter of the English alphabet, explains how the J, along with the U and W, were the last to be added to the alphabet:
“The three missing letters, J, U and W, were not used by the Romans at all. U and W developed from V about a thousand years ago, and J developed from the letter I about five hundred years ago,” p. 106.
As already confirmed, most of our American vocabulary employing the letter J stems from the French. Nearly all words containing the letter J in English are pronounced as in French, such as journal or major, although French has a considerably softer pronunciation of J than English. In Spanish the J is more of an h aspirate as in “San Jose.”
After development of the letter J, the Savior’s Name was changed by the translators to Jesus, but continued to be pronounced much like the letter Y. However, the pronunciation of the J soon changed completely from its former “yee” sound to our present “juh” through French influence.
In Latin the J was pronounced as a Y. Even today, the German tongue, among others, pronounces the J like a Y (July – Yulee; Ja = Ya; Major in German is pronounced as “mayor;” June is “Yunee”). Note the comments of author F.F. Bruce in his The Books and the Parchments: “In the English Bible, Hebrew proper names with yod are represented with j, which in modern English has quite a different sound from y. Thus ‘Jehovah-jireh’ would have been pronounced in Hebrew something like Yahweh yeereh” (footnote, p. 40).
In his book, Story of the Letters and Figures, Hubert M. Skinner provides an excellent summation of the discordant transformation inflicted on the Savior’s Name:
“In some way, various modern peoples who received the J from the Romans have lost the original sound, and have substituted something very different. We retain the former sound in our word ‘hallelujah,’ but we generally give the letter the disagreeable soft sound of G. Yod is the initial of the name Jesus. It is unfortunate that a name so dear and so sacred is pronounced in a manner so different from that of the original word. The latter sounded very much as if it were Yashoo-ah, and was agreeable to the ear. Our sounds of J and hard S are the most disagreeable in our language, and they are both found in our pronunciation of this short name, although they did not exist in its original,” pp. 122-123.
The Name of Our Savior Has Letter J
Often heard in the churches of our land is the refrain sung about the Savior, “There’s something about that name…” In our English-speaking world we have been taught that the saving name of the Redeemer of Israel is “Jesus.” So accepted is this name that few stop to consider its authenticity. But the truth is, there is indeed “something about that Name.” That “something” is the inescapable fact that the Savior’s name is not Jesus, and never was. What’s more, the Name of the Heavenly Father is not Jehovah, a designation that is only five centuries old.
Churchianity has so thoroughly immersed the world in the error of this tradition for the past 500 years that few even think to research the matter or to consider the consequences of calling on the wrong name. As a result, most continue believing that the Hebrew Savior is called by a Latinized Greek name that could not possibly have existed at the time He walked the earth. It’s a name that would have been completely foreign to Him.
Eminent French historian, scholar, and archaeologist Ernest Renan acknowledges that the Savior was never in His lifetime called “Jesus.” In his book, The Life of Jesus, Renan doubts that the Savior even spoke Greek (p.90). Greek was mostly the language of business and commerce in cosmopolitan circles.
As for the Father’s Name, the hybrid “Jehovah” came into existence through the ignorance of Christian writers who did not understand the Old Testament Hebrew. Credit for the error is given to Petrus Galatinus, confessor to Pope Leo X in the 16th century.
Modern scholarship recognizes “Yahshu’a” as the best rendition for the Name of the Savior, while “Yahweh” is the closest transliteration for the Name of the Creator as found in ancient Scriptural manuscripts. In returning as nearly as we can to the Bibles’ original language and meaning, we come to a deeper and more accurate understanding of the truths contained within it.
As we will learn, the Father and Son’s revealed, personal Names are the foundation on which other vital, salvation truths rest. It was not without reason that Yahweh established the foundation of the Ten Commandments with the clear declaration of His sacred Name: “I, Yahweh, am your Elohim…” Exodus 20:2. Our Savior, as well, opened His Model Prayer with the words, “hallowed be Thy Name.” Yahweh devoted the Third Commandment to warn of the sin of taking His Name in vain (a meaning that includes bringing His Name to uselessness, as has been done for centuries), Exodus 20:2, 7. Our Redeemer’s Name is critically important as well, or else our Creator would not have inspired the writer of Acts to proclaim, “Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12.
Back to the Basic Truths of the Bible
It should be evident to anyone that through time and tradition, observances change, are added to, and also lose some of what they first had. This is especially true of the worship originally practiced in the Bible. Our primary goal as True Worshipers should be to return to fundamental truths, like His true Name, once known and taught by the early Assembly but that have been neglected or ignored through the centuries. Shouldn’t this be the desire of every sincere Bible believer—to worship in ALL truth? Why go only halfway, or put another way, why continue worshiping partly in error?
Jude 3 speaks directly to us: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” This original faith as practiced in the early New Testament Assembly is being restored now, just before the Savior Yahshu’a returns to earth. Acts 3:21 say the heaven must receive the Savior until the time of restitution of all things. “Restitution” is the Greek apokatastasis and means re-establish from a state of ruin.
Foundational to this original truth being restored by believers in the Name of Almighty Yahweh is the identity of the One we worship. Nothing in existence is more holy than the Father and His personal, revealed Name Yahweh. Paul wrote that Yahweh has given His Son a Name that is above every name, Philippians 2:9. The prophet Malachi tells us that if we will not give glory unto the Name of Yahweh that He would send a curse upon us (2:2).
With a sense of gravity of the Sacred Name, let’s examine why any substitute name employing the letter J is erroneous on its face. We will look at the facts and the overwhelming evidence and carefully evaluate our findings, using numerous sources revealing the truth. Much of the information we cite here is readily available in your public library, or found in references you may even have at home. We urge you to look into this important issue and prove it for yourself.
The ‘J’: A Letter Come Lately
Among the many reasons that both “Jesus” and “Jehovah” are erroneous is the simple fact that they begin with the letter J, the most recent letter added to our English alphabet. The Savior’s name could not begin with the letter J because it did not exist when He was born –not even a thousand years later! All good dictionaries and encyclopedias show that the letter J and its sound are of late origin.
A chart on both the Hebrew and Greek alphabet is found on page 48 in this booklet. Take special note that there is no letter equivalent to J in either Hebrew or Greek even today. Here are what major references tell us about the J and its development:
The Encyclopedia Americana contains the following on the J:
“The form of J was unknown in any alphabet until the 14th century. Either symbol (J, I) used initially generally had the consonantal sound of Y as in year. Gradually, the two symbols (J, I) were differentiated, the J usually acquiring consonantal force and thus becoming regarded as a consonant, and the I becoming a vowel. It was not until 1630 that the differentiation became general in England.”
The New Book of Knowledge reads:
“J, the tenth letter of the English alphabet, is the youngest of the 26 letters. It is a descendant of the letter I and was not generally considered a separate letter until the 17th century. The early history of the letter J is the same as the history of the letter I. I is a descendant of the ancient Phoenician and Hebrew letter yod and the Greek letter iota” (Vol. 10, 1992 ed.).
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language says about the J:
“The tenth letter of the English alphabet developed as a variant form of I in Medieval Latin, and except for the preference for the J as an initial letter, the two were used interchangeably, both serving to represent the vowel (i) and the consonant (y). Later, through specialization, it came to be distinguished as a separate sign, acquiring its present phonetic value under the influence of the French.”
The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition, under “J,” offers additional information:
“J, a letter of the alphabet which, as far as form is concerned, is only a modification of the Latin I and dates back with a separate value only to the 15th century. It was first used as a special form of initial I, the ordinary form being kept for use in other positions. As, however, in many cases initial i had the consonantal value of the English y in iugum (yoke), &c., the symbol came to be used for the value of y, a value which it still retains in German: Ja! Jung, & c. Initially it is pronounced in English as an affricate dzh. The great majority of English words beginning with j are of foreign (mostly French) origin, as ‘jaundice,’ ‘judge’”…(p.103).
Funk and Wagnall’s Encyclopedia (1979 edition), volume 14, page 94 under “J,” states:
“J, the tenth letter and seventh consonant in the English alphabet. It is the latest addition to the English script and has been inserted in the alphabet after I, from which it was developed, just as V and W follow U, the letter from which they arose. In form, J was originally merely a variation of I; J appeared first in Roman times, when it was used sometimes to indicate the long i vowel sound, but was often used interchangeably with I. The Romans pronounced I as a vowel in some words, such as iter, and as a semi-vowel in others, for example, iuvenis, spelled presently juvenis. The only difference in spelling, however, was the occasional use of double i for the y sound for example, in maiior, spelled presently major. In the Middle Ages the elongated form (j) was used as an ornamental device, most often initially and in numeral series; many old French manuscripts indicate the numeral 4 by the letter sequence iiij. The use of j as an initial led ultimately to its specialized use to indicate both the old semi-vowel sound y, found in German, and the new palatal consonant sounds (z) and (dz), found in French, Spanish and English. Not until the middle of the 17th century did this usage become universal in English books; in the King James Bible of 1611, for example, the words Jesus and judge are invariably Iesus and iudge. Long after the invention of printing, j thus became more than a mere calligraphic variation of i (which in Latin could be either vowel or semi-vowel), and, j became restricted to a consonantal function.
“In English, j has the composite sound of d + zh, as in journal. In French, on the other hand, the zh sound alone is given the letter, as in jour; German has retained the original y sound of the Latin i consonant, as in jahr; and Spanish has introduced a new sound resembling a guttural ch, as in Jerez. In Middle English, before the differentiation of i and j, the combination gi was sometimes used to represent the dzh sounds, such as in Giew for Jew, and in modern times the soft g is used for the same sound, as in general…”
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary confirms how the J developed from the I and became a consonant only a few centuries ago:
“J, j (ja), n. 1. The tenth letter of the English alphabet: formerly a variant of I, i, in the seventeenth century it became established as a consonant only, as in Julius, originally spelled Iulius.”
The letter J was often used instead of the letter I, especially at the beginning of a word. This became common in the 1600s (World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, 1995 ed). Medieval scribes added a tail to the second I when two I’s appeared together. Because a beginning I almost always has a consonant sound, the long form, J, came to be used generally for the consonant sound of the letter (New Book of Knowledge).
It became necessary to distinguish between the J and the I when the dictionary came into being. In the seventeenth century, the dictionary’s appearance forced a consistent spelling. Using either I or J became mandatory to ensure proper alphabetical positioning. Owing to this close kinship with I, J was inserted immediately following I in our English alphabet.
Note the substantiating comments on the J from the Encyclopedia Americana:
“It is one of the few permanent additions to those alphabets, made in medieval or modern times. More exactly, it was not an addition, but a differentiation from an existing letter, I, which in Latin, besides being a vowel (as in index), had also the consonantal value of ‘Y’ (as in maior, pronounced ‘mayor’).
“At a later state, the symbol ‘J’ was used for the distinctive purposes, particularly when the ‘I’ had to be written initially (or in conjunction with another ‘I’). Either symbol used initially generally had the consonantal sound of ‘Y’ (as in Year) so that the Latin pronunciation of either Ianuarius or Januarius was as though the spelling was ‘Yanuarius.’ While in some words of Hebrew and other origin (such as Hallelujah or Junker), ‘J’ has the phonetic value of ‘Y.’”
We discover, then, that the letter J derived from the vowel letter I and originally had the same sound as the vowel I. That is why the lower case j still has a dot over it. The letter I represents the Greek iota (I), which usually corresponds to the Hebrew yothe (Y as in yes). The letter J has a Y sound (as in “hallelujah”) in Latin, German, and Scandinavian languages. In Spanish, J is an aspirate, having the sound of H.
The J was first pronounced as the I at the time of the introduction of the printing press. Dutch printers fostered utilizing the J, especially at the beginning of a word. The letter J eventually acquired its own sound. It was the French who gave the letter J the present sound of the soft letter g as in “large” or “purge.” In Latin, German, and other languages the J is pronounced more like Y with an “ee” sound. The Spanish J is more like an aspirant as in San Jose. Some old European maps still show the spelling of countries like Jugoslavia (Yugoslavia) or Sowjet (Soviet) Russia. It is only in the last century that the letter J has firmly taken on the French pronunciation as in joy or journal.
Webster’s Universal Dictionary (1936) reinforces the fact of the early relationship of the letter J to I:
“As a character it was formerly used interchangeably with ‘I,’ both letters having originally the same sound and after the ‘J’ sound came to be common in English, it was often written where this sound must have been pronounced. The separation of these two letters is of comparatively recent date, being brought about through the influence of the Dutch printers.”
First Letter of the Sacred Name is Y
As we have shown, the J came from the letter I. The New Book of Knowledge shows the letter I (hence the J as well) derived from the Hebrew yothe (y), which is the first letter of the name of Yahweh (hwhy, YHWH, known as the Tetragrammaton or “four letters”; Hebrew is read from right to left). It is also the first letter of the name Yahshu’a. The letter I (yothe or yod) in Hebrew carries the sound of “ee” as in “police.”
The King James Version and other Bibles employ the Latinized-Greek “Jesus.” But the facts of etymology prove that this cannot be His true name. If the King James and other Bibles are in error in calling the Savior “Jesus,” how did the error come about? And how can we determine exactly what that precious Name is?
The fact is, the first copies of the 1611 King James Bible did not use the letter J (see production at top). And no evidence is found to show that the letter I had the consonantal sound of J. This has been shown in the New Funk and Wagnall’s Encyclopedia:
“Not until the middle of the 17th century did this usage become universal in English books; in the King James Bible of 1611 for example, the words Jesus and judge are invariably Iesus and iudge.”
Oscar Ogg’s books, The 26 Letters, which gives a history of each letter of the English alphabet, explains how the J, along with the U and W, were the last to be added to the alphabet:
“The three missing letters, J, U and W, were not used by the Romans at all. U and W developed from V about a thousand years ago, and J developed from the letter I about five hundred years ago,” p. 106.
As already confirmed, most of our American vocabulary employing the letter J stems from the French. Nearly all words containing the letter J in English are pronounced as in French, such as journal or major, although French has a considerably softer pronunciation of J than English. In Spanish the J is more of an h aspirate as in “San Jose.”
After development of the letter J, the Savior’s Name was changed by the translators to Jesus, but continued to be pronounced much like the letter Y. However, the pronunciation of the J soon changed completely from its former “yee” sound to our present “juh” through French influence.
In Latin the J was pronounced as a Y. Even today, the German tongue, among others, pronounces the J like a Y (July – Yulee; Ja = Ya; Major in German is pronounced as “mayor;” June is “Yunee”). Note the comments of author F.F. Bruce in his The Books and the Parchments: “In the English Bible, Hebrew proper names with yod are represented with j, which in modern English has quite a different sound from y. Thus ‘Jehovah-jireh’ would have been pronounced in Hebrew something like Yahweh yeereh” (footnote, p. 40).
In his book, Story of the Letters and Figures, Hubert M. Skinner provides an excellent summation of the discordant transformation inflicted on the Savior’s Name:
“In some way, various modern peoples who received the J from the Romans have lost the original sound, and have substituted something very different. We retain the former sound in our word ‘hallelujah,’ but we generally give the letter the disagreeable soft sound of G. Yod is the initial of the name Jesus. It is unfortunate that a name so dear and so sacred is pronounced in a manner so different from that of the original word. The latter sounded very much as if it were Yashoo-ah, and was agreeable to the ear. Our sounds of J and hard S are the most disagreeable in our language, and they are both found in our pronunciation of this short name, although they did not exist in its original,” pp. 122-123.
‘Jesus’: A Word Out of Place and Time
The Bible clearly reveals that salvation is available in only one name: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other Name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The name the angel gave to Hebrew-speaking Mary and Joseph was Yahshu’a, meaning “Salvation of Yah.”
This original Name has been made a hybrid by translators and changed to the Latinized, Grecianized name Jesus – a name that came into our language about the time of Christopher Columbus. The following Biblical study references clearly explain that “Jesus,” used in place of the Savior’s true Name Yahshu’a, is erroneous. (Some of these references correctly show the Y or I superior to the Mistaken J.)
Þ Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature: “Import of the Name. –There can be no doubt that Jesus is the Greek form of a Hebrew name…Its original and full form is Jehoshua (Num. 13:16). By contraction it became Joshua, or Jeshua; and when transferred into Greek, by taking the termination characteristics of that language, it assumed the form Jesus” (vol. 4, pp. 873-874).
Þ The Anchor Bible Dictionary: “Jesus [Gk. Iesous]. Several persons mentioned in the Bible bear this name, which is a Greek form of Joshua (Heb. Yehosua; cf. the Gk of Luke 3:29; Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:8)…’Jesus Christ’ is a composite name made up of the personal name ‘Jesus’ (from the Gk Iesous, which transliterates Heb/Aram yesu(a), a late form of Hebrew yehosua, the meaning of which is ‘YHWH is salvation’ or ‘YHWH saves/has saved’)…” (III, p. 773).
Þ The Anchor Bible (note on Matthew 1:1): “Jesus. The word is the Greek rendering of a well-known Hebrew name. It was Yahoshu first, then by inner Hebrew phonetic change it became Yoshua, and by a still northern dialectal shift, Yeshua. The first element, Yahu (=Yahweh) means ‘the Lord,’ while the second comes from shua ‘To help, save.’ The most probable meaning is ‘O Lord, save.’” (Vol. 26, p.2)
Þ The New International Dictionary of The Christian Church: “Jesus Christ, The Founder of Christianity bore ‘Jesus’ (the Greek form of Joshua or Jeshua) as His personal name; ‘Christ’ (Gk. Christos, ‘anointed’) is the title given Him by His followers…” (p.531).
Þ Mercer Dictionary of the Bible: “Jeshua: An Aramaic form of the name Joshua, meaning ‘Yahweh is salvation.’ It occurs only in postexilic biblical literature, which supports the later origin of the name. Joshua, the son of Nun, is referred to in one passage as Jeshua (Neh. 8:17)” (p.444).
Þ Newberry Reference Bible (on Matt. 1:24): “Jesus, Heb. Joshua, or Jehoshua. Compare Num. 13:8, 16, where ‘Oshea,’ verse 8, signifying ‘Salivation,’ is altered in v.16 to ‘Jehoshua,’ ‘the Salvation of Jehovah,’ or ‘Jehovah the Savior.’”
Þ The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia: “Jesus (Iesous) is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew ‘Joshua’ (ucwhy, Yehoshua) meaning ‘Jehovah is salvation.’ It stands therefore in the LXX and Apoc for ‘Joshua,’ and in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 likewise represents the OT ‘Joshua.’ In Mt. 1:21 the name is commanded by the angel to be given to the son of Mary, ‘for it is he that shall save his people from their sins…It is the personal name of the L-rd in the Gospels and in the Acts…’” (Vol. 3, p.1626).
Þ The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary: “The given name Jesus means ‘savior,’ it is the Greek equivalent of Jeshua (Heb. Yesua, from yehosua ‘Yahweh saves’ [=Joshua]. Christ is the title, indicating that he is the ‘anointed one,’ the Messiah from Hebrew masiah).” …”Jeshua (Heb. Yesua ‘Yahweh is salvation’)” (p.573).
Þ The Bible Almanac: “The name Jesus (which is identical with Joshua and means ‘God is Savior’) emphasizes His role as the Savior of His people (Mat. 1:21). Christ is the New Testament equivalent of Messiah, a Hebrew word meaning ‘anointed one’…” (p.522).
Þ Holman Bible Dictionary: “Jesus Christ: Greek form of Joshua and of title meaning ‘Yahweh is salvation’ and ‘the anointed one’ or ‘Messiah.’” (p.775).
Þ New International Dictionary of the New Testament Theology, “OT Iesous is the Gk. Form of the OT Jewish name Yesua, arrived at by transcribing the Heb. And adding an –s to the nominative to facilitate declension. Yesua (Joshua) seems to have come into general use about the time of the Babylonian exile in place of the older Yehosua. The LXX rendered both the ancient and more recent forms of the name uniformly as Iesous. Joshua the son of Nun, who according to the tradition was Moses’ successor and completed his work in the occupation of the promised land by the tribes of Israel, appears under this name…It is the oldest name containing the divine name Yahweh, and means ‘Yahweh is help’ or ‘Yahweh is salvation’ (cf. the verb yasa, help save). Joshua also appears in one post-exilic passage in the Heb. OT (Neh. 8:17) as Yesua the son of Nun, and not as in the older texts, Yehosua” (Vol. 2, pp.330-331).
Þ The Classic Bible Dictionary (Jay P. Green), page 633, under Jesus: “Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew ‘Joshua,’ meaning ‘Jehovah is salvation.’ It stands therefore in the LXX and Apocrypha for ‘Joshua,’ and in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 likewise represents the OT Joshua.”
Author Green also comments on the Greek word “Christ:” “Christ (Christos) is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah, meaning anointed.”
Thus we see that the Savior’s name as well as the descriptive title “Messiah” have been undermined and appear in Greek in changed form. Our Savior has been stripped of His Israelite roots.
Þ The SDA Bible Dictionary, page 565: “Jesus Christ [Gr. Iesous] (a transliteration of the Aramaic Yeshua, from the Heb. Yehoshua, ‘Joshua,’ meaning ‘Yahweh is Salvation’), Christos (a translation of the Heb. Mashiach, ‘Messiah,’ meaning anointed or anointed One).] The English form ‘Jesus’ comes from the Latin.”
Þ In Strange Facts About the Bible, author Garrison notes on page 81: “In its English form, ‘Jesus’ goes back to church Latin Iesus which is a transliteration of the Greek Iesous. But in its original Hebrew form it was Y’hoshu’a (‘Yahweh saves’), frequently abbreviated to Joshua…”
Þ Ian Wilson’s Jesus: The Evidence, says on page 66; “’Yeshua’, as Jesus would actually have been addressed, means ‘God saves’, and is merely a shortened form of the more old fashioned ‘Yehoshua (‘Joshu’a’ of the Old Testament).”
Þ New Bible Dictionary (edited by J.D. Douglas) reads under Jesus: “The name Jesus is not strictly a title for the person who bore it. It is, however, a name with a meaning, being a Greek form of ‘Joshua’, i.e. ‘Yahweh is salvation’. The NT writers were well aware of this meaning (Mt. 1:21). The name thus indicated the function which was ascribed to Jesus, and this later found expression in the title Saviour…” (p.584).
Þ Alford’s Greek Testament, An Exegetical and Critical Commentary: “Jesus –The same name as Joshua, the former deliverer of Israel.”
Þ Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion: “Jesus (The Name) –Matthew’s Gospel explains it as symbolic of His mission, ‘For He will save His people from their sins.’ This agrees with its popular meaning as ‘Yahweh saves…’” p. 1886.
Þ A Dictionary of the Bible, by James Hastings: “Jesus –the Greek form (uoshIs) of the name Joshua (ucwhy) or Jeshua. Jeshua – Yahweh is salvation or Yahweh is opulence” (pp.603-602).
Þ New International Dictionary of the Christian Church: “Jesus Christ, The Founder of Christianity bore ‘Jesus’ (the Greek form of Joshua or Jeshua) as His personal name; ‘Christ’ (Gk. christos, ‘anointed’) is the title given Him by His followers…” (p. 531).
All of these authorities and scholars agree. His name is not the Latinized Grecianized name “Jesus,” but reflects His Hebrew heritage and the mission He was given to save His people through the Name of the Heavenly Father Yahweh.
So how did He end up with the name so many erroneously call on today?
Greek Not the Original New Testament Language
Very early in history, even before the Messiah, Greek had become a world language. Alexander the Great conquered the lands east and south of Greece, establishing Hellenistic culture and society as far as the Indus River and south into Egypt.
The koine or common Greek dialect prevailed, becoming dominant in the wake of Alexander’s exploits. Greek survived the ravages of Roman persecution, as well as the crusades, and continued to be spoken up to the time of the Muslim conquest of the Mediterranean area.
Following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., Rome crushed the Bar Kochba rebellion in 135 C.E. The Roman army destroyed anything Jewish, especially religious scrolls and books, including their Torah. This was followed by the Catholic inquisitions in Europe, eradicating anything Jewish. The crusaders made fair game of the Jews, ruthlessly destroying any vestiges of Hebrew writings.
Thus, between the suppression carried out by the Romans and the later Crusades, any Hebrew copies of both Old and New Testament writings were lost. Only Greek copies survived. Neither are there any original Hebrew Old Testaments manuscripts, only copies of copies of copies.
An increasing number of competent Bible scholars now agree with scholar Charles Cutler Torrey (Documents of the Primitive Church) that the New Testament in whole or part was first written in Hebrew and only later translated into Greek.
In the September 12, 1986 issue of The Washington Times, David Bivin notes that Yahshu’a, like His contemporaries, most likely spoke Hebrew, Bivin, the director for the Jerusalem School for the Study of the Gospels, also believes that the original account of the life of Yahshua was written in Hebrew, not Greek of Aramaic. In addition, he and his Jerusalem scholars agree that by considering the Evangels Hebraic, many textual difficulties are cleared up, strongly suggesting that the Evangels were first written in Hebrew.
Even Martin Luther recognized the Hebrew roots of the New Testament. He wrote in Tischreden, “Although the New Testament was written in Greek, it is full of Hebraisms and Hebrew expressions. It has therefore been aptly said that the Hebrews drink from the spring, the Greeks from the stream that flows from it, and the Latins from the downstream pool” (translated by Pinchas E. Lapide in Hebrew in the Church, p.10).
Where is the justification for changing the Savior’s Name? Even in a Greek context, there is no J or J sound in the Koine or in any Greek dialect known. The Greek New Testament of the Bible provides the basis for our present Latin and English translations. Obviously the J came from another source, as Greek has no phonetic equivalent of the letter J in its 24 characters of the alphabet. Neither does Hebrew. The words judge, journal, jack, jam, jet, jog, etc., likely would all be spelled beginning with the Greek iota (English I) and would be pronounced as “ee.” In English the letter j would be replaced by the letter i. We would read iudge, iournal, iack, iam, iet, iog, etc. Some orthographers would prefer that these examples begin with today’s letter y instead of i.
We cannot ignore the fact that there was no letter J in ANY language until around the 15th century, and therefore must conclude that the name “Jesus” never existed before 500 years ago. Let us not forget that we read from a Hebrew Bible. It is the account of Yahweh’s dealing with His people Israel. Yahweh spoke to a people who understood Hebrew. Yahweh is the Mighty One of the Hebrews. Remember also that there was no Jew before the time of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. So the Sacred Name is not Jewish.
The seeker of truth must not shy from the Hebrew roots of true Biblical faith, for we are children of Abraham, a Hebrew (Gen. 14:13). Hebrew means to “cross over,” and we are to “cross over” the falsity and error of this world and join in pure worship of Yahweh and His Son Yahshu’a.
Savior’s Name Explained in Bible Versions
Inspired Scripture calls attention to a singular Name wherein rests our eternal salvation.
The following Bible versions have these footnote explanations on Matthew 1:21, the verse where the angel tells Joseph (Yowceph) what to name the Redeemer of mankind:
• “’Jesus’ (Hebr. Jehoshua) means ‘Yahweh saves’”—The Jerusalem Bible.
• “’Jesus’ is the Greek form of Joshua, which means ‘the Lord saves’” –New International Version.
• “’Jesus,’ from the Greek form of a common Hebrew name (Joshua) derived from yasha, ‘he saves’” –Harper Collins Study Bible
• “She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘Adonai saves’], because he will save his people from their sins” –Jewish New Testament, David Stern, translator.
• “Heb. Yoshia, reflected in the name Yeshua (Gr. Jesus)” –The Original New Testament, Hugh J. Schonfield.
• “Jesus: The Greek form of ‘Jeshua’….The full significance of the name ‘Jesus’ is seen in the original ‘Yehoshua,’ which means ‘Jehovah the Savior,’ and not merely ‘Savior,’ as the word in often explained” –Weymouth’s New Testament in Modern Speech.
• “Jesus Christ. The name ‘Jesus’ is from the Greek (and Latin) for the Hebrew ‘Jeshua’ (Joshua), which means ‘the Lord is salvation.’ ‘Christ’ is from the Greek for the Hebrew ‘Meshiah’ (Messiah), meaning ‘anointed one’”—Ryrie Study Bible
• “Jesus, Yeshua, meaning ‘Jehovah Is Salvation’” –The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures.
The following commentaries add their observations on the Savior’s Name:
¨ Matthew Henry’s Commentary (on Matthew 1:21): “Jesus is the same name with Joshua, the termination only being changed, for the sake of conforming it to the Greek.”
¨ Interpreter’s Bible (Note on Matthew 1:21): “Jesus for He shall save: The play on words (Yeshua, Jesus; yoshia, shall save) is possible in Hebrew but not in Aramaic. The name Joshua means “Yahweh is salvation.”
¨ Barnes’ Notes (Note on Matthew 1:21): “His name Jesus: The name Jesus is the same as Saviour. It is derived from the verb signifying to save. In Hebrew it is the same as Joshua. In two places [Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8] in the New Testament it is used where it means Joshua, the leader of the Jews [Israel] into Canaan, and in our translation the name Joshua should not have been retained.”
The prefix Yah is the short or poetic form of YAH-weh the Heavenly Father’s Name as found in HalleluYAH and in names of many Biblical personalities, as we will see. Thus, the Savior’s Name begins with the prefix “Yah” that begins the name of Yahweh, as revealed in Psalm 68:4: “Sing unto Elohim, sing praises to his name: extol him that rides upon the heavens by his name JAH [YAH], and rejoice before him.” “Shua,” the last part of the Savior’s Name, carries the primary meaning of “salvation.” Thus, Yahshua means “the salvation of Yah.”
When Israel crossed over the Red Sea, Moses sang a song of thanks to Yahweh in Exodus 15. The saving name appears in verse 2, “Yah is become my salvation,” which was to be Yahshua!
The following reasons clearly show why the name Jesus could never have been the Savior’s Name:
Þ There is no letter J or equivalent in Hebrew.
Þ There is no letter J or equivalent in Greek.
Þ There was no letter J in English until about 500 years ago.
Þ “Jesus,” an etymological hybrid from Greek and Latin, has no inherent, etymological meaning in Greek or Latin, not to mention Hebrew or English.
Þ Joseph (“Yowceph” in Hebrew), a Hebrew and a Jew, was told by the angel Gabriel that Mary (Miriam), a Jewess, would give birth to One Who would “save His people Israel from their sins,” Matthew 1:21. Only the Hebrew name “Yahshua” means “Salvation of Yah” (“Yah”shua). He Himself said that He is come in His Father’s Name (“Yah”weh/”Yah”shua) and “you receive me not,” John 5:43.
Þ Mary, a Hebrew, was told the same thing that Joseph was, Luke 1:31.
Þ Would a celestial being announce the coming Savior to Jews who spoke Hebrew (or Aramaic), proclaiming a Romanized, Grecian name beginning with a letter J that did not exist, but would originate in a European tongue 1500 years later? Remember it was to Israel, a Semitic people who spoke and understood Hebrew, that His saving Name was first revealed.
Þ Would HEBREW parents give their baby a hybridized GREEK name devoid of any meaning – especially such an important name that would identify the very Savior of the world?
How Did ‘Yahshu’a’ Become ‘Jesus’?
It is necessary that we understand the prefix “YAH” has come to us in the form “YEH” (a type of which is found in “Yeshu’a” commonly used for Yahshu’a). It is also manifest in the names JEHovah and Jesus.
Almost any scholarly reference work will acknowledge that Rabbinic tradition has suppressed the true Name Yahweh centuries before the Messiah came at Bethlehem. Writing Yahweh’s Name in the Hebrew, Jewish scribes inserted a shewa (:) instead of the proper qamets (T), thus changing the vowel sound “ah” in “Yah” to “eh.” This was done to conceal the sacred Name, thus yielding the improper Yehovah and Yeshua.
This is practiced even today by such groups as the Jews for Jesus, who contend that “Y’shua’ is the Jewish way to say “Jesus.” This may have been done to avoid offending the Jews and their proscription against even the short form YAH.
Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary clearly shows the erroneous vowel pointing of YAH to YEH in the first column of page 48 where the resulting “YEH” is obvious. In every name in this column, a shewa (:) appears under the Hebrew letter yod (y:), and the pronunciation given following the Hebrew spelling begins with the prefix “YEH.”
Using the “e” instead of the proper “a” is another ploy of the Adversary to do away with the family Name YAH, the first syllable of both Yahweh’s and Yahshua’s Name.
This explains how the “e” came about in the name Jesus. The next letter in Jesus, s, results from the fact that Greek has no “sh” sound, only “s” (sigma) sound. This was incorporated into the Latin text. The “u” in Jesus comes from the u in Yahshua. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology explains, “Iesous is the Greek form of the Old Testament Jewish name Yesua [Yahshua], arrived at by transcribing the Hebrew and adding an s to the nom. to facilitate declension.”
The final “s” in “Jesus” is the Greek nominative masculine singular ending. Matthew 1:8-11 contains the genealogy of Joseph’s line, where we can find similar examples of “s” added to produce Greek-inflected Hebrew names: Uzziah becomes Ozias; Hezekiah becomes Ezekias; Jonah becomes Jonas, etc. The errors that we find among names in most versions can be traced to translators. The early Christian translators relied upon the Greek translation called the Septuagint as their source of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Is it not significant that even though these Hebrew names were Grecianized, that they still are recognizable? Why then in English versions does Yahweh’s Name become changed to a completely foreign “God,” while “Yahshua” mutates into “Jesus,” a substitute that is not even close to the original?
Why the change, when even the name of the Adversary – Satan – retains its original Hebrew form and close pronunciation? (Saw-tawn, Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary No. 7854).
Adam Clarke’s respected comments on the inferior early translations are informative: “Through the ignorance and carelessness of transcribers innumerable mistakes have been made in ancient names. These also have suffered very greatly in their transfusion from one language to another, till at last the original name is almost totally lost…Besides, neither the Greeks nor Romans could pronounce either the Hebrew or Persian names; and when engaged in the task of transcribing, they did it according to their own manner of pronunciation,” Clarke’s Commentary, vol. 3, pp. 393-394. Clearly, some over-zealous scribe tampered with the text of the King James Bible and what we have is a New Testament in which the Name of Yahshua has been adulterated and almost obscured.
For an example of this, look at Acts 7:45 in the King James Version. The sentence reads, “Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles whom [Elohim] drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David.” But the account is actually speaking of the Old Testament Joshua, the son of Nun!
Another example is found in Hebrews 4:8, “For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.” Many study Bibles will have notes on these two verses pointing out that the more correct name is JOSHU’A the son of Nun.
Certain translations other than the King James have corrected this error and inserted “Joshua” in the text. Thus, we can see that this name is the same as that given by Moses to his successor in Numbers 13:16. It is also the name of the Savior (corrected with the “Yah”). This shows how the translators overzealously changed all the “Yahshua’s” to “Jesus”—even when it referred to someone in the Old Testament not the Savior.
Go to Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary and peruse page 47, taking special note of the second name from the top of the right column, No. 3050, YAHH. Notice this is the correct spelling and pronunciation of the short form YAH and includes the qametes under the yod: (3050. Yahh, yaw).
Although author James Strong is noted for his classic concordance, his understanding of the Name was lacking and he used the erroneous Jehovah. However, his is correct in listing No. 3050 YAHH, spelling it with the vowel a instead of e and the double hh to bring out the “ahh” sound.
The importance of the short form YAHH takes on additional significance when we read John 5:43, “I am come in my Father’s name….” We understand this to mean that He came in the authority and power of the Heavenly Father. Yet, we must understand that His Name Yahshua also included His Father’s Name, YAH. It is the short form, the prefix of the Name Yahshua! (Followers of Yahshua will be carrying that Name in the Kingdom, Eph. 3:14-15; Dan. 9:19).
The custom of reading a substitute name when the Tetragrammaton was encountered in the Hebrew Scriptures was carried over into the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the LXX (Septuagint). The translation was said to have been made by seventy Hebrew translators for the King of Egypt who wanted a copy of this great book of the Hebrews for the grand library of Alexandria in Egypt. The letters LXX (meaning “70”) are often used as an abbreviation for the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament.
In making the Greek translation, the copyists inserted the four characters of the Tetragrammaton in gold letters of the Hebrew, namely hwhy, wherever the name Yahweh was to appear. However, the pronunciation was pointed with the vowels of Adonai. After the death and resurrection of the Messiah, there arose a demand for a Latin version of the Hebrew Old Testament by the expanding church. These early translators were not skilled in the Hebrew language, and actually detested the Jews and refused to learn the Aramaic or Hebrew tongue. They were ignorant of Hebrew and were often ridiculed by the Jews for their ludicrous pronunciation of Hebrew.
And What About ‘Jehovah’?
Scholars know that Jehovah could never be the name of the Heavenly Father. Aside from the error with the letter J, this word has other problems. Even the Catholics, who have been given the distinction of inventing the word “Jehovah,” know it is not the Father’s Name.
Note what the New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967) says under “Yahweh”: “Judging from Greek transcriptions of the sacred name, YHWH ought to be pronounced Yahweh. The pronunciation Jehovah was unknown in ancient Jewish circles, and is based upon a later misunderstanding of the scribal practice of using the vowels of the word Adonai with the consonants of YHWH,” p. 1065.
In the preface to the Revised Standard Version of the Bible is the following: “The form Jehovah is of late medieval origin; it is a combination of the consonants of the Divine Name and the vowels attached to it by the Masoretes but belonging to an entirely different word. The sound of Y is represented by J and the sound of W by V, as in Latin. The word ‘Jehovah’ does not accurately represent any form of the Name ever used in Hebrew,” pp. 6-7.
In the introduction to The Emphasized Bible, editor Joseph Rotherham writes, “The pronunciation Jehovah was unknown until 1520, when it was introduced by Galatinus; but was contested by Le Mercier, J. Drusius, against grammatical and historical propriety.” Rotherham continues his analysis of this ghost word, “Erroneously written and pronounced Jehovah, which is merely a combination of the sacred Tetragrammaton and the vowel in the Hebrew word for Lord, substituted by the Jews for YHWH, because they shrank from pronouncing The Name…To give the name YHWH the vowels of the word for Lord (Heb. Adonai) and pronounce it Jehovah, is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name Germany with the vowels in the name Portugal –viz., Gormuna” (pp.24-25).
Perhaps the best explanation of how the word Jehovah came about is made in the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary. A photocopy of its entry on “Jehovah” is shown at the top of the page.
The sacred Name was deemed too holy to pronounce. Either because of this fact or because its four letters are also employed as vowels, the Masoretes did not vowel point the Tetragrammaton. Instead, the vowel points for “Adonai” were inserted, alerting the reader to say “Adonai” rather than blurting out the sacred Name Yahweh. Along came Christian scholars in late medieval times who didn’t realize what had been done. Not skilled in Hebrew, they mistakenly combined these added vowels with the Tetragrammaton and the result was the hybrid combination “Jehovah.”
The Jewish Encyclopedia says about the name Jehovah, “This name is commonly represented in modern translations by the form ‘Jehovah,’ which, however, is the a philological impossibility…This form has arisen through attempting to pronounce the consonants of the name with the vowels of Adonai…” (p.160).
The Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves admit that “Jehovah” is inferior to “Yahweh.” In their book, Let Your Name Be Sanctified (p.16), they quote the Roman Catholic translator of The Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures, saying, “I should have preferred to write ‘Yahwh,’ in which, although not certain, is admittedly superior to ‘Jehovah,’”
On page 17 of this same book the Jehovah’s Witnesses write, “In harmony with the practice that had developed among the superstitious, the vowel signs for Elohim or for Adonay were inserted at the accustomed places in the text to warn the Hebrew reader to say those words instead of the divine name. By combining those warning vowel sings with the Tetragrammaton the pronunciation Yahowih and Yehowah were formed.”
Then on page 20 they quote the Lexicon for the Books of the Old Testament, by Koehler and Baumgartner, under the Tetragrammaton: “’The wrong spelling Jehovah (Revised Version: The LORD) occurs since about 1100,’ and then it offers its arguments in favor of Yahweh as ‘the correct and original pronunciation.’”
In the foreword of their Bible, The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures (published by the Jehovah’s Witness Watchtower Bible and Tract Society), they say on page 25:
“While inclining to view the pronunciation ‘Yahweh’ as the more correct way, we have retained the form ‘Jehovah’ because of people’s familiarity with it since the 14th century.
In our search for truth we must retrace our steps and boldly proclaim His true Name, and not follow tradition or erroneous understanding.
Biblical Names Reveal the Person
Our culture today looks on names as little more than labels, although we still talk about having a “good name” and speak of being “true to one’s name.” These expressions are carryovers from a time when a name expressed and conveyed a person’s attributes and character.
In the Hebrew, Bible names all have meaning. At times Yahweh or Yahshu’a (or sometimes parents) changed the name of individuals, giving them a special name that had new meaning. For example, Abram means exalted father; later his name was changed to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude.” Isaac means “laughter” (because his mother laughed when promised a son in her old age). Jacob (Yacob) means “heel-grabber” or “supplanter,” because he supplanted his firstborn brother Esau. His name was changed to Yah-shurun (Israel), meaning “contender” or “perseveres with Yah,” when he wrestled with the angel in Genesis 32.
An eye-opening study of the names of the 12 tribes of Israel appears in Genesis chapter 29-30. Situations surrounding the birth of each of these sons is reflected in their individual names. The Hebrew Dictionary found at the back of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance provides a fascinating exercise in the meaning of names.
In his book, Our Father Abraham, Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, Marvin R. Wilson writes: “In Hebrew thought, the name of an individual was considered to be more than a title or a label for identification. Rather, a name was believed to reveal the essence, character, reputation, or destiny of the one to whom it was given. This is why the moral law of Moses forbids defamation of another’s name by false witness (Ex. 20:16). Thus the name of every Hebrew sent out some sort of message with it.”
The message of the Name of Yahweh throughout Scripture is that it is sacred, and one either accepts it or finds oneself in opposition to Him. The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary explains: “[Yahweh’s] name reveals his character and salvation in which people may take refuge (Ps. 20:1; cf. Isa. 25:1, 56:6); to treat [Yahweh] name as empty is to despise his person (Ex. 20:7),” p. 747.
Yahweh: The Most Sacred of All Names
The Name Yahweh is high on a level all its own. No name is more important than the personal Name of the One we worship. Not only is this true because names have great significance in Hebrew, but also because Yahweh Himself tells us to revere His Name and not to bring it to obscurity through substitution and disuse, Exodus 20:7. The word “vain” in the Third Commandment –“Thou shalt not take the Name of Yahweh thy Elohim in vain” –is the Hebrew shoaw, meaning to rush over, bring to devastation, uselessness, ruin, and by implication, neglect.
The one attribute describing Yahweh’s Name more than any other is its holiness. His Name is not to be blasphemed (Lev. 24:16) or desecrated. It is to be treated with reverential awe, because it expresses the essence of Yahweh Himself.
We can bring His Name to ruin by falsifying it. If you remove an author’s name from the books he wrote and reprint them with another name in them you falsify his works. The same is true when translators take His Name from the Scriptures and insert generic titles in its place.
How can we presume to call upon Yahweh and His Son Yahshu’a with titles like “god” and “lord” that are used in the worship of other deities? Elijah (EliYah, “my El is Yah”) was calling the people’s attention to the same issue in 1Kings 18 –demonstrating that the True Heavenly Father has a personal Name and that they in their ignorance were calling on titles of Baal (“Baal Gad” = Lord God) in their worship (see Harper Collins Study Bible note on Hosea 2:16). Baal was the chief “deity” of the Canaanites.
Yahweh charged that they had forgotten His Name for Baal, Jeremiah 23:26-27. If Yahweh was displeased with the substitution “Baal,” why would He not be just as provoked with today’s substitution of an equivalent word, “Lord”?
The Name Yahweh is so central to salvation that the Savior’s Name bears it as well. He is the Son, and the salvation Yahweh sent. You could say “Yah” is the family Name of the Heavenly Majesty.
“The fact that Jesus was a Jew by birth is crucial for understanding the nature and person of Jesus as presented in the Gospels. Jesus was given the Hebrew name Yahshu’a. (‘Jesus’ is the Latin form of ‘Iesous,’ the Greek transliteration of Aramaic name Yeshu’a.) The name in aramaic Yeshu’a, derived from the Hebrew name Yahshu’a, revealed the destiny he was to fulfill in his life and ministry on this earth” (Our Father Abraham, Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith).
All religions generally are known by the one they worship or give homage to. Anciently the god of the Akkadians was Marduk; the god of the Ammonites was Moloch; the god of the Greeks was Zeus; the god of the Romans was Jupiter; the god of the Moabites was Baal-peor; the god of the Hebrews was…God?! Using an all-inclusive, indefinite, impersonal title simply does not identify the One you worship! Capitalizing that title doesn’t help, either, no more than the title “mr.” suddenly becomes a name if we make it “Mr.”
Strange, isn’t it, that all the pagan “deities” have their own special names, yet we are expected to believe that the TRUE Mighty One of the Bible goes by general terms that can apply to any “deity”?
In fact, the Name Yahweh appears 6,823 times in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, from which we ultimately derive all versions of the Old Testament. It should have appeared 100 times in the New Testament. But rarely does one hear the Name used or even mentioned in churches that supposedly honor those same Scriptures.
The majority of Bible versions have changed the holy Name to the titles God and Lord. You can restore it when you read the Scripture, however. In many King James Bibles, whenever you see the words LORD or LORD GOD in capital letters in the Old Testament, the Masoretic Hebrew Script has the Hebrew characters for Yahweh, hwhy.
Yahshu’a: A Name Given in Hebrew to a Hebrew
Because there is no J sound in the Hebrew, the prefix “Je” does not exist in Hebrew. The combination word “Jesus” is not Greek, it’s not Hebrew. In fact, it is completely without philological meaning in any language. Yet, Gabriel told Mary and Joseph that the Messiah’s Name, being given from the very highest Authority in the heavens, was special. It had a specific connotation, a precise and very important MEANING. The angel said He would be given this Name because “He shall save His people from their sins.” Scholars acknowledge that the name given through Gabriel was the Hebrew Yahshu’a. (See any good study Bible with marginal notes on Matt. 1:21 and Luke 1:31, as well as the Biblical sources listed here.) “Yahshu’a” means “Yahweh is salvation.”
It must be noted that whenever a message was given from on high, it was to those who understood Hebrew, which is called by some the “heavenly language.” Thus, when the angel told Joseph, a Jew, that the Savior would be born of Mary, a Jewess and relative of a Levite Elizabeth, Luke 1:36, that he was to call the baby a specific name, this name would hardly have been a Latin-Greek name such as Jesus! How His name came to us as Jesus in our English Bible such as the King James instead of Yahshu’a is interesting.
The Savior’s true Name in Hebrew letters look like this: ucwhy. Read from right to left, as in all Semitic languages, His Name begins with a (y) (known in English Bibles as “jot,” Mat. 5:18, but in the Hebrew is the yothe or yod).
Yothe carries the sound of i as in machine. This “ee” sound is then followed by an a, which is much like an “ah” sound. This diphthong is pronounced “ee-ah” or “Yah,” which is the short form of the Heavenly Father’s name “Yah-weh.” We see it in the suffix “halleluYah” and in the names of many people of Scripture (IsaYah, JeremiYah, ObadiYah, ZechariYah, ZephaniYah, etc.).
Add the suffix “shua” (meaning “salvation”) and we have Yahshua, the “Salvation of Yah.”
That the language spoken was Hebrew is clear from Matthew 1:23, where the Savior is referred to as Emmanuel, a purely Hebrew word meaning “El with us,” and is so transliterated for us in that passage.
You can see for yourself that the name of your Savior was Yahshua by referring to Strong’s Concordance Greek Dictionary. Look up the name “Jesus” in Strong’s, which shows that it first appears in Matthew 1:1, with the reference No. 2424. Turn to the Greek Dictionary in the back of Strong’s (Greek, because it is in the New Testament) and note the following entry:
‘uoshIS Iesous, ee-ay-sooce’; of Hebrew origin [No.3091]; Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Israelites:-Jesus.
We learn the Savior’s name is of Hebrew origin from No. 3091. In the Hebrew section of Strong’s, No. 3091 has the Hebrew characters that are transliterated into English as follows:
uwcwhy Yehowshuwa’, yeh-ho-shoo’-ah: or
ucwhy Yehowshu’a, ye-ho-shoo’-ah from No. 3068 and No. 3467; Jehovah-saved; Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader: -Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua. Compare Nos. 1954, 3442.
By the time of birth of Yahshu’a’, the accepted form among the Jews was not Yahoshu’a, but the shortened form Yahshu’a. In the Old Testament this name is spelled Joshua and is found in Numbers 13:16 of the King James text where Moses changed the name of the Israelite general from Oshea (or Hosea) to Yahshu’a. That is, from salvation or savior to “Salvation of Yah.”
Most reference works agree with Kittle’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament statement on page 284, which states that the name Yahoshua was shortened after the exile to the short form Yahshua.
The fact that the Greek Dictionary (No. 2424) refers the reader back to the Hebrew section of Strong’s Concordance clearly shows that the name Jesus stems from the Hebrew Yahshu’a.
It is rather doubtful the derivation of Jesus is from the pagan deity “Zeus” of the Greeks. However, some draw a relationship to the “salvation” or “healing” of Ea-Zeus. According to the Dictionary of Comparative Religion (p.622), “The Greeks generally identified the chief god of other peoples with Zeus (e.g. Amun, Hadad, Yahweh).” From Bux and Schone, Worterbuch der Antika, under “Jesus,” we find: “Jesus: really adapted from the Greek, possibly from the name of the Greek healing goddess Ieso (Iaso).”
Although some evidence could support a conclusion for a Greek deity connection, it is more likely that “Jesus” resulted from a crude attempt to transliterate (bring over the sound) from Hebrew to Greek to Latin and then to English, losing the true vocalization with each step.
Young’s Analytical Concordance has one line for Jesus which reads:
JE’-SUS, uoshIs, from Heb. uwcy savior.
As already noted, the early Christians were ignorant of Hebrew and cared less for the language of “those detestable Jews.” Therefore, they relied upon the Greek Septuagint (LXX) Old Testament as their source instead of going directly to the Hebrew texts.
We are not free to reject the Name Yahshu’a, the very Name sent directly from Yahweh through the archangel Gabriel. Nor are we absolved to call Him by the man-made, Greco-Latin Jesus.
We trust you will prayerfully act on this vital truth and prove to yourself that His true Name as given to mankind from the Highest Authority in the universe is Yahshu’a, “Yah’s salvation.” Realize that when you call on the Name Yahshu’a you are invoking the Father’s Name as well, and petitioning the only One who can give salvation.
‘Adonai’ Replaces Sacred Name
The early translators who gave us the English version of the Bible were not Hebrew scholars. They based their understanding mostly on the Greek texts, the Septuagint for the Old Testament and the extant Greek texts for the New Testament. Generally they were ignorant of Hebrew and sometimes lacked in their knowledge of Hebrew grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.
Because of the animosity between the Jews and their Roman rulers, it was a common practice for Roman soldiers to search for and destroy any religious Hebrew texts of the Jews and Messianic believers alike. Initially, the Romans made no distinction between Jews and converts of the early Assembly, for their worship appeared basically the same. Both worshiped on the weekly Saturday Sabbath and observed the annual festivals, both read from the same Old Testament Hebrew scrolls in their study and worship. It was not until the third century that a distinction was made between traditional Jewish worship and those who had gone on to accept Yahshu’a as the Messiah.
The admitted ignorance of the early Christian scholars of the Hebrew language lies at the root of the misspelling and variations of the sacred Name. The Jews often ridiculed and derided these Christians who claimed to be scholars, but stumbled in their efforts to pronounce Hebrew words.
By the time of the Messiah the custom of not pronouncing the sacred Name in public by the Jews became mandatory. This practice had apparently developed from the warning in Leviticus 24:16, “And he that blasphemes the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well as the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemes the name of Yahweh shall be put to death.” By not using the Sacred Name, one could not blaspheme it, and so it was not invoked except by the high priest on the Day of Atonement.
Thus came about the custom in the synagogue of reading “adonai” instead of the Sacred Name when the Tetragrammaton (hwhy) appeared in the texts. The logic being, by calling upon a substitute instead of invoking the Name, the Name could not be blasphemed.
In Jeremiah 44:26 we read another verse that stifled any public utterance of the Sacred Name, especially during the captivity. “Therefore hear you the word of Yahweh, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; behold, I have sworn by My great name says Yahweh, that My name shall no more be names in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘Yahweh Elohim lives.’”
This became especially critical when the Jews were taken captive to Babylon. Psalm 137 relates that they refused to sing the songs of Zion (using the name Yahweh) in a strange land lest the Name and worship be subject to ridicule by the gentiles. Thus the ban on uttering the sacred Name became firmly entrenched and was the general practice by the time the Savior came to earth.
While the Jewish zealots would not invoke (vocalize) the sacred Name, it was their custom to write it in the sacred texts, carefully placing the vowels of Adonai over the Tetragrammaton to warn the reader not to utter the sacred Name, but to use “adonai.” The scribes did, however, place the Hebrew Tetragrammaton in the Greek Septuagint translation. Christian scholars did not understand these sacred four Hebrew letters (hwhy) and translated them into the Greek as pipi, thinking it was the doubling of two Greek letters – pi (ipip) --- read left to right rather than from right to left as in Hebrew. When the proper pronunciation was pointed out to them they inserted the Greek letters oaI, which closely corresponded to YHWH.
Kurios, Theos: Greek Substitutes for Name
Recent discoveries of Greek manuscripts of the Old Testaments reveal that the sacred Name was preserved in Hebrew or Aramaic letters in the first and second centuries B.C.E.
Writings in the Journal of Biblical Literature, professor George Howard observes, “From these findings we can now say with almost absolute certainty that the divine name hwhy was not rendered by oiruKs [Kurios] in the pre-Christian Greek Bible, as so often has been thought. Usually the Tetragram was written out in Aramaic or in paleo-Hebrew letters or was transliterated into Greek letters” (Vol. 96, 1977, p. 65).
The Greek translators later entirely eliminated the Hebrew Tetragram, a Greek word meaning “four letters,” substituting the Greek Kurios [Lord] or Theos [God] for the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, as they believed that the Greek text was as sacred as the Hebrew. However, neither Kurios nor Theos is a transliteration of the Hebrew hwhy. Kurios and Theos are not names. They do not represent the Tetragrammaton, nor do they have the same meaning.
Howard writes, “Toward the end of the first Christian century, when the church had become predominately Gentile, the motive for retaining the Hebrew name Yahweh was lost and the words kyrios and theos were substituted for it in Christian copies of Old Testament Septuagint’s…Before long the divine name was lost to the Gentile church except insofar as it was reflected in the contracted surrogates or remembered by scholar,” Biblical Archaeology Review, March 1978.
Thus, the sacred Name not only was obscured by zealous Jews, but also the Greek substitutes soon found their way into both the Old and New Testament translations.
Why the Terms ‘God’ and ‘Lord’?
It can readily be seen that if the Greek text was considered as sacred as the Hebrew, then the Greek replacements for the Tetragrammaton were thought to be on an equal footing with the Hebrew Name. When the Bible was translated into other languages, the Greek texts were used because translators had a better understanding of the Greek than they did the Hebrew.
Being that Kurios and Theos are Greek terms, a more familiar substitute was customarily used in each language in which the Scriptures were translated. Thus, “Kurios” was rendered “Lord” in English texts and “Theos” was replaced with “God.” These designations, however, should never have been used as surrogates for the sacred Name. Their connotations tell why.
Lord comes from the Old English hlaford, meaning “keeper of the loaf.” It refers to a person who feeds dependents, as in the head of a feudal estate (Webster’s New World Dictionary). The meaning of Lord corresponds almost precisely with the heathen deity Baal. “God” derives from the Old Teutonic root gheu, meaning to invoke and to pour, as in a molten image (“God,” Oxford English Dictionary). (See further explanations below.)
This base root for god, gheu, has another derivative – giddy—from the Old English gydig, and gidig, meaning “possessed, insane, from the Germanic gud-igaz, “possessed by a god” (American Heritage Dictionary under gheu). This source makes the remarkable statement, “Giddy can be traced back to the same Germanic root gud-that has given us the word God.”
Ancient Roots of ‘God’ and ‘Lord’
Many Bible references reveal that the Hebrew word “Baal” has the same meanings as our English word “Lord.” See the footnotes and center column references on Hosea 2:16 in various Bibles (for example: “Baali = My Lord” – Companion Bible note). Throughout the Book of Judges we find that Israel continually fell back into the worship of the Baalim (Lords). In 1Kings 16:29-17:1, Ahab became a king and plunged Israel into full-scale Baal worship. An interlinear version will show that in 1Kings 18:19 and 21 the word is “ha Baal,” meaning “the Lord.” For an apostate Israel, Yahweh had become the “ha Baal” (the Lord) of Israel. (See top of page 37, “Baal – Lord”.)
Rather than having a special, close relationship with Israel through His Name, Yahweh now found Israel worshiping in a common title used for the idols of the nations around them.
The prophet Isaiah excoriated Israel for their abominations in serving pagan idols. One of the most prominent was the Syrian god of fate or luck, otherwise known as Gad: “But you are they that forsake Yahweh, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number” (Isa. 65:11). “Troop” is translated from the Hebrew Gad, pronounced “God” (see Strong’s Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, No. 1409, and note the phonetic Gawd in this reference.).
Our word “God” and its Germanic roots “Gott” and “Gut” are connected to the ancient Syrian idol “Baal Gad,” which Yahweh judged Israel for worshiping. The New Bible Dictionary says of Gad, “A pagan deity worshiped by the Canaanites as the God of Fortune for whom they ‘prepare a table’” (Isa. 65:11)
Read what The Anchor Bible Dictionary says about “Gad”: “A Deity (or spirit) of fortune mentioned in Isa. 65:11 as being worshiped, along with Meni (a god of fate or destiny), by apostate Jews, probably in postexilic Judah,” Vol. II, p. 863. Further, this resource tells us, “The place name Baal-gad (Josh. 11:17) could be interpreted as ‘Lord Gad’ or as involving an epithet (gad) joined to the divine name Baal” (Ibid.)
Do you grasp the significance of what you just read? The heathen nations that Joshua was directed to destroy had a place called Baal-gad, which is none other than “Lord-God,” a reference to Isaiah 65:11 and the worship of this “deity” by those who forsake Yahweh! As the Anchor Bible Dictionary affirms: “The apostates of Isa. 65:11 were looking to Gad [God], not Yahweh, as the source of well-being and prosperity” (Vol. II, p. 864).
In Hastings’ A Dictionary of the Bible, we find that the word Gad or God was “originally an appellative” and used as a divine name in pagan worship (see Gad, p. 76).
Lips Speaking Guile
A few who would contest the truth of the sacred Name will counter with an argument like, “You are saying that I need the exact Hebrew pronunciation of the Savior’s Name or I have no salvation. So anyone with a lisp and unable to form the exact Name as in Hebrew is lost.”
With this argument they summarily reject the ONLY NAME under heaven given to mankind for salvation by Yahweh Himself. Acts 4:12 says there is only ONE Name by which we are saved. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Rest assured that He Who has created man’s tongue would not give us a Name we cannot pronounce! If a physical disability makes the Name difficult to pronounce, Yahweh would surely look with favor on one’s willingness to do so regardless of the success. Yahweh seeks a ready and compliant heart (2Cor. 9:7); that is what matters. We are to walk joyfully in all truth as Yahweh reveals it to us, growing in grace and knowledge, Ephesians 4:13.
Some may also ask whether those who never knew or called on His saving Name in their lifetimes would be relegated to the lake of fire. The teaching of Scripture is that we are judged by what we know, not by what we don’t know. If we don’t know something is wrong, we must first be taught that it is wrong before we can be held accountable. This is clear from Acts 17:30, in what Paul told the ignorant Athenians who were worshiping idols on Mars Hill:
“And the times of this ignorance Yahweh winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). “Winked at” means overlooked. What constitutes sin for which we are held accountable is when we know the truth but reject it (James 4:17). (See Yahshua’s comment in Matt. 11:21-23.)
His People Will Revere His Name
Posing arguments to circumvent the Name is nothing but a futile attempt to spurn deeper truth. It amounts to sheer rebellion –a stubborn effort to absolve oneself of any responsibility to call upon the one and only revealed, saving Name.
The real test is whether one seeks to follow ALL truth without argument or polemics, and to do so as closely as one is able. As we demonstrate our complete desire to rid our worship of every error, Yahweh sees our dedication and adds His blessings to our obedience.
Yahshua said that the mark of His true Assembly is that it would not reject His true Name. He tells the true Philadelphia Assembly, “I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and HAVE NOT DENIED MY NAME” (Rev. 3:8).
We must revere and call upon His rightful Name with the deepest respect and reverence, because it belongs to our soon-coming King. We may choose to deny His Name now, but we will not DARE deny it as we prostrate ourselves before the King of the universe when He comes in His full, majestic glory and in His royal Name Yahshua!
For those who reject the Name and scorn those who hallow it, Yahweh issues some stern warnings. “Hear the word of Yahweh, you that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for MY NAME’S SAKE, said, Let Yahweh be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed” (Isa. 66:5).
Do YOU Break the Third Commandment?
To those who consider themselves sincere Bible students striving to please our Heavenly Father by keeping His Commandments, the following should prove most interesting. Many verses in the Bible teach that the truly converted who love Yahweh will keep His Commandments dealing with proper worship of the Heavenly Father (Deut. 6:5-6; John 14:15, 21; 1John 2:5; Rev. 22:14).
“For this is the love of Yahweh, that we keep His Commandments: and His Commandments are not grievous” (1John 5:3).
Sabbath-keeping groups, especially, strive to keep the Commandments, contending that they properly keep every one of the Ten. But the Third Commandment is the most overlooked or ignored of all the Ten! It is broken virtually every day.
The Third Commandment expressly deals with the holiness of the name Yahweh. “You shall not make wrong use of the name of Yahweh your Elohim: for Yahweh will not leave unpunished the man that misuses His name,” TSS. Ridiculing, disregarding, ignoring or denying His Name and using a substitute is certainly the wrong use of His Name, and is breaking the Third Commandment.
Many Called By His Name – Yesterday and Today
The short form “Yah” in the Name “Yahweh” is found in the King James Version in Psalm 68:4, where modern translators mistakenly rendered it “Jah.” As we know by now, the J should by a Y.
The poetic form “YAH” is found as the suffix in many Hebrew names such as IsaYAH, JeremiYAH, ZachariYAH, ZephaniYAH, HezekiYAH, and NehemiYAH. His Name is also found in the prefix of a number of Hebrew names such as YahYah (John is Yahya in Arabic), YAHchobed (Jochobed, mother of Moses), YAHed (Joed), YAHel (Joel), YAHezer (Joezer), YAHha (Joha), and YAHnadab, (Jonadab). Most of these have also been disguised with the mistaken letter J.
Many of the Psalms command and encourage all to call upon the name of Yahweh. Notice these examples, taken from The Sacred Scriptures, which instead of the title “L-rd,” has the proper names restored:
“I will give thanks to Yahweh according to His righteousness: and I will sing praise to the NAME of Yahweh most high.” (Psalm 7:17) “O, Yahweh, our Sovereign, how excellent is your NAME in all the earth. Who have set your glory above the heavens.” (Psalm 8:1)
“O Yahweh, our Sovereign, how excellent is your NAME in all the earth.” (Psalm 8:9)
“I will sing praise to your NAME, O you Most High,” (Psalm 9:2)
“And they that know your NAME will put their trust in you: For you, Yahweh, have not forsaken them that seek you,” (Psalm 9:10)
“Therefore I will give thanks to you, O Yahweh, among the nations and will sing praises to your Name.” (Psalm 18:49)
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will make mention of the NAME of Yahweh our Elohim.” (Psalm 20:7)
“I will declare your NAME to my brethren; in the middle of the assembly I will praise you.” (Psalm 22:22)
“Save me, O Elohim, by your NAME, and judge me in your might.” (Psalm 54:1)
“Sing unto Elohim, sing praises to His NAME: cast a highway for Him that rides through the deserts; His NAME is Yah; and exult before Him.” (Psalm 68:4)
The Psalms are for everyone to read, as both the Savior and the New Testament writers frequently quoted from them. The Psalms are filled with admonitions calling our attention to the importance of awesome and powerful name of Yahweh. They cannot be ignored.
The title of the Bible book following Deuteronomy properly should be “Yahshu’a,” not Joshua. It is the same Hebrew name as our Savior Yahshu’a. The question naturally arises, why do we not find Yahweh and Yahshu’a names in our Bibles? Certainly if the sacred Names are that important, then we should find the name of the Heavenly Father and His Son on almost every page. The Bible lays the blame at the feet of the scribes and translators:
“How do you say, we are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us? But behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely,” Jeremiah 8:8, TSS.
“Which think to cause My people to forget My NAME by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My NAME for Baal.” (Jeremiah 23:27)
Through ignorance or by design the translators of the Bible were negligent in rendering the Mighty One of the Hebrews as Yahweh (His true Name) and that of His Son Yahshu’a and not Jesus. The true Name Yahweh was replaced by the common substitutes.
Common Questions Asked About the Name
Following are the questions and objections most often rise in regard to the personal Name of the Father and Son. Attempting to answer every objection the human mind may devise could prove an almost endless exercise with those who are just trying to avoid honoring their Creator as He commands us to. But for those with a genuine inquiry, we respond to the following.
Q. “There are no vowels in the Hebrew letters of the sacred Name YHWH, so how can we know how to pronounce it correctly?”
A. If the Hebrew cannot be properly deciphered because of lack of vowels, then our entire Old Testament translation – originally written in a Hebrew script without vowels – is unreliable!
Remarkably, of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Yahweh preserved His Name with three of the four letters that in the Hebrew ARE used as vowels as well as consonants: yothe (y), hay (h), and waw (w). (The aleph, a, is also used as a vowel.) This fact can be verified in nearly any Hebrew grammar, including: A Beginner’s Handbook to Biblical Hebrew (Horowitz), p. 7 under “Vowel Letters”; The Berlitz Self-Teacher, p. 73 under “The Vanishing Dots”; Hebrew Primer and Grammar (Fagnani and Davidson) p. 10 under “The Quiescents and Mappiq,” and How the Hebrew Language Grew (Horowitz), p. 28. In addition, about the seventh century, Jewish scribes known as Masoretes preserved the pronunciation of the Hebrew with diacritical marks or vowel points added to Hebrew words (Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary, p. 699).
Three of these vowel-letters form the Tetragrammaton or Yahweh, why (the hay is repeated). But we need not rely solely on modern scholarship for this information. We can take the word of an eyewitness! The first century Jewish general, priest, and historian Flavius Josephus (37-100?) writes about the sacred Name engraved on the headpiece of the high priest: “A mitre also of fine linen encompassed his head, which was tied by a blue riband, about which there was another golden crown, in which was engraven the sacred name [of Yahweh:] it consists of FOUR VOWELS” (Wars of the Jews, Book 5, chapter 5, p. 556).
Q. “Hasn’t the pronunciation of the Name been lost?”
A. It is not unusual for some who reject the Name Yahweh to argue that because of the aversion of the Jews to using the Name or even to uttering it, that the correct pronunciation became lost. This is the same ineffectual argument put forth by those who reject the Sabbath, saying that the Sabbath has been lost so no one knows which day it is.
Would Yahweh command that all men call on His revealed, personal Name – an eternal Name that is His very memorial to all generations (Ex. 3:15), a name that is the only Name giving salvation – and then allow it to vanish in the midst of time?
Just as the Jews were given the sacred trust of preserving the Words and statues of Yahweh (Rom. 3:1-2), keeping and sustaining the Sabbath in its proper weekly sequence down through history, they also have preserved the proper pronunciation of the Name through the Hebrew language. Jewish history says that the priest spoke the sacred Name 10 times annually on the Day of Atonement down through the centuries. A Name so revered would never be lost on the priesthood. Ask most any Jew in Israel today whether “Yahweh” is the true pronunciation and he or she will acknowledge that it is. Scholarship also reveals the proper pronunciation. One does not even need to go beyond a standard encyclopedia for the facts.
The Encyclopedia Biblica tells us, “The controversy as to the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, whether as Yahwe, or Yahawe, Yahwa, or Yahawa…has been gradually brought to an end by the general adoption of the view, first propounded by Ewald, that the true form is Yahwe” (Divine Names, p. 3311).
The eminent Encyclopaedia Judaica confirms this, “The true pronunciation of the name YHWH [Yahweh] was never lost. Several early Greek writers of the Christian Church testify that the name was pronounced ‘Yahweh,’” Vol. 7, p.680.
This is validated in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edition: “Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used the form Yahweh, thus this pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was never really lost. Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.” Vol. X, p. 786.
Other references substantiate proper pronunciation as “Yahweh.” The 15th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 12, p. 995, makes the following comment under the heading “Jehovah”:
“The pronunciation ‘Jehovah’ is an error resulting among Christians from combining the consonants Yhwh (Jhvh) with the vowels of ‘adhonay, ‘Lord,’ which the Jews in reading the Scriptures substituted for the sacred name, commonly called the tetragrammaton as containing four consonants…The Rabbinic tradition that after the death of Simeon the Just (fl.290 B.C.) It was no longer pronounced even on these occasions, is contradicted by the well-attested statement that in the last generation before the fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70) it was uttered so low that the sounds were lost in the chant of the priest. After that event the liturgical use of the name ceased, but the tradition was perpetuated in the Rabbinic schools; it continued also to be employed by healers, exorcists and magicians, and is found on many magical papyri. It is asserted by Philo that only priests might pronounce it and by Josephus that those who knew it were forbidden to divulge it. Finally the Samaritans shared the scruples of the Jews, except that they used it in judicial oaths….The early Christian scholars therefore easily learnt the true pronunciation.”
Another reference tells us, “The early Christian scholars therefore easily learnt the true pronunciation. Clement of Alexandria (d. 212) gives Iaove or Iaovai (or in one manuscript Iaov), Origen (d. 253-54) ‘Ian, and Epiphanius (d. 404) IaBe (or Iave in one manuscript); Theodoret (d. 457) says that the Samaritans pronounced it IaBe…” (Vol. 12). Samaritan poetry employs the Tetragrammaton and then rhymes it with words having the same sound as Yah-oo-ay (Journal of Biblical Literature, 25, p.50 and Jewish Encyclopedia, vol.9, p.161).
The following authorities also leave no doubt as to the proper and correct pronunciation of Yahweh’s Name:
¨ “The pronunciation Yahweh is indicated by transliteration of the name into Greek in early Christian literature, in the form iaoue (Clement of Alexandria) or iabe (Theodoret; by this time Gk. b had the pronunciation of v)…Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only ‘name’ of God. In Genesis wherever the word sem (‘name’) is associated with the divine being that name is Yahweh,” Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary, 1979 page 478.
The Latin v spoken of here had the same sound as the English w, sharing a close affinity with the u (Harper’s Latin Dictionary). That is why the w (“double u”) is made up of two v’s. The v was used as a vowel, only later becoming a consonant. It came from the u, which it follows in the alphabet.
¨ “It is now held that the original name was IaHUe(H), i.e. Jahve(h, or with the English values of the letters, Yahweh(h, and one or other of these forms is now generally used by writers upon the religion of the Hebrews” (Oxford English Dictionary under “Jehovah”).
¨ “The saying of God, ‘I am who I am,’ is surely connected with His name that is written in the Hebrew consonantal text as Yhwh, the original pronunciation of which is well attested as Yahweh” (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. 5, page 743).
¨ “Such a conclusion, giving ‘Yahweh’ as the pronunciation of the name, is confirmed by the testimony of the Fathers and gentile writers, where the forms IAO, Yaho, Yaou, Yahouai, and Yahoue appear. Especially important is the statement of Theodoret in relation to Ex. lvi., when he says: ‘the Samaritans call it [the tetragrammaton] ‘Yabe,’ the Jews call it ‘Aia’…” The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, “Yahweh,” page 471.
¨ Writings in Biblical Archaeology Review, Professor Anson F. Rainey, professor of Semitic Linguistics at Tel Aviv University, confirms that “Yahweh” is the correct pronunciation: “I mentioned the evidence from Greek papyri found in Egypt. The best of these is Iaouee (London Papyri, xlvi, 446-483). Clement of Alexandria said, “The mystic name which is called the tetragrammaton…is pronounced Iaoue, which means, “Who is, and who shall be.”’
“The internal evidence from the Hebrew language is equally strong and confirms the accuracy of the Greek transcriptions. Yahweh is from a verbal root developed from the third person pronoun, *huwal *hiya. In Jewish tradition, it is forbidden to pronounce the Sacred Name and its true pronunciation is supposed to remain secret. The fact is that Jewish tridents (who put the vowel points in the Hebrew text) borrowed the vowels from another word, either adonai ‘my lord(s),’ or elohim ‘God.’ They avoided the very short a vowel in this borrowing because it might have led the synagogue reader to make a mistake and pronounce the correct first syllable of the Sacred Name, namely –ya. The vocalized form one finds in the Hebrew Bible is usually Yehowah, from which we get in English the form Jehovah. Yehowa/Jehovah is nothing but an artificial ghost word; it was never used in antiquity. The synagogue reader saw Yehowah in his text and read it adonai” (BAR, Sept.-Oct. 1994).
¨ Seventh-day Adventist and Hebrew scholar. Raymond F. Cottrell, writes, “The English spelling of Yahweh is now almost universally believed to reflect accurately the ancient, original pronunciation of YHWH. In keeping with the common practice today of pronouncing proper names translated from a foreign language with as nearly the original vocalization as possible, it would be altogether correct and proper for us to use the name Yahweh wherever the word YHWH (“Lord”) occurs in the Old Testament, and also whenever we are speaking of the true God in Old Testament times. This practice is becoming more and more common among Bible scholars and informed Christians,” Review and Herald, Feb. 9, 1967.
Q. “’Yahweh’ is Hebrew but I speak English. Why shouldn’t I use the English ‘God’?”
A. To this we ask, IS “God” English? Hardly. “God” traces back to the Dutch god, to the Germanic gott and back to the Teutonic guth. Names are transliterated, which means the sounds are carried across unchanged into another language. They are not translated into other languages. “But what about similar forms like John, Juan, and Johann? Or Peter and Pedro?” Some may ask. True, different languages have analogous version of certain names, but that does not change the fact that your given name remains the same no matter which country you travel to. (Notice, too, how closely these name versions RESEMBLE reach other, unlike “Yahweh” and the completely dissonant and unrelated “God.”)
Names simply don’t change from language to language. If a foreign head of state visits America, we don’t attempt to come up with an English version or translation for his or her name. For example, in English new reports Boris Yeltsin is still called “Boris Yeltsin.” Hosni Mubarak remains “Hosni Mubarak.” Trying to come up with an English equivalent of names would be an exercise in futility, because there would be none. Furthermore, doing so would change the person’s name and render the new name useless as a means of identification. The same is true of Yahweh’s Name – only one Name, Yahweh, expresses Him and defines who He is. Yahweh and ONLY Yahweh Himself can change His Name, if He so desires. Yet throughout Scripture we find that “Yahweh” is what He Himself demands to be called. “This is my Name forever,” He told Moses in explaining who He was, “and this is my memorial to all generations,” Exodus 3:15.
Israel also thought that any name commonly used in worship was suitable in the worship of Yahweh. What a grievous error! Because “Baal” was so popular with their pagan neighbors, they began to use it in calling on Yahweh. So Yahweh said in His wrath against Israel, “I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts…And I will visit her upon her days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, says Yahweh…And it shall be that day, says Yahweh, that you shall call me Ishi; and shall call me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name” (Hos. 2:11, 13, 16-17).
Q. “He has many names. Wouldn’t all worship go to Him anyway, no matter what name we use?”
A. This is the same logic the pagans used, which went something like this: “He is Bel-Merodach in Babylon, Baalzebub in Philistia, Zeus in Greece, and we Romans will just call Him Jupiter.” Never mind that each name meant a different way of worship. The prophet Micah brings this out in 4:5, revealing the false “walk” expressed by each different name.
“For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of Yahweh our Elohim for ever and ever.” His name is more than a label. It connotes a well-defined, specifically commanded way of worship that belongs only to Him who bears the Name Yahweh.
Saying Yahweh has many names is a misconception stemming from the practice of classifying the personal name Yahweh, revealed Name with generic titles, as if there were no difference. This false belief that He has “many names” traces to the Jews of the Middle Ages. In attempting to conceal the sacred Name, these Jews elevated generic terms and titles to the rank of His personal Name, then used them as substitutes for the Name.
His titles include: El, Eloah (singular, meaning mighty one) and Elohim (plural); These titles are sometimes combined with the other descriptive words: El Elyon (the most high Mighty One); El Shaddai (the all-powerful Mighty One); El Olam (“Mighty One of eternity”); El Dauth (“Mighty One of knowledge”); El Roi (“Mighty One of seeing”).
The New Bible Dictionary maintains, “Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only ‘name’ of God. In Genesis wherever the word sem (‘name’) is associated with the divine being that name is Yahweh…Yahweh, therefore, in contrast with Elohim, is a proper noun, the name of a Person, though that Person is divine,” p. 478. Another reference says of “Yahweh,”: “This is a personal proper name par excellence of Israel’s God…” and “It is the personal name of God, as distinguished from such generic or essential names as ‘El, ‘Elohim, Shadday, etc.” (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, pp. 1254, 1266).
Certain attributes are at times connected with His Name: Yahweh-Yireh (“Yahweh provides”); Yahweh-Nissi (“Yahweh is my banner”); Yahweh-Shalom (“Yahweh Send Peace”); Yahweh-Zidkenu (“Yahweh our Righteousness” – the name by which Yahshua shall be known, Jer. 23:6); Yahweh-Shammah (“Yahweh Is There”); Yahweh-Rapha (“Yahweh Our Healer”); Yahweh-Mekaddishkem (“Yahweh-Elyon (“Yahweh Most High”); Yahweh-Roi (“Yahweh my Shepherd”); Yahweh-Shua (“Yahweh is salvation”).
These adjuncts used with the sacred Name are descriptive designates and must not be confused with His personal Name. Even less, the title “god” cannot possibly contain the meaning that these special titles connote, let alone be used as a personal name for the Majesty of the heavens. “Mr.” is a title, not a name, as is “Sir,” “Dr.”, and “President.” Each defines a person’s standing, position or rank, but does not identify him or her apart from any others within the same title. “There are gods many and lords many,” Paul writes in 1Corinthians 8:5. So which “deity” do we mean when we use “God” and “Lord”? Capitalizing them does not make names of these common terms.
Yahweh inspired the prophet to write, “I am Yahweh: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images” (Isa. 42:8). Yahweh names Himself. This is what He expects to be called. In Exodus 23:13 He warns: “And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth.”
Psalm 83:18 tells us He has only one Name: “That men may know that you, whose name ALONE is Yahweh, are the most high over all the earth.”
In the New Testament, Acts 4:12 reads, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is NONE OTHER NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Q. “But doesn’t He know who I mean no matter what I call Him?”
A. Suppose your name were Michael. Would you know I meant you if I called out, “Hey, Sam”? Habitually calling you by another name would deeply offend you and cause you to wonder why I stubbornly refused to use your name. Besides, the name Sam signifies someone else entirely. Yahweh also is offended when we refuse to get serious about His Name. He warns in Malachi 2:2, “If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, says Yahweh of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.”
John 4:24 tells us, “Yahweh is Spirit: and they that worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and in truth.” His Name is part of that necessary truth.
It’s clear and simple. Yahweh tells us what His Name is. He commands us to call Him by that Name. We don’t have the option of calling the Mighty One of the entire universe whatever we wish.
We cannot rename Yahweh. Nowhere in the Bible is man given the authority to change His Creator’s Name. Never does the worshiper tell the one he worships how He will be worshiped! Yahweh tells us…we don’t tell Him. To bestow a name is the prerogative of a superior, as when Adam exercised his dominion over the animals by giving them names, or as when a parent names his or her children. It is always the prerogative of the superior to name the inferior, never vice versa.
Mankind was given dominion or stewardship over the earth (Gen. 1:28), and to show his responsibilities, Adam was allowed by Yahweh to name all the creatures (Gen. 2:19-20). Yahweh has control of the earth, heaven and the seas, and man has stewardship only over the creation on earth. We have no authority in heavenly things, such as calling our Creator what we wish.
Yahweh says I am “jealous for my holy Name,” Ezekiel 39:25. We must take those words to heart. If we do, He promises, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as Yahweh has said, and in the remnant whom the Yahweh shall call” (Joel 2:32; see Rom. 10:13).
Knowing “who you mean” makes no difference to Him if you refuse to give him the honor and glory He demands. Even IF He knew who you meant, the point is, He COMMANDS His people to call on His revealed, personal, Covenant Name (Ex. 23:13). His Name represents Him and His truths. No other name, title or designation does that. No other title or substitute name reveals Him as the One who will be whatever His people want or need Him to be. That is the essence and meaning of the Name “Yahweh.”
We cannot say we know who He is and claim to worship Him according to that knowledge if we are using titles that miss the mark completely when it comes to identifying, describing, and defining the One we honor. Through the prophet Isaiah He said, “Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that does speak: behold it is I” (Isaiah 52:6).
Writing in a Seventh-day Adventist publication, Associate Editor Don F. Neufeld provides this insight: “’Yahweh’ is the name that identifies the God of the Hebrews. Where the Philistines worshiped Dagon, the Egyptians, Amon and the Ammonites, Milcom, the Hebrews worshiped Yahweh…When the voice said, ‘I am Yahweh,’ there was no doubt in any listener’s mind as to the identity of the speaker. He was the god of the Hebrews. So far as it is known, no other peoples called their god by this name” (The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 1971).
If you would honor another human being’s wishes by using his or her personal name, how much more should you revere your Creator’s request by calling on Him by His Name? He’s the only One who can give salvation!
Consider: If names don’t really matter, does it matter to you whether Yahweh has YOURS right when it comes to His Book of Life? Consider what Yahshua says: “He that overcomes, the same shall be clothes in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels…And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 3:5, 20:15).
Q. “The sacred Name was not known before Moses, and therefore it was not a salvation Name for those who came before Moses, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This being the case, why is it necessary for us?”
A. This argument stems from a serious misunderstanding of Exodus 6:3: “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name El Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh was I not known to them.” As the Companion Bible explains, the word “known” means perceived and understood. “The name [Yahweh] was known as the covenant name; but was not known so as to be understood.” In other words, the patriarchs had not seen a dimension of Yahweh that Moses and those after him would see –they would soon understand fully what His Name meant by the acts of deliverance, sustenance, and love for His people that He was about to perform (Ex. 9:16; Ezek. 20:5, Amos 3:2). He would become whatever His people needed of Him, which is the intrinsic meaning of the Name Yahweh.
The following verses reveal the error of this argument and show that Yahweh’s Name was indeed known by the patriarchs and used before Moses:
Þ Eve called on His Name – Genesis 4:1
Þ Abraham called on the Name Yahweh – Genesis 12:8; 14:22; 15:2,
7; 21:33; 24:3;
Þ Abimelech used the name Yahweh – Genesis 20:4
Þ Isaac called upon the name Yahweh – Genesis 26:25
Þ Yahweh revealed His Name to Jacob – Genesis 28:13
Þ Anciently men “began to call on the Name Yahweh” – Genesis 4:26
Q. “Hanging on the torture stake, our Savior cried out to Yahweh, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,’ that is to say, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matt. 27:46). If He could use this title, what’s the problem if I use ‘God,’ too?”
A. It was recitation of Psalm 22:1. It also demonstrates that the one on the torture stake is speaking Greek word. Yahshu’a will not speak Greek (Acts 10:28 and Acts 26:14) . Please see Golgotha Conspiracy at the next research document.
Q. “Where is there any record that Yahshu’a ever spoke or taught His Father’s Name Yahweh, or that the Name is in the New Testament?”
A. In His prayer to Yahweh, Yahshu’a in John 17:26 specifically said that He had “declared unto them [the world] your name, and will declare it.” If He declared it then He spoke it.
Even though it may be somewhat hidden in our English text, we find ample examples where Yahshu’a called on His Father’s Name Yahweh and taught it as well. In Matthew 6:9, Yahshu’a opened His Model Prayer with the affirmation of the holiness of Yahweh’s Name: “Hallowed be Thy Name.” The Name Yahweh is the only Name that is called holy in Scripture. Man’s names are not. (Thus, it is unnecessary to change other Biblical names to their Hebrew originals.)
Yahshu’a recognized the name Yahweh as sanctified, and even said He would proclaim it: “I will declare Your Name unto my brethren, in the midst of the Assembly will I sing praises unto you,” Hebrew 2:12.
In the many passages where our Savior quoted the Old Testament, He of necessity would use the name Yahweh. For instance, Luke 4:4, where He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3: “And Yahshu’a answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of Yahweh.”
Many other examples could be shown where Yahweh’s Name appears in the Old Testament text and where Yahshua quotes these same passages word for word. A few of these include: Matthew 4:10 (from Deut. 6:13); Matthew 21:42 (from Psalm 118:23); Mark 7:6 (from Isa. 29:13); Luke 20:37 (from Ex. 3:4-6) and John 6:45 (from Isa. 54:13). (For much more on this subject, request our ministudy, Our Savior Spoke the Sacred Name.)
In the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, professor George Howard details the Hebrew text of the 14th century Jew, Sem-Tob ben-Isaac ben-Shaprut. Howard describes how the sacred Name occurs 19 times in the work, mostly where Kurios and Theos appear in the Greek, but in three places where no correspondent Greek word appears. Howard observes that the Shem-Tob Matthew cannot be a translation of a Greek text, as “no pious Jew of the Middle Ages would have dignified a Christian text by inserting the Divine Name.”
Howard adds, “The conclusion that seems inescapable is that Shem-Tob found the Divine Name already in his [Hebrew] gospel text, having received it from an earlier generation of Jewish tradents. He permitted the Divine Name to remain in the text perhaps because he was unsure himself about what to do with it,” pp. 230-231.
Q. “If it is so important, why isn’t there evidence of the Name outside of the Hebrew Scriptures?”
A. Yahweh gave His Name to the Hebrew peoples because they were His chosen. Those who would take hold of the promises given first to Abraham are grafted in to the trunk of Israel, as Romans 9 and 11 explain. Naturally we would find His Name most prominent among the Israelites and their Scriptures and records. But there indeed are other places where the Name Yahweh has been found.
As we have shown, the Tetragrammaton was discovered on the Moabite stone in 1868, erected by Moabite King Mesha in 900 B.C.E. (p. 25).
Also found in the 1930’s were a number of pottery fragments on which were written personal letters at the time of the Babylonian conquest of Judah (597-587 B.C.E.). Known as the Lachish Letters, one letter is to the commander of a garrison at Lachish, where the writer sends a greeting in “the name of Yahweh.” The fragments also contain about 20 proper names, most compounded with the name of Yahweh (The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, p. 594).
Surprisingly, extra-Biblical evidence for the Name is mounting even on this continent. Indications are that a connection existed between Native Americans and the Semitic peoples of the Middle East.
In Adair’s History of the American Indians, Frenchman James Adair in 1775 detailed many similarities in language, organization, and custom that the Indians of the southeast U.S. share with ancient Israelites. Having spent time among them, he noted that the Indians “frequently sing Hallelu-Yah Yo He Wah,” p. 32. He wrote on page 37, “The American Indians are so far from being Atheists, as some godless Europeans have flattered themselves, to excuse their own infidelity, that they have the great sacred name of God, that describes his divine essence, and by which he manifested himself to Moses…” On page 48 Adair continued, “They have another appellative, which with them is the mysterious, essential name of God – the Tetragrammaton, or great four-lettered name – which they never mention in common speech…” He also noted, “…the American Indians…say YAH at the beginning of their religious dances…” p. 50.
Writing in The Ancient American (March-April 1994), David Allen Deal discusses artifacts discovered between 1874 and 1920 in the state of Michigan. The artifacts bear Egyptians motifs and hieroglyphics, Deal observes. Mostly religious in nature, they contain drawings of the Genesis Creation, Garden of Eden, Noah’s flood and New Testament themes. He notes that three letters in a previously unknown cuneiform style are found on nearly every piece. He writes, “I felt the letters had to stand for the name YHW,” which he notes represents the sacred Name Yahweh. In his book, Discovery of Ancient America, Deal also writes about paleo-Hebrew Tetragrammaton discovered in New Mexico and Tennessee.
Q. “Yahweh confused all the languages at the Tower of Babel, and because Hebrew was extant at that time, how can we be sure that the original pronunciation of Yahweh’s Name wasn’t changed?”
A. Both Shem and Noah spoke the language of Adam and Eve. We have no evidence that this language was anything other than Hebrew, the language of the oldest Biblical manuscripts. (Shem was the great-grandfather of Eber, from whom we get the name “Hebrew.” He naturally would speak the same language as his great-grandson. Eber was the great-great-great-great-grandfather of Abraham.) Certainly neither of these righteous men had anything to do with building a pagan Tower of Babel. Not having been there and involved in this rebellion, their Hebrew language would not have been affected by the confounding of languages at Babel. We can trace the lineage of the patriarchs and see how their Hebrew language continued from the beginning.
Abraham lived to see his grandchild Jacob (Israel). Abraham was alive in the days of Shem, who was born before the flood. Obviously Abraham would have spoken the same language that his family line used before and after the flood: pure Hebrew.
Q. “Doesn’t Psalm 138:2 say His Word is magnified above His Name?”
A. In the King James this passage reads, “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
Other versions render this verse differently: “I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy Word” – Revised Standard Version.
”I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your Name and your Word” – The New International Bible.
“I prostrate myself toward thy holy temple; and give thanks to thy name for thy kindness and thy faithfulness; for thou hast magnified thy name over all” –Smith and Goodspeed.
“I will bow down toward thy holy temple, and give thanks to Thy name for Thy loving kindness and Thy truth; For Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name” – New American Standard.
None of these translations tells us that His Word is to be exalted over His Name. His Name gives weight to His Word and cannot be separated from it.
Had the translators added the right punctuation, because the Hebrew has none, the verse could just as easily have been rendered: “For You have magnified Your word, above all, Your Name.” This would give the passage the same meaning as is found in the New American Standard and Smith and Goodspeed versions, where His Name is the foundation for all other truth.
Q. “You spell the Heavenly Father’s Name ‘Yahweh,’ but I have also seen it spelled ‘Yahowah’ or ‘Yahuweh.’ Why is this?”
A. The Cairo Geneze, by Paul Kahle, published in London says, “Not before 1100 was an o added to the word hwhy and this seems to indicate the pronunciation [Adonay]” (The Translations of the Bible, chapter 3, pp. 172-173, footnote 4).
It was a vowel sign for the letter o that was put in the middle of the Tetragrammaton. This led to the erroneous “Jehovah.” The Lexicon for the Books of the Old Testament says: “The wrong spelling Jehovah occurs since about 1100.” It then offers arguments in favor of Yahweh as “the correct and original pronunciation” (Koehler and Baumgartner, 1951 ed., vol. 1, p. 369, col. 1).
Because early Christians were not Hebrew scholars, they did not understand that the Tetragrammaton was pointed with the vowels for AdOnAY. Scholars maintain that the letter o or u is a vestige of this Rabbinical practice.
This technique was popular where the name why formed the beginning of a personal name, for example ucwhy (Yahshua), which was altered to ( ) (Yehoshua) through the diacritical marks above and below the Hebrew letters (see page 14, subheading “How Did ‘Yahshua’ Become ‘Jesus?’” and request the ministudy, Spelling the Sacred Name: V or W?)
Q. “Doing or asking in Yahweh’s name merely means ‘by His authority.’ How can you say it means pronouncing a Hebrew Name?”
A. Attempting to sever Yahweh from His very being, nature, personality, and essence through calling on another name is nothing more than a feeble attempt to quiet one’s conscience about the importance of His revealed, personal Name. It is true to do something “in a name” can mean by the authority of that individual. But in the Bible it means so very much more.
What such reasoning cannot get around is the fact that Yahweh’s Name is definitive – it expresses the character and very personality of the Creator and Sustainer who bears it. His Name is nothing less than an extension of His being. It expresses His quintessence. Yahweh’s Name is composed of the very verb of existence – haYa. His Name is alive and active. It means He will be whatever His people need of Him. To call on a dead, generic term expecting the same results as calling on His dynamic Name is an insult, once we know that He has a personal, vigorous, life-giving, healing, and Covenant Name that embodies salvation itself to those who call on Him.
‘My People Shall Know My Name’
True Worshipers are identified by and worship under the saving Names Yahweh and Yahshua. No other Name can reveal the true Heavenly Father, and the truth of who He is, as His personal Name Yahweh does. This singular truth alone renders all arguments for using substitutes null and void.
Consider these passages that testify to the necessity of the sacred Name:
Salvation is strictly in Yahweh’s Name and in His Name alone.
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts. 4:12). “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be delivered…” (Joel 2:32) “The name of Yahweh is a strong tower: the righteous runs into it, and is safe” (Prov. 18:10)
We are commanded to call on Him in His Name when we pray or praise Him:
“From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same Yahweh’s Name is to be praised” (Ps. 113:3).
Those who revere and call on His Name are special to Yahweh:
“Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name” (Ps. 91:14). “Then they that feared Yahweh spoken often one to another: and Yahweh hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, says Yahweh of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him” (Mal. 3:16-17).
The saints will gather in His Name:
“And I will strengthen them in Yahweh: and they shall walk up and down in his name, says Yahweh” (Zech. 10:12). “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, Yahweh is my Elohim” (Zech. 13:9).
His people have not denied His Name:
“I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name” (Rev. 3:8). “I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan’s seat is: and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells” (Rev. 2:13).
His people and His future city shall know and be called by His personal, revealed Name Yahweh:
“Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that does speak: behold, it is I” (Isa. 52:6). “O Yahweh, hear; O Yahweh, forgive, O Yahweh, hearken and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my Elohim: for your city and your people are called by your name” (Dan. 9:19). “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2Chron. 7:14). “That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, says Yahweh that does this” (Amos 9:12). “Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him” (Isa. 43:7). “Why should you be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet you, O YAHWEH in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; leave us not” (Jer. 14:9). “Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by your name, O YAHWEH Elohim of hosts” (Jer. 15:16).
The very Elect will be sealed in His Name:
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Rev. 22:4).
His Name will be a test of our obedience:
“Pour out your fury upon the heathen that know you not, and upon the families that call not on your name…” (Jer. 10:25; Rev. 13:17 with 14:1).
His Name is the focus of those who rebel against Yahweh:
“A son honours his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? And I be a master, where is my fear? Says Yahweh of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, wherein have we despised thy name?” (Malachi 1:6) “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against Yahweh, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven” (Rev. 13:6). “And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of Yahweh, which has power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory” (Rev. 16:9).
Punishment awaits those who refuse and shun His Name and His worship:
“But cursed be the deceiver, which has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices unto Yahweh a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, says Yahweh of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen” (Mal. 1:14). “Pour out your wrath upon the heathen that have not known you, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your name” (Ps. 79:6). “Pour out your fury upon that heathen that know you not, and upon the families that call not on your name…” (Jer. 10:25). “He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of Yahweh” (John 3:18). “And the nations were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth” (Rev. 11:18).
His Name Offers Protection, Salvation
The saving nature of Yahweh’s Name will be dramatically demonstrated when the age-ending plagues are unleashed on this world. Just as the four angels standing at the four corners of the earth are about to release their devastation, John in Revelation 7 notices another angel intervening. That angel issues a specific command to the four others: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our Elohim in their foreheads” (verse 3).
Just how are Yahweh’s servants “sealed”? We find that answer in Revelation 14:1: “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s NAME written in their foreheads.”
His Name is an identifying mark and offers protection against the impending calamity from a wrathful Yahweh that will devastate this earth. How can He punish those who have His Name in their minds and hearts? In the ninth chapter we witness what happens to those without the protection of His Name: “And it was commanded them [locusts] that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of Elohim in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he strikes a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them” (Rev. 9:4-6).
Again, notice what exactly it is that Yahweh’s people, then saved and living in the Kingdom at New Jerusalem, have sealed in their foreheads: “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of Elohim and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his Name shall be in their foreheads” (Rev. 22:3-4).
Imagine the shame of rebelling against His Name today, only to have it in one’s forehead in the Kingdom! This gives us serious doubts as to whether someone who deliberately rejects His Name will even BE in the Kingdom.
The prophet Ezekiel foretold what Yahweh would do in the Kingdom.
“So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel” (39:7).
Join those who call upon Yahweh’s Name. The Book of Acts may yet have the final chapter, 29, written some day, and we hope you will join us in prayer that our names will be in that register book of Yahweh’s people and will not be blotted out!
His Name Is the Foundation for All Truth
Now that we have seen that Yahweh’s Name is basic to the truth of the Scriptures, we can also realize how it forms the foundation of True Worship, which shapes the spiritual temple.
When Yahweh says His people will know His Name, He means that through His revealed Name that He Himself is revealed. By telling His people His Name and then saving them, He manifests His innermost character and very nature. As the Concise Bible Handbook says, “’To know’ in the Old Testament goes beyond the mere possession of information, to the active enjoyment of fellowship with the person known,” p. 54. He is our Heavenly FATHER. We worship Him in an intimacy that no other name or title can possibly express. His Name binds His people in a Covenant relationship.
For the past 2,000 years churchianity has been constructing another building, which rests upon another cornerstone cut from a quarry of Greco-Roman teachings. These beliefs are cemented with paganistic practices, humanistic philosophies, Hellenistic and Latin customs, and include a Savior bearing a Latinized Greek name. This spiritual building does not rest upon the foundation of the true Redeemer of Israel. Our Bible is HEBREW, not Greek or Roman.
Scripture clearly reveals that salvation is available only in “the Stone which the builders have rejected,” Acts 4:12. That same verse also states, “There is no other Name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved,” NIV. Verse one reveals that those being spoken to were the priests and Sadducees, and Hebrew was the language of the Temple.
His Name is to be carried to all people as we follow Paul’s example: “But Yahshua said unto him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Yahweh promises that His Name shall be great among the gentiles. All the world will honor and offer prayers to His Name, Malachi 1:11:
“For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, says Yahweh of hosts.”
The last message to be given before the return of the Savior is the proclamation of Yahweh’s Name in the power and spirit of EliYAH: “Behold, I will send you EliYAH the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of YAHWEH: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Mal. 4:5-6).
We are to believe in the Name, John 3:13, 1John 3:23. We are kept in His Name, John 17:11, Proverbs 18:10. We are justified in His Name, 1Corinthians 6:11. His Name dwells among us, Deuteronomy 12:5, 2Samuel 7:13. His Name influences and controls us in behavior and worship, Leviticus 18:21; Romans 15. Full worship is to be where Yahweh chose to place His Name, Deuteronomy 12:11. And one day ALL nations shall revere and call upon His Name, Revelation 15:4.
Turn back to the truth first given to the patriarchs, and come to KNOW your Heavenly Father by calling on His personal, revealed Name Yahweh.
________________________________________
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How Yeshu’a Become Jesus By:JOSEPH STALLINGS Published in Catholic Digest January 1992 vol.32,no.6 page 17, The Mystery of the Magi We usually don’t think about it, but our Lord’s name was not always Jesus. It was in fact originally the popular Aramaic name Yeshu’a.. In first century Judea and Galilee, the name Yeshu’a was very common and shared fifth place with Eleazar (Lazarus) in popularity as a name for Jewish men. The most popular male names at that time were Shime’on (Simon), Yosef (Joseph), Yehuda (Judah or Judas) and Yochanan (John). In the Holy Land at the time of Christ, Aramaic had replaced Hebrew in everyday conversation, but Hebrew remained the holy language and was used in worship and daily prayers. The rabbis also used Hebrew when instructing their disciples. The two languages were closely related, however, as close as Italian is to Spanish, and both used the same alphabet. Yeshu’a was the Aramaic version of the Hebrew name Yehoshu’a (Joshua), and means “Yahweh saves”. Throughout Christ’s lifetime in Galilee, Samaria and Judea of course the name Yeshu’a presented no problem for those who spoke Aramaic and read the Bible and prayed in Hebrew. But outside the Holy Land it become a different story as Good News spread. The Gentiles of the Roman Empire spoke Greek and Latin and simply could not pronounce Yeshu’a. It contained sounds that did not exist in their language. When the Gospels were written in Greek, therefore, the Evangelists had a real problem regarding how they might render our Lord’s name into acceptable Greek. The initially ‘Y’ (Hebrew and Aramaic letter ‘yod’) was easy. The Evangelists could use the Greek letter ‘iota’, written ‘I,’ since it was pronounced like the ‘y’ in yet. The next sound was a vowel, and that was a little more difficult. Unlike Greek, all the letters of the Aramaic-Hebrew alphabet are consonants. The marks for the vowels were not invented until some centuries after Christ and were simple dots and dashes, placed above or beneath the letters. At the time of Christ apparently, the first vowel in our Lord’s name was pronounced like the ‘a’ in gate. And the Evangelists believed they could approximate that sound by using the Greek letter ‘eta’. (The capital Greek letter looks just like our English letter H). Then followed the first of two almost insurmountable problems with Hebrew and Aramaic pronunciation. There was no letter for the ‘sh’ sound in the Greek alphabet. Such a familiar name as Solomon was actually Sh’lomo in Hebrew, Samson was Shimson and Samuel was Sh’mu-El. Like the Greek translators of these Old Testament Hebrew names, the Evangelists used the Greek sigma (s) for the Hebrew shin (sh) when rendering Christ’s name. The first three Greek letters ‘iota’, ‘eta’, and ‘sigma’, moreover came to be used in early Byzantine religious art as an abbreviation of Jesus name. As they look very much like the Latin letters HIS, the letters were adapted in Western European religious paintings and church architecture as a symbol for Christ’s name. The next letter in the Aramaic name Yeshu’a was the Hebrew letter ‘waw’, which here represents the sound ‘oo’, as in too. It was easy for the Evangelists to duplicate this sound in Greek. It takes two letters, however, the omicron (o) and upsilon (u).
But that easy substitution was followed by the biggest problem of all: the final ‘a’ sound. In Greek, there was no substitute for the Hebrew letter ‘aiyin’. Though the ‘aiyin’ has no sound of its own, it causes the vowel that it controls
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to be pronounced deep in the throat. The Greek couldn’t do that, and neither could the Romans when speaking in Latin. Usually, a Greek or Roman would pronounce an ‘aiyin’-controlled ‘a’ like the ‘a’ in father. A final ‘a’ on a name however was most commonly feminine in both Greek and Latin. Thus it was decided to drop the Hebrew ‘aiyin’ completely and replace it with the final Greek sigma (s) which most often indicates the masculine gender in nouns. Throughout the Roman Empire then our Lord’s Aramaic name Yeshu’a, had become the Greek name Iesous, pronounced yeh-SOOS. And this remained Christ’s name throughout the Roman Empire as long as Greek remained the dominant language. But after some centuries Greek lost its favored position and Latin took its place. In the last quarter of the fourth century, the Bible was translated from Greek into Latin by *St. Jerome who had no trouble rendering the Greek Iesous into Latin, it became Iesus. The accent, however, was moved to the first syllable and the name pronounced YAY-soos, since the Romans liked to accent the second from the last syllable. In about 14th century, in the scriptoria of the monasteries where Bibles were copied by hand, Monks began to elongate the initial ‘I’ of the words into a ‘J’. (The pronounciation remained the same-like the ‘y’ in yet but the Monks thought a ‘J’ looked better). Probably the first Monks to do this were Germans because the letter ‘j’ in that language sounds the same as the ‘y’ in English. The name Iesus, consequently, evolved into the familiar written form of Jesus by the 17th century. Everyone still pronounced it YAY-soos, however, as it was in the official liturgical Latin. Way back in the fifth and sixth centuries, some pagan Germanic tribes called the Angles and Saxons invaded England. St Augustine of Canterbury came to convert them to Christianity in A.D.396. Of course St. Augustine established Jerome’s Latin translation as England’s official Bible. The Anglo-Saxon learned that our Lord’s official Latin name was Iesus. Naturally the Germanic Anglo-Saxon converted the initial Latin ‘I’ into the German ‘J’. They pronounced the name, however, as YAY-zoos, since a single ‘s’ between two vowels is sounded like our ‘z’ in Germanic languages. When the Normans invaded England in A.D.1066 they brought with them the French language. Since neither the Anglo-Saxons nor the Normans would surrender their language to the other, the two become wedded and eventually evolved into Modern English. The Normans did influence the pronunciation of the first letter of Our Lord’s name, though, they brought the French pronunciation of ‘j’ (jh), which evolved into our English sound of ‘j’. When King James commissioned the first official translation of the Bibles into English in the early 17th century, the Latin Jesus was carried over unchanged into the new English Bible. The average English citizen of the day probably pronounced the name JAY-zus which ultimately evolved into our modern English JEE-zus. The long process was now complete. A name that began as the Aramaic Yeshu’a would remain written in English as it was in Medieval Latin, but now would be pronounced in English speaking countries as the familiar and loving name of the One who is our Savior, JESUS.
St. Jerome is Eusebius Hieronymus A.D.347 – A.D.419
THE CURSED
SWINE
By DR.GERALD B. WINROD
Editor of the “Defender”, Wichita, Kansas
U.S. Public Health Services
a
CURSED SWINE
By DR.GERALD B. WINROD
Editor of the “Defender”, Wichita, Kansas
The true science and the Bible are the best of friends. There is discord between the theories of scientists
and the dogma of religionists. Render unto science the things that belong to science but render unto
YAHWEH the things that are for Almighty One. Science is the servant of Christianity, not its master.
Science reads the Book of books. There is perfect harmony between the two books; the difficulty often
arises from the eyes through which these books are read.
One of the amazing things about the Pentateuch is the fact of its absolute scientific accuracy. It is one of
the most scientific documents ever written. Moses was one of the greatest scientific minds that ever lived.
Exact statements of scientific laws only discovered in recent years will often be found in these sacred
pages.
Moses declared against the eating of any flesh that was killed by strangling or dying of itself. Moses
knew the great scientific truth that putrid blood is poison. The nervous shock to the blood and flesh of an
animal killed by strangling produces a poisonous condition making it unfit for table use. The law provided
carefully for the bleeding and draining of flesh to be used as food.
One well-known writer says, “This include a chicken whose neck has been wrung instead of being cut
so as to properly bleed the victim; also, all creatures that are killed with a hammer instead of being bled, as
are most of our beef cattle. The law provided that a keen knife be used to bleed them, thus enabling the
heart to pump all the blood from the veins and leave the flesh free from all deleterious matter, which can
never be done if the action of the heart is stopped by first striking down the animal. Has this law become
obsolete? Never, as Yahshu’a the Messiah said, “Till heaven and earth pass away”. For our physical
welfare only, YAHWEH wisely and kindly forbade the eating of blood in any and all forms. As an article
of diet there are few more dangerous substances known that putrid blood. It is a venomous poison, and
even the most thorough cooking does not entirely destroy the direful results. “The direful acts of some
butchers in drinking warm blood are based on the densest ignorance, and yield their fearful fruits in an
imbuted soul and a diseased brain and body”.
LEVITICUS ELEVEN
The eleven chapter of Leviticus is one of the mountain peaks of the Mosaic Law. It deals with diet. If
the system promulgated here was observed today, the human race would be immune to about nine-tenths of
its diseases. An old proverb says, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are”. There is a very
real sense in which we are, physically, just what we eat. Leviticus 11:2 “These are the beasts which ye shall
eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parted the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and
cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat”.
This instructions were not arbitrary with YAHWEH or with Moses. They were revelations of great
moral laws meant for the betterment of the nation. To oppose these laws was to break laws intended for the
highest good of the people. The instructions were rooted in true science. Who told Moses?
When the animals were killed and bled properly, we were permitted to eat cud-chewing, cloven-footed
land animals, and water animals possessing fins and scales.
In verses four to seven the following animals are forbidded: camel, coney, hare and swine. Certain fowls
are forbidden while others are permitted.
The animals possessing a cud and divided hoof have virtually three (3) stomachs as refining and
purifying centers. They take in only vegetable foods and is requires twenty-four hours for this food to
change into flesh. The food is refined, cleansed, purified, with poisonous matter removed by the cud
process before it is built into the physical structure of the animal. It was not a matter of religious ceremony
b
that the cud-chewing beast was permitted for food. It was a physiological provision for the welfare of the
nation and for all subsequent generations that would abide by these supernaturally inspired instructions.
THE CURSED SWINE
Noticed that the swine is strictly forbidden. “And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted,
yet he chew not the cud; he is UNCLEAN TO YOU.”- Leviticus 11:7. The hog is an ugly creature.
Nothing good can be said about him. The hog was in his proper sphere when Yahshu’a Messiah cast the
demons out of the Gadarene and into the swine, as described in the eight chapter of Luke.
The swine anatomy produces a bad appetite and it has a poorly built stomach. Within three hours from
the time he grunts out of the mud to his swilltrough or putrid carrion, he may be butchered and man may
eat him, assumed that the dirty, filthy, diseased matter has been changed into flesh, pork chops and spare
ribs. Moses passes condemnation upon this kind of food. The best the hog can give you is produced from
the dirtiest, filthiest, most rotten, most diseased material in the world. He is the muckraker of the farm. The
food that it eats is polluted even before it passes into his polluted body. The best of modern science says
that many of the worst diseases to which western civilization is subject to-day, can be traced to the blunder
of eating pork. Moreover, in moral sense, animal flesh stirs to action the baser passions of the flesh life of
depraved human nature – the very passions which Christians should be most eager to have destroyed
through self-crucifixion.
The hog can live only about eight years at best because his diet is so deadly poison. “The swine is a
scavenger, the turkey buzzard of the animal kingdom, the hyena or jackal of civilization; and not
withstanding the preaching of some of the contrary. YAHWEH has never cleansed or sanctified or
transformed him. He is still a hog” –This is the language of one informed scholars.
“EAT SWINE AND INHERIT FROM HIM ALL MANNER OF BLOOD DISEASES, STOMACH
TROUBLES, LIVER ILLS, CANCERS and TUMORS”! He is the cause of much suffering. He deserved
the curse that Moses placed upon him. Jews and Japanese, Muslim, who eat no pork, known little or
nothing of the diseases which the hog hung on ancient Egypt and the western civilization of today. It is said
that there was no word for cancer in the original Hebrew language. However cancer has become a fearful
curse among Jews in recent years, and all because the modern Jew is letting down the bars on pork eating.
An eminent preacher has this to say: “If you examine carefully you will find a small abrasion just
behind the front foot of the pig. Rub it off clean and press the leg just above the abrasion and you may
squeeze a teaspoonful of dirty matter from it. This is the outlet of sewer pipe that may be traced all through
the animal’s body. It helps to drain off the teeming filth with which the system is filled. If this external
opening become clogged, the animal will run about and grunt and rub his leg on anything handy, and
manifest great pain. He seems almost to know that he will soon sicken of so-called cholera and bloodpoison
and die of his own internal filth, unless he keeps this sewer open.
“On a close analysis of this filthy, scrofulous serum – the ‘culture’ of its bacilli under varied conditions
– it is seen to contain the elements of many dangerous diseases; yet how toothsome are ‘pickled pig feet’ to
ignorance, unbelief, and disobedience. It is this internal and intrinsic vileness that causes a large percentage
of our hogs to be filled with trichina and results in such havoc to human health.
“We might be excused from diverting our attention from the scientific side of this discussion long
enough to insert a few remarks on this heaven-forbidden delicacy. This creature, which has been
condemned both logically and theologically, takes precedence with ignorance over all the creatures of the
creation as an article of diet. He, of all creatures, is literally devoured. His body is eaten, his head turned
into head cheese, and even his ears and tail inserted. His blood is turned into blood pudding; his stomach is
transformed into tripe; his feet are pickled; his intestines are used for sausage covers, his heart, liver and
kidneys are cooked; and his very bristles are sought for wax ends, etc. There is not even his grunt left
unused, for the transgressors against YAHWEH and nature’s laws take up this undesirable remnant, and
often grunt with disease and squeal in pain caused by their folly. Surely a man is what he eats. Is the law
against this dirty, deadly diet obsolete? Ask the dyspeptic, the cancerous victim, or the consumptive.”
c
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LAW AND GRACE
Yahshu’a Messiah great respect for the law of Moses. While some of the ordinance of worship were set
aside by the advancement of Christianity over rites and symbols of Jewish worship, yet the great moral
laws of Mosaic code remain unchanged. Yahshu’a Messiah said “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”. ( Matthew 5:18).
TRICHINOSIS
Trichinosis, a disease directly traceable to infection from eating the flesh of swine, is very, very seldom
correctly diagnosed. Research on the infection with TRICHNIELLA SPIRALIS among the population of
U.S. has been carried on under the skillful supervision of Dr. Willard H. Wright, Chief of the U.S. Zoology
Lab. Dr. Thomas Parran, Surgeon General, Head of U.S. Public Health Services, makes the startling
declaration that there are now 16,000,000 cases of Trichinosis in the U.S.A.
Prof. Maurice Hall reports that out of 222 cases of Trichinosis (from a study of cadavers from
hospitals), not one was correctly diagnosed! One of America’s greatest researchers on the problem states:
“Upon the ingestion of the third stage larvae in infested muscle, the larvae are freed from the cyst by the
action of the gastric juices and then proceed to migrate to the intestine. Here they develop to maturity and
after fertilization the adult worms produce living embryos which invade the blood stream and are carried to
all of the voluntary muscles of the body. These embryos develop in a relatively short time to third stage
larvae in the muscles. The larvae remain alive during the low heat processing which transforms the
SWINE’S FLESH (Isa.65: 3-4; 66: 17) into summer sausage, wienerwurst, frankfurters, etc.
“When consumed by humans, the digestive juices in the stomach dissolve around the coiled worms and
set them free. The young larvae born in the small intestine then begin to take their horrible toll. They travel
through the body through the blood stream and lymphatics, and may lodge either temporarily or
permanently in the glands and lymph nodes, brain, heart, skeletal muscles, or other tissue. It will thus be
seen that the symptoms of different sufferers vary greatly and are not different than symptoms of other
diseases, both infection and non-infection and the disease is difficult to diagnose. This horrible disease is
diagnosed by physicians as “Ptomaine poisoning”, “Intestinal Influenza”, “Malaria”, Acute Alcoholism”,
“Typhoid Fever”, “Appendicitis”, “Colitis”, “Ulcer”, “Gall Bladder Involvement”, Scarlet Fever”,
“Asthma”, “Pneumonia”, “Neuritis”, “Mumps”, “Rheumatism”, “T.B.”, “Undulant Fever”, “Lead
Poisoning”, etc, etc. When the larvae lodge around the heart, the disease is diagnosed as various forms of
“Heart Disease”, etc. etc… It realy it is “TRICHINOSIS” !
One reason million of people are infected with Trichinosis is because pork is used so widely as an
adulterant in meat product.. The P.H.R. concludes that of the total persons dying over the period of these
surveys, ONE out of SIX was infected with the Trichina parasite ! Further more, the hog is such a
dangerous carrier of disease because the animal itself is diseased. Its lungs are frequently filled with
‘tubercules’. In 75 cases of 100 you will find the liver filled with abcesses. Lard then is nothing more than
extract of a diseased carcass..”
In Isaiah 65: 3-4 “A people that provoke ME to anger continually to MY FACE; that sacrificed in
gardens, and burned incense upon altars of brick; which remain among the graves, and lodge in the
monuments, which EAT SWINE’S FLESH, and broth of ABOMINABLE things is in their vessels “.
In Isaiah 66: 17 “They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in
the midst, EATING SWINE’S FLESH, and the ABOMINABLE, and the MOUSE, shall be consumed
together, said YAHWEH” .
(Do you wish to order “pork chops” for dinner tonight ? )
PAUNANG SALITA Kilala mo ba si YAHSHU’A ang pangalan ng Messiah na nagturo sa Israel 2,000 taon na ang nakakalipas ? Ang pangalang itinawag sa kanya ng kaniyang Hebreong magulang ay pangalang Hebreo na Yahshu’a na isinusulat sa wikang Aramaic na YESHU’A. Ang Aramaic na pangalang Yeshu‟a ay isinalin sa pangalang Greek na Iesous na binibigkas na Yeh-sous, at isinalin sa Latin na Iesus na binibigkas na Yay-sus at ng maimbento ang letrang ‘J’ noong 1633 A.D. ay naisalin sa English na Jesus, mababasa sa „How Yeshu‟a Become Jesus‟ sa pahina “o”. Mas Mahalaga ba ang pangalang Yahshu’a kaysa Jesus ? Sa YahYah (Juan) 14:26 “ang Mang-aaliw na siyang Banal Na Ispiritu ay ipadadala ng Ama sa pamamagitan ng Aking Pangalan, at iyang Banal Na Ispiritung iyan ang siyang Magtuturo sa iyo ng lahat ng bagay at Magpapa-alala ng lahat ng sinabi ko sa iyo”. Ang pangalan niya nang binangit sa YahYah (Juan) 14:26 ay Yahshu‟a, hindi pa na-iisalin ang pangalan niya sa Iesous o Jesus, samakatwid ipadadala ng Amang Yahweh ang Banal Na Ispiritu sa pamamagitan ng Pangalang YAHSHU‟A. Bago tayo magpatuloy alam natin na bagong imbento lamang ang Letrang „J‟ kaya imposibleng Jesus ang pangalan ng Messiah, ganoon din ang pangalan ni Juan o „John‟ ay ang dapat ay „YahYah‟. Sa Israel ngayon ang tawag kay John ay „Yochanan‟ na isang kontradiksyon sa nakasulat sa YeremiYah (Jeremiah) 43:4 at sa Luke 1:61. Tangi ang Banal na Pangalan ni Yahweh na „Yah‟ sa Awit 68:4 ang may kapangyarihan na pagsalitaing-muli si ZechariYah sa Luke 1:22, Luke 1:59-64. Ang Semetic na kapatid na wika ng Hebreo at sa Arabic ang pangalan ni John ay „Yahya‟. Si Yahshu’a ang Messiah ay ANAK NI YAHWEH o ANAK NG TAO ? Noong kapanahunan pa ni Emperor Constantine na nagtatag ng Romano Katoliko ay pinagtatalunan na kung ang Messiah (na naisalin na sa pangalang Latin na „Iesus‟) ay „Anak ng Kataas-taasan‟ o „Anak ng Tao‟. Nang ipatawag ni Emperor Constantine noong 325 A.D. ang 1.800 na Bishop na ang dumalo ay 318 Bishop lamang sa Council of Nicea, ang pinagkatiwalaan ni Bishop Alexander na si Athanasius ay ipinipilit na si Iesus ay „Anak ng Kataas-taasan‟ at ang Banal na Ispiriti at ang Ama ay iisa o ang „Paniniwala sa Trinity‟. Si Arius naman ay ipinagpilitan na si Iesus ay „Anak ng Tao‟. Si Yahshu’a ay Anak Ni Yahweh: Sa geneology sa Luke 3:23-38 “Si Yahshu‟a ay magtatatlumpong taon na ay anak ni Yohseph na anak ni……. si Seth na anak ni Adam na Anak ni Yahweh”. Si Yahshu‟a raw ay anak ni Yohseph na ang ninuno ay si Adam na Anak ni Yahweh. Sa Genesis 6:2-4 sa kapanahunan ni Adam “At nakita ng mga „Anak ni Yahweh‟ na magaganda ang mga babaeng „Anak ng Tao‟ at pumili sila ng kani-kanilang mapapangasawa”. May mga higante sa mundo ng kapanahunang iyon, at ang naging supling ng Anak ni Yahweh sa mga babaeng Anak ng Tao ay naging Magigiting (Mighty men) o tinawag na Elohim.
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Nalito ang mga Translators kung Sino ang Anak ni Yahweh at Sino ang Anak ng Tao: YahYah (Juan) 12:32-34 “at Ako, kung Ako at maitaas na, ilalapit ang lahat ng tao sa akin (and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me)”. YahYah (Juan) 12:33 ay komentaryo ng Translators. YahYah (Juan) 12:34 “Ang mga tao ay sumagot, „narinig namin sa batas na ang Messiah ay lalagi magpakailanman, bakit sinasabi mo na ang Anak ng Tao ay kailang maitaas, sino ba itong Anak ng Tao ? (“The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Messiah abideth forever, and how sayest thou, The Son of Man must be lifted up ? who is this Son of Man ?). Wala naman binanggit sa YahYah 12:32 ang Translators na Anak ng Tao ay kailang maitaas, bakit sa isinagot ng mga tao at nagtatanong sino ba itong Anak ng Tao ? Samakatwid sa YahYah 12:32 ay ang binanggit ni Yahshu‟a ay HINDI ‘Ako’ KUNDI ‘Anak ng Tao’ ay maitaas na. Bakit nalito ang mga Translators ? Si Yahshu’a Messiah ay Anak Ni Yahweh na Buhay:
Mateo 16:13-17 “Nang dumating si Yahshu‟a sa lupain ng Caesaria ng Filipos, tinanong niya ang kanyang mga Alagad. Sino raw ang Anak ng Tao ayon sa mga tao? At sumagot sila na sabi po ng ilan ay si YahYah (Juan Bautista), sabi naman ng iba ay si EliYah, at may nagsabi pang si YeremiYah o isa sa mga Propeta”. Kayo naman ano ang sabi ninyo ? sino ako ? tanong niya sa kanila. Sumagot si Simon Pedro, “Kayo po ang Messiah, ang Anak Ni Yahweh na Buhay”. Sinabi sa kanya ni Yahshu‟a “mapalad ka Simon na Anak ni Yonas sapagkat ang KATOTOHANANG ITO’Y HINDI INIHAYAG sa iyo ng laman at ng dugo (ng sinumang tao) kundi nang aking Ama (Amang Yahweh) na nasa langit”.
Tanging si Simon Pedro na anak ni Yonas ang pinahayagan ni Amang Yahweh ng KATOTOHANAN na si Yahshu’a ay ANAK NI YAHWEH NA BUHAY. Ang mga Translators ay nalito dahil hindi sila pinahayagan ni Amang Yahweh ng katotohanang ito kaya inakala nila na si Yahshu‟a ay Anak ng Tao kagaya ng ayon sa mga Tao. Ano ang Inihayag ni Amang Yahweh kay Simon Pedro na Anak ni Yonas na Hindi inihayag sa sinumang tao ? Marcos 4:11 ‘sa inyo’y ipinagkaloob na malaman ang lihim tungkol sa paghahari ni Yahweh, ngunit sa iba ay ang lahat ng bagay ay itinuturo sa pamamagitan ng talinghaga’. Kung inihayag din sa inyo ito ay matatanggap ninyo ang mga SUSI sa Kaharian ni Amang Yahweh na nasa Mateo 16:19 at maiintindihan ninyo ang nangyaring sabwatan sa Golgotha. SABWATAN SA GOLGOTHA ANG BULAANG PROPETA NA SI CAIPAS: YahYah 11:51 ‘sinabi niya ito hindi sa ganang kanyang sarili lamang, bilang punong Seserdote ng panahong iyon, hinulaan niyang mamamatay si Yahshu’a dahil sa bayan’. YeremiYah 23:31-32 ‘ako’y laban sa mga propetang kumakatha ng sariling pangitain saka sasabihing iyon ay ang sabi ni Yahweh. Ako’y laban sa propetang nagsasalaysay ng kasinungalingan upang dayain ang aking bayan, hindi ko sila sinugo at wala silang kabuluhang idudulot sa bayang ito’. Deuteronomo 18:21-22 ‘upang matiyak ninyo kung ano ang sinasabi ng propeta ay kung galing kay Yahweh o hindi, ito ang palatandaan: kapag hindi nagyari o hindi nagkatutoo ang sinabi niya, yaon ay hindi mula kay Yahweh, sariling katha niya iyon, huwag ninyo siyang paniwalaan’.
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Si Caipas ay isang bulaang Propeta at hindi karapat-dapat na maging punong Seserdote dahil hindi siya nanggaling sa lahi ni Aaron na Levita. Samakatwid hindi mula kay Yahweh ang kanyang inihula. Bakit ang mga tigapagturo ng Jesús ay naniniwala sa hula ng bulaang propetang si Caipas, at pati na ang mga naniniwala sa tunay na pangalan ni Amang Yahweh at Yahshu’a Messiah ay pinaniwalaan din ang hula ng bulaang propetang si Caipas at naniniwala sa Hindi Seserdote ni Amang Yahweh. PINANGGALINGAN NG BULAANG SESERDOTE NA KAGAYA NI CAIPAS 1 Hari 12:31 ‘nagtayo pa sila ng mga sambahan sa burol at naglagay ng mga Seserdote na hindi mula sa lipi ng Levita, kundi pangkaraniwang tao lamang (NehemiYah 7:63-65)’. 1 Hari 13:33 ‘sa ginawang kasamaang ito ni Yeroboam, hindi siya tumigil sa paggawa ng kasamaan, patuloy parin siyang nagtatalaga ng mga Seserdote na hindi lahing Levita kundi pangkaraniwang tao lamang’. Si Caipas ay hindi nanggaling sa lahi ni Aaron na Levita, samakatwid si Caipas ay hindi tamang Seserdote. ANG TAMANG SESERDOTE Lukas 1:5 ‘Nang si Herodes ang hari ng Judea, may isang Seserdote na ang pangalan ay ZechariYah sa pangkat ni Abias, at mula rin sa lipi ni Aaron ang kanyang asawa na si Elizabeth’. NehemiYah 12:4 ‘mga Seserdote’ na Levita, ‘Iddo, Ginetoi, Abias’. Exodus 29:1 ‘Ganito ang gagawin mo sa pagtatalaga kay Aaron at sa kanyang mga anak na lalaki bilang Seserdote’. SINO ANG NAGPLANO NA IPAPATAY ANG MESSIAH? YahYah 11:45-54 ‘marami sa mga Hudyong dumalaw kay Maria ang nakakita sa ginawa ni Yahshu’a at nanalig sa kanya. Ngunit ang ilan sa kanila’y pumunta sa mga Pariseo at ibinalita ang ginawa ni Yahshu’a, kaya’t tinipon ng mga punong Seserdote at ng mga Pariseo ang mga Kagawad ng Sanhedrin. ‘Ano ang gagawin natin’? Wika nila, gumagawa ng maraming kababalaghan ang taong iyon, kung siya’y pababayaan natin mananampalataya sa kanya ang lahat, paparito ang mga Romano at wawasakin ang Templo at ang ating bansa. Ngunit ang isa sa kanila si Caipas ang pinaka-punong Seserdote noon ay nagsabi ng ganito, ‘Ano ba kayo, hindi ba ninyo naiisip na mas mabuti para sa atin na isang tao lamang ang mamatay alang-alang sa bayan, sa halip na mapahamak ang buong bansa. (sinabi niya ito hindi sa ganang kanyang sarili lamang bilang punong-Seserdote sa panahong iyon – hinulaan niya na mamamatay si Yahshu’a dahil sa bansa – at hindi lamang sa bansang iyon lamang kundi upang tipunin ang nagkawatak-watak na mga Anak ng Maykapal). Mula noon ay binalangkas na nila kung paano ipapapatay si Yahshu’a. Kaya’t siya’y hindi na hayagang naglakad sa Hudea. Sa halip, siya’y nagpunta sa Efraim, isang bayang malapit sa ilang at doon siya nanirahan kasama ng kanyang mga alagad’. BINALAK NA IPAPATAY NA RIN SI LAZARO
YahYah 12:10-11 ‘Binalak ng mga punong Seserdote na ipapatay din si Lazaro, sapagkat dahilan sa kanya’y maraming Hudyong humihiwalay na sa kanila at nananalig na kay Yahshu’a’.
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IBIG IPAPATAY NI HERODES SI YAHSHU’A Lukas 13:31 ‘Dumating noon ang ilang Pariseo, sinabi nila kay Yahshu’a, ‘umalis ka rito, sapagkat ibig kang ipapatay ni Herodes’. Lukas 3:6 ‘umalis ang mga Pariseo at nakipagsabwatan sa mga kampon ni Herodes upang ipapatay si Yahshu’a’. ANAK NI YAHWEH AY IBA SA ANAK NG TAO Genesis 6:2 ‘ang mga Anak ni Yahweh ay nakita ang mga babaeng ‘Anak ng Tao’ na magaganda, kaya pumili sila ng kani-kanilang mapapangasawa’ ANAK NG TAO Genesis 11:5 ‘bumaba si Yahweh upang tingnan ang lungsod at ang toreng itinatayo ng mga Anak ng Tao’. SI YAHSHU’A HANGGANG SA NINUNO NIYANG SI ADAN AY MGA ANAK NI YAHWEH Lukas 3: 23 – 38 ‘ si Yahshu’a ay mag-tatatlumpung taon na ng magsimulang magturo, na anak ni Yahseph, na anak ni Heli,………38..na anak ni Enos, na anak ni Seth, na anak ni Adan na Anak ni Yahweh’. SINO ANG ANAK NG TAO, SINO AKO? SI YAHSHU’A AY ANAK NI YAHWEH NA BUHAY Mateo 16:13-17 ‘Nang dumating si Yahshu’a sa lupain ng Caesaria ng Filipos, tinanong niya ang kanyang mga alagad, ‘sino raw ang ‘Anak ng Tao’, ayon sa mga tao? At sumagot sila, ang sabi po ng ilan ay si YahYah Bautista, sabi naman ng iba ay si EliYah, at may nagsabi pang si YeremiYah o isa sa mga propeta. Kayo naman, ano ang sabi ninyo sino ako? Tanong niya sa kanila. Sumagot si Simon Pedro, ‘kayo po ang Messiah ang Anak ni Yahweh na buhay’, sinabi sa kanya ni Yahshu’a, mapalad ka Simon na anak ni Yonas, sapagkat ang katotohanang ito’y hindi inihayag sa iyo ng sinumang tao kundi ng aking Ama na nasa langit’. ANO ANG KATOTOHANAN NA HINDI INIHAYAG NG SINUMANG TAO KUNDI ANG AMANG YAHWEH LAMANG? Na makilala na BUHAY si Yahshu’a ang Messiah na ANAK NI YAHWEH SINO BA ANG ANAK NG TAO? YahYah 12:32-34 ‘at kung ako’y maitaas na, ilalapit ko sa akin ang lahat ng tao’, sumagot ang mga tao, ‘sinasabi sa Kasulatan na ang Messiah ay mananatili Magpakailanman, sino ba itong Anak ng Tao?’
Samakatwid, ang binanggit ni Yahshu’a ‘at kung ako’y maitaas na’ ay ang tamang pagkakasulat ay ‘at kung ang ‘Anak ng Tao’ ay maitaas na’. Ito’y mapapansin sa kasagutan ng mga tao sa pagtatanong ng ‘sino ba itong Anak ng Tao?’
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Ang Translators ay hindi “Mapalad’ na kagaya ni Simon na anak ni Yonas na pinahayagan ni Amang Yahweh na si Yahshu’a ang Messiah ay BUHAY na ANAK NI YAHWEH NAGPAKILALA SI YAHSHU’A NA ANAK NI YAHWEH YahYah 10:36 ‘ako’y hinirang at sinugo ng Ama, paano ninyong masasabi ngayon na nilalapastangan ko si Yahweh sa sinabi ko na Ako ay Anak ni Yahweh’. KINILALA SI YAHSHU’A Mateo 3:17 ‘ito ang minamahal kong Anak na lubos kong kinalulugdan’. SINO BA ANG BINANGGIT NI YAHSHU’A NA KAILANGANG MAMATAY? Markos 8:31 ‘Anak ng Tao’ ay dapat magbata ng maraming hirap, siya ay itatakwil ng Matatanda ng Bayan, ng mga punong Seserdote at ng mga Eskriba at ipapapatay. Ngunit sa ikatlong araw muli siyang mabubuhay’. Lukas 9:21-22 ‘Anak ng Tao’ ay dapat magbata ng maraming hirap at itatakwil ng Matatanda ng Bayan, ng mga punong Seserdote at ng mga Eskriba, ipapapatay nila siya, ngunit sa ikatlong araw siya ay muling mabubuhay’. MULING IPINAHAYAG NI YAHSHU’A ANG KAMATAYAN NG ANAK NG TAO Lukas 9:44-45 ‘ipagkakanulo ang Anak ng Tao’, ngunit ito’y hindi nila maunawaan sapagkat inilihim ito sa kanila’. Markos 9:31 ‘Ang Anak ng Tao ay ipagkakanulo at papatayin, ngunit muling mabubuhay sa ikatlong araw’. Mateo 17:22-23 ‘sinabi sa kanila ni Yahshu’a na ang Anak ng Tao ay ipagkakanulo at papatayin, ngunit muling mabubuhay sa ikatlong araw’. IKATLONG BESES NA INIHAYAG NI YAHSHU’A ANG KAMATAYAN NG ANAK NG TAO Markos 10:33-34 ‘ang Anak ng Tao ay ipagkakanulo sa mga punong Seserdote at sa mga Eskriba, siya’y kanilang hahatulan ng kamatayan at ibibigay sa mga Gentil, siya’y tutuyain nila, luluraan, hahagupitin at papatayin, ngunit muli siyang mabubuhay pagkaraan ng tatlong araw’. Mateo 20:18 ‘aakyat tayo sa Yahrusalem. Doo’y ipagkakanulo sa mga punong Seserdote at sa mga Eskriba ang Anak ng Tao, hahatulan siya ng kamatayan at ibibigay sa mga Gentil. Siya’y tutuyain, hahagupitin at ipapako sa krus, ngunit muli siyang bubuhayin sa ikatlong araw’. Lukas 18:31-34 ‘tandaan ninyo ito pupunta tayo sa Yahrusalem at doo’y matutupad ang lahat ng sinulat ng mga propeta tungkol sa ‘Anak ng Tao’. Ipagkakanulo siya sa mga Gentil, tutuyain, dudustain at luluraan siya ng mga ito. Siya’y hahagupitin at papatayin nila, ngunit sa ikatlong araw ay muling mabubuhay. Subalit wala silang maunawaan sa kanilang narinig, hindi nila nakuha ang kahulugan niyon, at hindi man lamang nalaman kung ano ang sinabi ni Yahshu’a’.
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Samakatwid ay tinutukoy ni Yahshu’a ay ang ‘Anak ng Tao’ ay dapat magbata ng maraming hirap, siya ay itatakwil ng Matatanda ng Bayan, ng mga punong Seserdote at ng mga Eskriba at ipapapatay. Ngunit sa ikatlong araw muling mabubuhay’. Si Yahshu’a ay ‘Anak ni Yahweh’ na inihayag kay Simon Pedro na anak ni Yonas, ito ay hindi inihayag ng tao kundi tanging si Amang Yahweh lamang ang naghayag nito. UNANG ITINURO NI APOSTOL SAUL (PABLO) NA SI YAHSHU’A AY ANAK NI YAHWEH Gawa 9:20 ‘Una niyang itinuro sa mga sinagoga na si Messiah Yahshu’a ay siya’ng Anak ni Yahweh BAGO MAGBAUTISMO SI FELIPE NA DISIPOLO NI YAHSHU’A Gawa 8:37 ‘at si Felipe ay nagsabi ‘kung ikaw ay naniniwala ng buong puso, maniwala ka’, at siya’y sumagot, ‘naniniwala ako na si Yahshu’a ay Anak ni Yahweh’. PINANGGALINGAN NG ALAMAT NA ‘NABUHAY NA MULI’ ALAMAT NI MYTHRA BAGO LUMITAW SI YAHSHU’A MESSIAH (1200 B.C.E.) Si Mythra ng Persia ay ipinanganak ng inang Birhen noong December 25, ipinako sa krus hanggang mamatay at ‘Nabuhay Na Muli’ sa ikatlong araw. ALAMAT NI ATTIS BAGO LUMITAW SI YAHSHU’A MESSIAH NG NAZARETH (1200 B.C.E.) Si Attis ng Gresya ay ipinanganak ng inang Birhen noong December 25, ipinako sa krus hanggang mamatay at ‘Nabuhay Na Muli’ sa ikatlong araw. ALAMAT NI KRISHNA BAGO LUMITAW SI YAHSHU’A MESSIAH NG NAZARETH (900 B.C.E.) Si Krishna ng India ay ipinanganak ng inang Birhen noong December 25, ipinako sa krus hanggang mamatay at ‘Nabuhay Na Muli’ sa ikatlong araw. ALAMAT NI TAMMUZ BAGO LUMITAW SI YAHSHU’A MESSIAH NG NAZARETH Ezekiel 8:14 (597 B.C.E) Si Nimrod II ay tinawag naTammuz ng mga Babylonia, Azur naman ang tawag ng mga Asyrian, at Osiris naman ang tawag ng mga Egyptian. Si Nimrod II ay napatay at ang kanyang asawa ay nagbuntis sa ibang lalaki at pinalabas na ang bata ay si Nimrod II na ‘NABUHAY NA MULI’.Mula noon ang Alamat na ito ay naging bantog sa mga Alamat ng Griyego at Romano kahanay nila Jupiter at Zeus. ALAMAT NI HORUS BAGO LUMITAW SI YAHSHU’A MESSIAH NG NAZARETH
(300 B.C.E.) Si Horus ng Egypt ay ipinanganak ng inang Birhen noong December 25, ipinako sa krus hanggang mamatay at ‘Nabuhay Na Muli’ sa ikatlong araw.
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ALAMAT NI DIONYSUS BAGO LUMITAW SI YAHSHU’A MESSIAH NG NAZARETH (200 B.C.E.) Si Dionysus ng Gresya ay ipinanganak ng inang Birhen noong December 25, ipinako sa krus hanggang mamatay at ‘Nabuhay Na Muli’ sa ikatlong araw. Mapapansin na ang mga unang nagsalin (translators) ng Biblia ay nanggaling sa bansang naimpluwensyahan ng mga Alamat na ‘NABUHAY NA MULI’. Mapapanood sa Google video clipping ‘Part 1 The Greatest Story Ever Told’. NADALANG PANINIWALA NI HERODES Markos 6:14-16, Mateo 14:1-22 ‘nakarating kay Haring Herodes ang balita tungkol kay Yahshu’a, sapagkat bantog na ang pangalan nito. May nagsabi, siya’y si YahYah Bautista na muling nabuhay, kaya nakakagawa siya ng mga himala. May nagsabi naman na siya’y si EliYah, siya’y propeta, katulad ng mga propeta noong una anang iba. Sinabi naman ni Herodes nang mabalitaan niya ito, ‘NABUHAY NA MULI’ si YahYah Bautista na pinapugutan ko’. Mapapansin na dati nang pinaniniwalaan ang alamat na ‘NABUHAY NA MULI’ ay sikat na sikat na paniniwala ng halos lahat ng Paganong Bansa bago pa magturo si Yahshu’a Messiah. ANO BA ANG TALINGHAGA SA NABUHAY NA MULI? Lukas 15:32 ‘ngunit dapat tayong magsaya at magalak, sapagkat ‘NAMATAY NA’ ang kapatid mo, ngunit –‘MULING NABUHAY’, ‘NAWALA’ ngunit muling nasumpungan’ Epeso 2:5 ‘tayo’y ‘BINUHAY’ niya kay Messiah kahit noong tayo’y mga patay pa dahil sa ating mga pagsuway’. Lukas 9:60 ‘ipaubaya mo sa mga patay ang paglilibing ng kanilang mga patay’. Marcos 4:11 ‘sa inyo’y ipinagkaloob na malaman ang lihim tungkol sa paghahari ni Yahweh, ngunit sa iba ay ang lahat ng bagay ay itinuturo sa pamamagitan ng talinghaga’. PANALANGIN NI YAHSHU’A Lukas 22:42 ‘Ama’, wika niya, ‘kung maaari’y ilayo mo sa akin ang sarong ito, gayunma’y huwag ang kalooban ko ang masunod kundi ang KALOOBAN MO’. DININIG ANG PANALANGIN NI YAHSHU’A Hebreo 5:7-8 ‘Noong si Yahshu’a ay namumuhay rito sa lupa, siya’y nanalangin at lumuluhang sumamo kay Amang Yahweh na makapagliligtas sa kanya sa kamatayan, at DININIG SIYA dahil sa lubusan siyang nagpakumbaba’.
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KALOOBAN NG NAGMAMAY-ARI NA MAKAKUHA NG PRUTAS HINDI ANG MAPATAY ANG KANYANG ANAK Mateo 21:33-41 Pakinggan ninyo ang isang Talinghaga: May isang nagmamay-ari ng pataniman ng ubasan at tinayuan niya ng gawaan ng alak at tore at iniwan niya sa kanyang mga Magsasaka at siya ay pumunta sa ibang bansa. Nang dumating ang panahon na malapit ng magbunga ang mga pananim ay ipinadala niya ang ang kanyang mga Tagasunod sa Magsasaka upang makatanggap ng mga prutas. Ang Tagasunod ay binugbog at pinatay at ang iba ay pinagbabato. Muling nagpadala ng iba pang Tagasunod at ganoon din ang ginawa ng Magsasaka. Ngunit sa huli ay ipinadala ang kanyang anak sa paniwalang kanilang igagalang ang kanyang anak. Ngunit ng makita ng mga Magsasaka ang anak ay nagkaisa sila na sinabing “ito ang Tigapagmana, atin siyang Patayin at ating angkinin ang kanyang pagmamanahan” At ang Anak ay kanilang kinuha sa Pataniman ng ubas at kanilang Pinatay. Ngayon kung dumating na ang Nagmamay-ari ng pataniman ng ubas, ano ang kanyang gagawin sa mga Magsasaka? At sumagot sila na matinding sisirain ang mga masasamang tao at ibibigay ang kanyang pataniman ng ubas sa ibang Magsasaka na magsusukli sa kanya ng mga Prutas sa Tamang Panahon”. KALOOBAN ba ng Nagmamay-ari ng ubasan na mapatay ang kanyang Anak o ang KALOOBAN niya ay Makakuha ng Prutas? INILAGAY SA KANILANG ISIP NA AKO’Y PATAY Awit 31:12 ‘ako ay kinalimutan nila at inilagay sa kanilang isip na ako ay patay’ Awit 118:17-22 ‘hindi ako mamamatay kundi mabubuhay, ihahayag ang kagila-gilalas na ginawa ni Yahweh. Kinastigo ako ni Yahweh, ngunit hindi ako ibinigay sa kamatayan’. 118:22 ‘ang batong inayawan ay siyang naging pinaka-saligang bato’ Ito ay naisalin sa Gawa 4:11-12 ‘ang batong inayawan ay naging pinaka-saligang bato, walang kaligtasan sa kaninuman, dahil walang tanging pangalan sa silong ng langit na ipinagkaloob sa mga tao kundi sa pangalan ni Yahshu’a Messiah’. Lukas 24:44 ‘ito ang tinutukoy ko ng sabihin ko sa inyo noong kasama-sama pa ninyo ako, ‘dapat matupad ang lahat ng nakasulat tungkol sa akin sa Kasulatan ni Moses, sa Aklat ng mga Propeta, at sa mga Aklat ng Awit ni David’. ANG MGA NAKASULAT SA MGA KASULATAN NI MOSES, AKLAT NG MGA PROPETA AT SA AKLAT NG AWIT NI DAVID Deuteronomo 18:15 ‘si Yahweh ay magtatalaga ng Propeta sa kalagitnaan ninyo, na kalahi ninyo, na kagaya ko (si Moses ay Levita rin), sa kanya kayo dapat makinig’. Awit 118:17-22 ‘hindi ako mamamatay kundi mabubuhay, ihahayag ang kagila-gilalas na ginawa ni Yahweh. Kinastigo ako ni Yahweh, ngunit hindi ako ibinigay sa kamatayan’. 118:22 ‘ang batong inayawan ay siyang naging pinaka-saligang bato’ Daniel 9:26 ‘at paglipas ng animnapu at dalawang linggo ang Messiah ay mapuputol, ngunit hindi para sa kanyang sarili’: Mapuputol ngunit hindi sinabing mamamatay.
Isaiah 53:8 ‘siya ay inilabas sa kulungan at sa paghatol: at sino ang makakapagsabi sa kasama niya sa kanyang henerasyon na siya ay pinutol sa lupain ng mga buhay? Dahil sa kasalanan ng kanyang bayan siya ay nagdalamhati’.
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Si Propeta Isaiah ay sumulat ng pangsubok na katanungan na sino sa kanyang kapanahunang ka-henerasyon na makakapagsabi na siya ay naputol sa lupain ng mga buhay. Dahil sa kasalanan ng kanyang bayan siya ay nagdalamhati (stricken). WALANG NAKASULAT SA MGA KASULATAN NG MGA HUDYO NA ANG MESSIAH AY MAGBABATA NG HIRAP. ITO AY DAGDAG NG NAGSALIN NG SULAT NI MATEO NA ANG MESSIAH AY MAGBABATA NG HIRAP Mateo 26:27-28 ‘NAGPASALAMAT’. Tingnan ang Mateo 15:36 ‘ibinigay niya sa kanila – LAHAT KAYO, kagaya sa Markos 14:23-24, sa sunud-sunod na ulat ni Markos ang mga Disipolo ay UMINOM at pagkatapos ay sinabi ni Yahshu’a ang salitang ito. Sa Mateo ay PINALITAN ITO at ginawang pautos na INUMIN NINYO sinundan ng salitang ‘AKING DUGO’, tingnan ang Leviticus 17:11 dahil ang dumanak na dugo ang dahilan ng buhay at kung ilalagay ito sa altar ay MAKAKAPAGPATAWAD ng mga KASALANAN na may relasyon sa Huling Hapunan. Sa mga salita na nasalin sa Griyego, tingnan ang Markos 14:24 ‘MARAMI’, tingnan ang Mateo 20:28, dahil sa ‘KAPATAWARAN NG KASALANAN’ AY IDINUGTUNG SA AKLAT NI MATEO. Parehas na salita ang nasa Markos 1:4 sa pagbabautismo ni YahYah Bautista ngunit sa Mateo ay INIWASAN ITO (Mateo 3:11). Ginawa ito maari dahil ‘NAIS NIYANG IPALAGAY NA ANG PAGSASAKRIPISYO NG MESSIAH SA KAMATAYAN AY ANG MAGBIBIGAY NG KAPATAWARAN NG MGA KASALANAN’. Maliwanan na IDINAGDAG lamang sa Mateo na ang ‘KAPATAWARAN NG MGA KASALANAN AY ANG KAMATAYAN NG MESSIAH’. Ano ba ang KAPATAWARAN ng mga kasalanan? JUBILEE YEAR Ang Kapatawaran sa Mga Kasalanan Leviticus 25:8-55, ang Jubilee Year ay ang KAPATAWARAN sa mga materyal na mga pagkakautang, ngunit ang espiritual na utang ay mga kasalanan na katulad sa Jubilee Year na PINATATAWAD ang materyal na utang ay ganoon din PINATATAWAD ang espiritual na utang na mga kasalanan. Lukas 4:19 ‘upang ituro ang Katanggap-tanggap na Taon ni Yahweh’. Ang tinutukoy na Katanggap-tanggap na Taon ni Yahweh ay ang Jubilee Year. Lahat ng mga Escolar ay naniniwala na ang Katanggap-tanggap na Taon ni Yahweh ay ang Jubilee Year. Lukas 7:36-50 ‘si Yahshu’a ay inimbitahan ni Simon na isang Pariseo upang kumain sa kanyang tahanan, at ang isang masamang babae ay hinugasan sa luha at pinunasan ng kanyang buhok, nilagyan ng pabango at hinalikan ang mga paa ni Yahshu’a. Ang mga nanduroong Pariseo ay nagsabi na kung talagang Propeta si Yahshu’a ay makikilala niya agad ito na isang masamang babae. Ngunit tinanong ni Yahshu’a si Simon (na Pariseo) tungkol sa dalawang tao na may pagkakautang na 500 Dinaryo at 50 Dinaryo, Nang hindi parehong makapagbayad ay agad na pinatawad sa pagkakautang ang dalawa. Ngayon sino sa kanila ang higit na magmamahal sa nagpatawad sa utang? Sumagot si Simon na ang mas Malaki ang pagkakautang ang mas higit na magmamahal. Sa ganitong sagot ni Simon ay itinuro ni Yahshu’a ang makasalanang babae (Lukas 7:47) at sinabi na kahit Marami o Malaki ang kasalanan ng babae ay PINATAWAD NA dahil Malaki rin ang isinukli niyang pagmamahal. At sinabi ni Yahshu’a sa babae ‘Ang iyong mga kasalanan ay PINATAWAD NA’ (Lukas 7:48). At ang mga kasalo sa pagkain ay nagsimulang magtanong sa sarili, ‘sino ba ito na pati pagpapatawad ng kasalanan ay pinanga-ngahasan? Ngunit sinabi ni Yahshu’a sa babae ‘INILIGTAS KA NG IYONG PANANALIG, YUMAON KA NA AT IPANATAG MO ANG IYONG KALOOBAN’.
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Samakatwid ang may malaking pagkakautang na pinatawad ay kagaya noong babae na may malaking kasalanan, ito ay ang ibig sabihin ng Jubilee Year, na mas-Malaki ang halaga na maisasanla ang ari-arian kung Malaki pa ang panahon bago dumating ang Jubilee Year, at mas-Maliit naman ang halaga kung maliit na ang panahon bago dumating ang Jubilee Year. Ang Jubilee Year ay nagpapatawad sa mga utang na materyal, samantala ang utang na espiritual ay ang mga kasalanan ay ganoon din ay PINATATAWAD sa Taon na Katanggap-tanggap kay Yahweh . Ang pananampalataya ng babae ang nagligtas sa kanya, ito ang pananampalataya sa itinuro ni Yahshu’a sa Lukas 4:19 na Jubilee Year. Kung ang pananampalataya sa Taon na Katanggap-tanggap kay Yahweh (Jubilee Year) ay isang daan sa IKAPAPATAWAD sa mga utang na kasalanan, Bakit kailangan pang mamatay ang Messiah sa ikapapatawad ng ating mga kasalanan? IMBISTIGASYON SA MGA NAGANAP: SINO ANG NAGPLANO NA IPAPATAY ANG MESSIAH? YahYah 11:45-54 ‘marami sa mga Hudyong dumalaw kay Maria ang nakakita sa ginawa ni Yahshu’a at nanalig sa kanya. Ngunit ang ilan sa kanila’y pumunta sa mga Pariseo at ibinalita ang ginawa ni Yahshu’a, kaya’t tinipon ng mga punong Seserdote at ng mga Pariseo ang mga Kagawad ng Sanhedrin. ‘Ano ang gagawin natin? Wika nila, ‘gumagawa ng maraming kababalaghan ang taong iyon, kung siya’y pababayaan natin mananampalataya sa kanya ang lahat, paparito ang mga Romano at wawasakin ang Templo at ang ating bansa. Ngunit ang isa sa kanila si Caipas ang pinaka-punong Seserdote noon ay nagsabi ng ganito, ‘Ano ba kayo, hindi ba ninyo naiisip na mas mabuti para sa atin na isang tao lamang ang mamatay alang-alang sa bayan, sa halip na mapahamak ang buong bansa. ( sinabi niya ito hindi sa ganang kanyang sarili lamang bilang punong-Seserdote sa panahong iyon – hinulaan niya na mamamatay si Yahshu’a dahil sa bansa – at hindi lamang sa bansang iyon lamang kundi upang tipunin ang nagkawatak-watak na mga Anak ng Maykapal). Mula noon ay binalangkas na nila kung paano ipapapatay si Yahshu’a. Kaya’t siya’y hindi na hayagang naglakad sa Hudea. Sa halip, siya’y nagpunta sa Efraim, isang bayang malapit sa ilang at doon siya nanirahan kasama ng kanyang mga alagad’. IBIG IPAPATAY NI HERODES SI YAHSHU’A Lukas 13:31 ‘Dumating noon ang ilang Pariseo, sinabi nila kay Yahshu’a, ‘umalis ka rito, sapagkat ibig kang ipapatay ni Herodes’. Lukas 3:6 ‘umalis ang mga Pariseo at nakipagsabwatan sa mga kampon ni Herodes upang ipapatay si Yahshu’a’. BLASPHEMY Noong kapanahunan nang ang Israel ay masasakop na ng Bansang Assyria ay naglabas ng Batas ang Sanhedrin, sa sinumang bumanggit ng Banal na pangalang Yahweh ay magkakasala ng ‘Pamumusong’ (Blasphemy). Ito ay mababasa sa Encyclopedia Judaica sa Titulong ‘YHWH”. Kahit na ang pinaikling tawag kay Yahweh na ‘Yah’ ay binibigkas na ng ‘Ye’ (Ezra 2:2) sa pag-iwas sa pagbanggit ng pangalang Yahweh. Sa kapanahunan ni Yahshu’a Messiah ay pinatawan siya ng pagkakasala ng Blasphemy.
Mateo 26: 64-65 ‘sinasabi ko sa inyo na ang ‘Anak ng Tao’ ay uupo sa kanan ng ‘Makapangyarihan’ at darating sa mga alapaap ng kalangitan’ sa ganoon ay pinunit ng punong Seserdote ang sariling kasuutan at pinatawan ng kasalanang ‘Kapusungan’ (Blasphemy) si Yahshu’a. Ang ‘Blasphemy’ ay pagkakasala sa pagbigkas ng Banal na pangalang Yahweh, kaya hindi ‘Makapangyarihan’ ang binanggit ni Yahshu’a kundi ang pangalang Yahweh kaya siya ay pinatawan ng pagkakasala ng “Pamumusong’ (Blasphemy).
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Si Yahshu’a ay dinala ng mga tauhan ng punong seserdote kay Gobernador Pilato at ipinadala naman ni Pilato si Yahshu’a kay Tetraikang Herodes, ngunit hindi hinatulan ng Kamatayan ni Herodes si Yahshu’a, at si Yahshu’a ay ibinalik kay Gobernador Pilato. Naging magkaibigan tuloy sila na dati’y magkagalit. Sa ganiton pananaw ay hindi sasalungatin ni Pilato ang naging desisyon ni Herodes na kabago-bago palang niyang kaibigan, (Lukas 23:13-15). Si Gobernador Pilato naman ay pinagsabihan ng kanyang asawa na huwag pakialaman si Yahshu’a dahil pinahirapan siya sa panaginip sa nakaraang gabi. Sa ganito ay hindi nanaisin ni Pilato na hindi pagbigyan ang kahilingan ng kanyang asawa, (Mateo 27:19). Dahil lamang sa pangangailangang pagbigyan ang mga tao na alam ni Pilato na sinuhulan ng mga punong Seserdote ay kinailangang baguhin ang una niyang desisyon na ‘walang kasalanan si Yahshu’a at kanyang palalayain, (YahYah 18:38, Luke 23:4, Luke 23:13-16, Luke 23:20). ANO ANG UGALI NI GOBERNADOR PILATO? Paanong maging sunod-sunuran si Pilato sa kagustuhan ng mga tao lamang, kung ang ugali niya ay ganito, ‘ ang naisulat na niya’y hindi na pwedeng baguhin? Samakatwid, ang unang desisyon ni Pilato na si Yahshu’a ay walang kasalanan at palalayain ay hindi pwedeng magbago. Ngunit dahil sa pagnanais ng mga punong Seserdote (na mas mababa ang kapangyarihan kaysa kay Gobernador Pilato) na maipapatay si Yahshu’a, kinakailangan pulungin ni Pilato ang lahat ng kanyang batalyon. Pinapasok niya ang mga ito sa kanyang palasyo at doon ay sila-sila lamang ang nag-usap na paanong ipatupad ang kagustuhan ng mga tao na sinuhulan ng mga punong Seserdote at ang pagsunod sa unang desisyon ni Pilato na palayain si Yahshu’a. (Hindi nakapasok sa Palasyo ang mga Hudyo dahil maituturing silang marumi at hindi karapat-dapat sa Hapunang pang-Paskua, (YahYah 18:28, YahYah 19:19-22). Lumabas ang Batalyon na kasama si Yahshu’a na may buhat na kahoy (krus). Nang makita nila si Simon na taga-Cyrene (Libya sa ngayon), kanilang ipina-buhat kay Simon ang kahoy na buhat ni Yahshu’a at si Yahshu’a ay inilagay sa likuran. Ang kanilang dinaanan ay pasilyong makitid na daanan lamang, kaya sa susunod na pagliko ay ang nakita na ng mga tao na may buhat ng kahoy ay si Simon na. Mapapansin na sa ika-labingdala ng tanghali hanggang sa ikatlo ng hapon ay nagdilim sa kapaligiran. Mapapansin din na walang nakasulat sa Bagong Tipan na ‘isinauli ni Simon kay Yahshu’a ang kahoy kaya ng siya ay sumigay ng ‘Ama, patawarin mo sila dahil hindi nila alam ang kanilang ginagawa’. Si Simon na taga Cyrene ay nagsasalita ng Griyegong wika. Sa Cyrene hanggang sa ngayon ay marami pang lahi ng mga Griyego sa Susa, sa Shihat, sa Beda at sa iba pang lugar sa Libya. YahYah 8:29 ‘at kasama ko ang nagsugo sa akin, hindi niya ako iniiwan sapagkat lagi kong ginagawa ang nakalulugod sa kanya’. Paanong si Yahshu’a ay magsasalita ng ‘Ama, Ama bakit mo ako pinabayaan? o ang ‘Eli, Eli lama Sabacthani’ kung hindi naman siya iniiwan ng nagsugo sa kanya? Ayon sa Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Hebrew Bible Chaldean Hebrew at Greek Dictionary: Greek Dictionary: 2241 (Greek) ELI = my God – in Hebrew (EL) ‘Ale’ = mighty, Almighty
1682 (Greek) ELOI = my God
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2982 (Greek) LAMA = why – in Hebrew 4100 MAH = why In Hebrew 3027 YAD = Thou 4518 (Greek) SABACTHANI = thou has left me – in Hebrew 7662 In Hebrew 7662 SHEBAQ = allow to remain ‘Ama, Ama, Bakit Mo Ako Pinabayaan’ ay salitang sumisisi sa Ama. Yob (Job) 1:22 ‘sa kabila ng mga pangyayaring ito ay hindi nagkasala si Yob, hindi niya sinisi si Yahweh’. Hindi maaring sisihin ni Yahshu’a ang Ama sa Langit dahil ito ay kasalanan. Si Yob ay hindi nagkasala dahil hindi niya sinisi ang Ama sa Langit. MGA SAKSI May mga saksi na ang taong nakabayubay sa kahoy (krus) ay sumigaw ng Eli, Eli Lama Sabacthani na isang salitang Griego. Hinintay ng mga saksi na baka dumating si Propeta EliYah na tinawag ng nakabayubay sa kahoy. SI YAHSHU’A AY HINDI NAGSASALITA NG SALITANG GRIYEGO KUNDI SALITANG HEBREO LAMANG Gawa 10:28, Gawa 26:14 ‘alam ninyo na ang isang Hudyo ay pinagbabawalan ng kanyang pananampalataya na makisama o dumalaw sa isang hindi Hudyo’. ‘ Nakarinig ako na nagsasalita sa wikang Hebreo’ KASABWAT SI PILATO SA SABWATAN SA GOLGOTHA Markos 15:44 ‘hindi magugulat si Gobernador Pilato at magtatanong pa, ‘kung may napatay’ at kung tutuo na desisyon ni Pilato na ipapatay si Yahshu’a. ANG DECOY YahYah 19:39 ‘sumama sa kanya si Nicodemus, may dalang pabango, mga 100 libra ng pinaghalong mira at aloe (si Nicodemus ang nagsadya kay Yahshu’a isang gabi). Mateo 27:62-65‘kinabukasan, pagkatapos ng Araw ng paghahanda, sama-samang nagpunta kay Pilato ang mga punong Seserdote at mga Pariseo. Sinabi nila ‘Naaalala po namin na sinabi ng mapagpanggap na iyon noong nabubuhay pa na siya’s muling mabubuhay pagkaraan ng tatlong araw. Baka pumaroon ang kanyang mga alagad at nakawin ang bangkay at sabihin nila sa mga tao na siya’y muling nabuhay. At ang pandarayang ito ay magiging ‘MASAHOL PA SA NAUNA’
Mateo 28:65 ‘ dahil sa ang napatay ay nagsasalita ng wikang Griyego na Eli, Eli Lama Sabacthani ay pinuntahan kaagad ng mga punong seserdote si Gobernador Pilato upang matiyak nila kung sino ang talagang napatay. Nagdahilan pa sila na baka mabuhay muli ang napatay ayon sa sinabi nito ng nabubuhay pa at baka nakawin ng
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kanyang alagad at palabasing nabuhay na muli. Ito ay mababaw na dahilan dahil kakailanganing maipakita ang taong napatay na ito ay buhay. Kaya sinabi sa kanila ni Gobernador Pilato na mayroon silang sariling kawal (kawal ng punong Seserdote na dumakip kay Yahshu’a) kaya sinabihan sila ni Pilato na ‘bantayan nila ang libingan’ (Mateo 27:65) Mateo 28:14-15 ‘bukas na ang libingan ng datnan ng mga kawal at ipinakita sa mga punong Seserdote. Inakala naman nila na makakarating sa Gobernador na pinakialaman nila ang libingan na buksan upang masiguro kung sino ang nailibing doon, ngunit wala silang natagpuang bangkay, kaya nagkatha sila ng salita at sinuhulan ang mga kawal ng punong Seserdote na palabasin na kinuha ang bangkay ng mga alagad ni Yahshu’a.. ‘Sinabi ng mga Seserdote na ‘huwag kayong mag-alala, makarating man ito sa Gobernador ‘KAMI ANG BAHALA’.Tinanggap ng mga bantay ang salapi at ginawa ang bilin sa kanila – hanggang sa ngayon ito parin ang sabi ng mga Hudyo’. MGA SAKSI NA SI YAHSHU’A AY BUHAY Si Gobernador Festo at Si Apostol Saul Gawa 25:19 ‘ ang pinagtatalunan lamang nila ay tungkol sa kanilang pananampalataya at sa isang tao na ang pangalan ay Yahshu’a, patay na ang taong ito ngunit ipinipilit naman ni Saul (Pablo) na siya’y SIGURADONG BUHAY. Si Gobernador Festo ang pumalit kay Gobernador Felix at nang dumating si Haring Agrippa upang bumati kay Festo, inilahad ni Festo kay Haring Agrippa ang tungkol kay Pablo, at sa kanyang salita sa Hari ay nabanggit niya na ipinipilit ni Saul na SIGURADONG BUHAY si Yahshu’a. Sa pagsasalita sa kagalang-galang na Hari, ang isang Gobernador ay magsasalita ng tamang salita, at si Gobernador Festo ay nakapag-aral na tao at alam niya ang salitang ‘RESURRECTION’ o nabuhay na muli, ngunit bakit hindi niya ginamit ang salitang ‘NABUHAY NA MULI’ kundi ang kanyang tinuran ay ‘ipinipilit ni Saul na si Yahshu’a ay SIGURADONG BUHAY’. Anghel ni Yahweh Lukas 24:5 ‘bakit ninyo hinahanap ang BUHAY sa gitna ng mga patay? Ito ang tinuran ng Anghel ni Yahweh na sinabing si Yahshu’a ay ‘BUHAY’ at hindi ang ‘Resurrection o Nabuhay na Muli’. Ang isang Anghel ni Yahweh ay hindi magsasalita ng mali, sa Lukas 24:23 ‘mga Angel na nagsabing ‘BUHAY SI YAHSHU’A’. Si Yahshu’a na mismo ang Saksi Lukas 13:31-33 ‘dumating doon ang ilang Pariseo, sinabi nila kay Yahshu’a na ‘umalis ka dito sapagkat ibig kang ipapatay ni Herodes’. At sumagot si Yahshu’a, ‘sabihin mo sa kanya na nagpapalayas pa ako ngayon ng mga demonyo at nagpapagaling, bukas ay ganoon din, at sa ikatlong araw tatapusin ko ang aking gawain. Ngunit dapat akong magpatuloy sa lakad ngayon, bukas at sa makalawa sapagkat ‘IMPOSIBLENG MAMATAY ANG ISANG PROPETA SA LABAS NG YAHRUSALEM’. (Hosea 6:2). Si Yahshu’a narin ang nagsabi na imposibleng mamatay ang propeta na tinutukoy niya ang sarili niya (Deoteronomo 18:15).
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Sa Awit ni Haring David Awit 118:17-22 ‘hindi ako mamamatay kundi mabubuhay, ihahayag ang kagila-gilalas na ginawa ni Yahweh. Kinastigo ako ni Yahweh, ngunit hindi ako ibinigay sa kamatayan’. 118:22 ‘ang batong inayawan ay siyang naging pinaka-saligang bato’ Sa Isinulat ni Lukas Ito ay naisalin sa Gawa 4:11-12 ‘ang batong inayawan ay naging pinaka-saligang bato, walang kaligtasan sa kaninuman, dahil walang tanging pangalan sa silong ng langit na ipinagkaloob sa mga tao kundi sa pangalan ni Yahshu’a Messiah’. HINDI PWEDENG PATAYIN ANG ANOINTED NI YAHWEH 1 Samuel 24:4-7 “Ang mga tauhan ni David ay sinabihan siya, dumating na ang araw sa sinabi ni Yahweh na aking ipagkakaloob sa iyong kamay ang iyong kaaway upang gawaan mo siya ng iyong ikatutuwa. At si David ay pinutol ang laylayan ng damit ni Saul ng palihim”. Sa puso ni David ay pinatay na niya si Saul dahil pinutol niya ang laylayan ng damit ni Saul. At sinabi ni David sa kanyang mga tauhan “patawarin ako ni Yahweh sa ginawa kong ito sa aking amo na ‘Anointed ni Yahweh’ na lumaban ako sa kanya na alam nating siya ay Anointed ni Yahweh”. Sinabihan ni David ang kanyang mga tauhan na huwag silang gagawa ng masama kay Saul. At si Saul ay nagising at lumabas ng kweba”. 1 Samuel 24:10 “Ngayong araw na ito nakita ng mga mata mo sa loob ng kweba ay ipinagapi ka sa akin, ang iba ay sinabihan ako na patayin ka, ngunit sa aking mata ay iniligtas kita at sinabi ko na hindi ko gagamitin ang aking kamay laban sa aking amo DAHIL SIYA AY ANOINTED NI YAHWEH”. 2 Samuel 1:14-16 “sinabi ni David ‘Hindi kaba Natakot na ginamit mo ang iyong kamay upang wasakin ang Anointed ni Yahweh?, at tinawag ni David ang isang kabataang lalaki at ipinapatay ang Amalekita. At sinabi ni David ‘ang dugo mo ay sumaiyong ulo dahil sa iyong labi ay sumaksi ka laban sa iyong sarili nang sinabi mong ‘Pinatay Mo ang Anointed ni Yahweh’.
Natagpuang aklat ni Pedro sa isang Libingan sa Egypto Bible Dictionary of the Holy Bible Natagpuan sa isang libingan sa Egypto noong 1886 A.D. ang ‘THE GOSPEL OF PETER’ at nailathala noong 1892 A.D. ay maaaring DOCETIC GOSPEL at mahalang katibayan sa istorya na CRUCIFIXION at RESURRECTION kahit na ito ay may halatang BINAGO sa pag-pabor sa mga HERESY na iyan.Awit 20:6 Ililigtas ni Yahweh ang kanyang Annointed.
How Yeshu’a Become Jesus By:JOSEPH STALLINGS Published in Catholic Digest January 1992 vol.32,no.6 page 17, The Mystery of the Magi We usually don’t think about it, but our Lord’s name was not always Jesus. It was in fact originally the popular Aramaic name Yeshu’a.. In first century Judea and Galilee, the name Yeshu’a was very common and shared fifth place with Eleazar (Lazarus) in popularity as a name for Jewish men. The most popular male names at that time were Shime’on (Simon), Yosef (Joseph), Yehuda (Judah or Judas) and Yochanan (John). In the Holy Land at the time of Christ, Aramaic had replaced Hebrew in everyday conversation, but Hebrew remained the holy language and was used in worship and daily prayers. The rabbis also used Hebrew when instructing their disciples. The two languages were closely related, however, as close as Italian is to Spanish, and both used the same alphabet. Yeshu’a was the Aramaic version of the Hebrew name Yehoshu’a (Joshua), and means “Yahweh saves”. Throughout Christ’s lifetime in Galilee, Samaria and Judea of course the name Yeshu’a presented no problem for those who spoke Aramaic and read the Bible and prayed in Hebrew. But outside the Holy Land it become a different story as Good News spread. The Gentiles of the Roman Empire spoke Greek and Latin and simply could not pronounce Yeshu’a. It contained sounds that did not exist in their language. When the Gospels were written in Greek, therefore, the Evangelists had a real problem regarding how they might render our Lord’s name into acceptable Greek. The initially ‘Y’ (Hebrew and Aramaic letter ‘yod’) was easy. The Evangelists could use the Greek letter ‘iota’, written ‘I,’ since it was pronounced like the ‘y’ in yet. The next sound was a vowel, and that was a little more difficult. Unlike Greek, all the letters of the Aramaic-Hebrew alphabet are consonants. The marks for the vowels were not invented until some centuries after Christ and were simple dots and dashes, placed above or beneath the letters. At the time of Christ apparently, the first vowel in our Lord’s name was pronounced like the ‘a’ in gate. And the Evangelists believed they could approximate that sound by using the Greek letter ‘eta’. (The capital Greek letter looks just like our English letter H). Then followed the first of two almost insurmountable problems with Hebrew and Aramaic pronunciation. There was no letter for the ‘sh’ sound in the Greek alphabet. Such a familiar name as Solomon was actually Sh’lomo in Hebrew, Samson was Shimson and Samuel was Sh’mu-El. Like the Greek translators of these Old Testament Hebrew names, the Evangelists used the Greek sigma (s) for the Hebrew shin (sh) when rendering Christ’s name. The first three Greek letters ‘iota’, ‘eta’, and ‘sigma’, moreover came to be used in early Byzantine religious art as an abbreviation of Jesus name. As they look very much like the Latin letters HIS, the letters were adapted in Western European religious paintings and church architecture as a symbol for Christ’s name. The next letter in the Aramaic name Yeshu’a was the Hebrew letter ‘waw’, which here represents the sound ‘oo’, as in too. It was easy for the Evangelists to duplicate this sound in Greek. It takes two letters, however, the omicron (o) and upsilon (u).
But that easy substitution was followed by the biggest problem of all: the final ‘a’ sound. In Greek, there was no substitute for the Hebrew letter ‘aiyin’. Though the ‘aiyin’ has no sound of its own, it causes the vowel that it controls to be pronounced deep in the throat. The Greek couldn’t do that, and neither could the Romans when speaking in Latin. Usually, a Greek or Roman would pronounce an ‘aiyin’-controlled ‘a’ like the ‘a’ in father. A final ‘a’ on a name however was most commonly feminine in both Greek and Latin. Thus it was decided to drop the Hebrew ‘aiyin’ completely and replace it with the final Greek sigma (s) which most often indicates the masculine gender in nouns. Throughout the Roman Empire then our Lord’s Aramaic name Yeshu’a, had become the Greek name Iesous, pronounced yeh-SOOS. And this remained Christ’s name throughout the Roman Empire as long as Greek remained the dominant language. But after some centuries Greek lost its favored position and Latin took its place. In the last quarter of the fourth century, the Bible was translated from Greek into Latin by *St. Jerome who had no trouble rendering the Greek Iesous into Latin, it became Iesus. The accent, however, was moved to the first syllable and the name pronounced YAY-soos, since the Romans liked to accent the second from the last syllable. In about 14th century, in the scriptoria of the monasteries where Bibles were copied by hand, Monks began to elongate the initial ‘I’ of the words into a ‘J’. (The pronounciation remained the same-like the ‘y’ in yet but the Monks thought a ‘J’ looked better). Probably the first Monks to do this were Germans because the letter ‘j’ in that language sounds the same as the ‘y’ in English. The name Iesus, consequently, evolved into the familiar written form of Jesus by the 17th century. Everyone still pronounced it YAY-soos, however, as it was in the official liturgical Latin. Way back in the fifth and sixth centuries, some pagan Germanic tribes called the Angles and Saxons invaded England. St Augustine of Canterbury came to convert them to Christianity in A.D.396. Of course St. Augustine established Jerome’s Latin translation as England’s official Bible. The Anglo-Saxon learned that our Lord’s official Latin name was Iesus. Naturally the Germanic Anglo-Saxon converted the initial Latin ‘I’ into the German ‘J’. They pronounced the name, however, as YAY-zoos, since a single ‘s’ between two vowels is sounded like our ‘z’ in Germanic languages. When the Normans invaded England in A.D.1066 they brought with them the French language. Since neither the Anglo-Saxons nor the Normans would surrender their language to the other, the two become wedded and eventually evolved into Modern English. The Normans did influence the pronunciation of the first letter of Our Lord’s name, though, they brought the French pronunciation of ‘j’ (jh), which evolved into our English sound of ‘j’. When King James commissioned the first official translation of the Bibles into English in the early 17th century, the Latin Jesus was carried over unchanged into the new English Bible. The average English citizen of the day probably pronounced the name JAY-zus which ultimately evolved into our modern English JEE-zus. The long process was now complete. A name that began as the Aramaic Yeshu’a would remain written in English as it was in Medieval Latin, but now would be pronounced in English speaking countries as the familiar and loving name of the One who is our Savior, JESUS.
• St. Jerome is Eusebius Hieronymus A.D.347 – A.D.419
THE CURSED
SWINE
By DR.GERALD B. WINROD
Editor of the “Defender”, Wichita, Kansas
U.S. Public Health Services
a
CURSED SWINE
By DR.GERALD B. WINROD
Editor of the “Defender”, Wichita, Kansas
The true science and the Bible are the best of friends. There is discord between the theories of scientists
and the dogma of religionists. Render unto science the things that belong to science but render unto
YAHWEH the things that are for Almighty One. Science is the servant of Christianity, not its master.
Science reads the Book of books. There is perfect harmony between the two books; the difficulty often
arises from the eyes through which these books are read.
One of the amazing things about the Pentateuch is the fact of its absolute scientific accuracy. It is one of
the most scientific documents ever written. Moses was one of the greatest scientific minds that ever lived.
Exact statements of scientific laws only discovered in recent years will often be found in these sacred
pages.
Moses declared against the eating of any flesh that was killed by strangling or dying of itself. Moses
knew the great scientific truth that putrid blood is poison. The nervous shock to the blood and flesh of an
animal killed by strangling produces a poisonous condition making it unfit for table use. The law provided
carefully for the bleeding and draining of flesh to be used as food.
One well-known writer says, “This include a chicken whose neck has been wrung instead of being cut
so as to properly bleed the victim; also, all creatures that are killed with a hammer instead of being bled, as
are most of our beef cattle. The law provided that a keen knife be used to bleed them, thus enabling the
heart to pump all the blood from the veins and leave the flesh free from all deleterious matter, which can
never be done if the action of the heart is stopped by first striking down the animal. Has this law become
obsolete? Never, as Yahshu’a the Messiah said, “Till heaven and earth pass away”. For our physical
welfare only, YAHWEH wisely and kindly forbade the eating of blood in any and all forms. As an article
of diet there are few more dangerous substances known that putrid blood. It is a venomous poison, and
even the most thorough cooking does not entirely destroy the direful results. “The direful acts of some
butchers in drinking warm blood are based on the densest ignorance, and yield their fearful fruits in an
imbuted soul and a diseased brain and body”.
LEVITICUS ELEVEN
The eleven chapter of Leviticus is one of the mountain peaks of the Mosaic Law. It deals with diet. If
the system promulgated here was observed today, the human race would be immune to about nine-tenths of
its diseases. An old proverb says, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are”. There is a very
real sense in which we are, physically, just what we eat. Leviticus 11:2 “These are the beasts which ye shall
eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parted the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and
cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat”.
This instructions were not arbitrary with YAHWEH or with Moses. They were revelations of great
moral laws meant for the betterment of the nation. To oppose these laws was to break laws intended for the
highest good of the people. The instructions were rooted in true science. Who told Moses?
When the animals were killed and bled properly, we were permitted to eat cud-chewing, cloven-footed
land animals, and water animals possessing fins and scales.
In verses four to seven the following animals are forbidded: camel, coney, hare and swine. Certain fowls
are forbidden while others are permitted.
The animals possessing a cud and divided hoof have virtually three (3) stomachs as refining and
purifying centers. They take in only vegetable foods and is requires twenty-four hours for this food to
change into flesh. The food is refined, cleansed, purified, with poisonous matter removed by the cud
process before it is built into the physical structure of the animal. It was not a matter of religious ceremony
b
that the cud-chewing beast was permitted for food. It was a physiological provision for the welfare of the
nation and for all subsequent generations that would abide by these supernaturally inspired instructions.
THE CURSED SWINE
Noticed that the swine is strictly forbidden. “And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted,
yet he chew not the cud; he is UNCLEAN TO YOU.”- Leviticus 11:7. The hog is an ugly creature.
Nothing good can be said about him. The hog was in his proper sphere when Yahshu’a Messiah cast the
demons out of the Gadarene and into the swine, as described in the eight chapter of Luke.
The swine anatomy produces a bad appetite and it has a poorly built stomach. Within three hours from
the time he grunts out of the mud to his swilltrough or putrid carrion, he may be butchered and man may
eat him, assumed that the dirty, filthy, diseased matter has been changed into flesh, pork chops and spare
ribs. Moses passes condemnation upon this kind of food. The best the hog can give you is produced from
the dirtiest, filthiest, most rotten, most diseased material in the world. He is the muckraker of the farm. The
food that it eats is polluted even before it passes into his polluted body. The best of modern science says
that many of the worst diseases to which western civilization is subject to-day, can be traced to the blunder
of eating pork. Moreover, in moral sense, animal flesh stirs to action the baser passions of the flesh life of
depraved human nature – the very passions which Christians should be most eager to have destroyed
through self-crucifixion.
The hog can live only about eight years at best because his diet is so deadly poison. “The swine is a
scavenger, the turkey buzzard of the animal kingdom, the hyena or jackal of civilization; and not
withstanding the preaching of some of the contrary. YAHWEH has never cleansed or sanctified or
transformed him. He is still a hog” –This is the language of one informed scholars.
“EAT SWINE AND INHERIT FROM HIM ALL MANNER OF BLOOD DISEASES, STOMACH
TROUBLES, LIVER ILLS, CANCERS and TUMORS”! He is the cause of much suffering. He deserved
the curse that Moses placed upon him. Jews and Japanese, Muslim, who eat no pork, known little or
nothing of the diseases which the hog hung on ancient Egypt and the western civilization of today. It is said
that there was no word for cancer in the original Hebrew language. However cancer has become a fearful
curse among Jews in recent years, and all because the modern Jew is letting down the bars on pork eating.
An eminent preacher has this to say: “If you examine carefully you will find a small abrasion just
behind the front foot of the pig. Rub it off clean and press the leg just above the abrasion and you may
squeeze a teaspoonful of dirty matter from it. This is the outlet of sewer pipe that may be traced all through
the animal’s body. It helps to drain off the teeming filth with which the system is filled. If this external
opening become clogged, the animal will run about and grunt and rub his leg on anything handy, and
manifest great pain. He seems almost to know that he will soon sicken of so-called cholera and bloodpoison
and die of his own internal filth, unless he keeps this sewer open.
“On a close analysis of this filthy, scrofulous serum – the ‘culture’ of its bacilli under varied conditions
– it is seen to contain the elements of many dangerous diseases; yet how toothsome are ‘pickled pig feet’ to
ignorance, unbelief, and disobedience. It is this internal and intrinsic vileness that causes a large percentage
of our hogs to be filled with trichina and results in such havoc to human health.
“We might be excused from diverting our attention from the scientific side of this discussion long
enough to insert a few remarks on this heaven-forbidden delicacy. This creature, which has been
condemned both logically and theologically, takes precedence with ignorance over all the creatures of the
creation as an article of diet. He, of all creatures, is literally devoured. His body is eaten, his head turned
into head cheese, and even his ears and tail inserted. His blood is turned into blood pudding; his stomach is
transformed into tripe; his feet are pickled; his intestines are used for sausage covers, his heart, liver and
kidneys are cooked; and his very bristles are sought for wax ends, etc. There is not even his grunt left
unused, for the transgressors against YAHWEH and nature’s laws take up this undesirable remnant, and
often grunt with disease and squeal in pain caused by their folly. Surely a man is what he eats. Is the law
against this dirty, deadly diet obsolete? Ask the dyspeptic, the cancerous victim, or the consumptive.”
c
d
LAW AND GRACE
Yahshu’a Messiah great respect for the law of Moses. While some of the ordinance of worship were set
aside by the advancement of Christianity over rites and symbols of Jewish worship, yet the great moral
laws of Mosaic code remain unchanged. Yahshu’a Messiah said “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”. ( Matthew 5:18).
TRICHINOSIS
Trichinosis, a disease directly traceable to infection from eating the flesh of swine, is very, very seldom
correctly diagnosed. Research on the infection with TRICHNIELLA SPIRALIS among the population of
U.S. has been carried on under the skillful supervision of Dr. Willard H. Wright, Chief of the U.S. Zoology
Lab. Dr. Thomas Parran, Surgeon General, Head of U.S. Public Health Services, makes the startling
declaration that there are now 16,000,000 cases of Trichinosis in the U.S.A.
Prof. Maurice Hall reports that out of 222 cases of Trichinosis (from a study of cadavers from
hospitals), not one was correctly diagnosed! One of America’s greatest researchers on the problem states:
“Upon the ingestion of the third stage larvae in infested muscle, the larvae are freed from the cyst by the
action of the gastric juices and then proceed to migrate to the intestine. Here they develop to maturity and
after fertilization the adult worms produce living embryos which invade the blood stream and are carried to
all of the voluntary muscles of the body. These embryos develop in a relatively short time to third stage
larvae in the muscles. The larvae remain alive during the low heat processing which transforms the
SWINE’S FLESH (Isa.65: 3-4; 66: 17) into summer sausage, wienerwurst, frankfurters, etc.
“When consumed by humans, the digestive juices in the stomach dissolve around the coiled worms and
set them free. The young larvae born in the small intestine then begin to take their horrible toll. They travel
through the body through the blood stream and lymphatics, and may lodge either temporarily or
permanently in the glands and lymph nodes, brain, heart, skeletal muscles, or other tissue. It will thus be
seen that the symptoms of different sufferers vary greatly and are not different than symptoms of other
diseases, both infection and non-infection and the disease is difficult to diagnose. This horrible disease is
diagnosed by physicians as “Ptomaine poisoning”, “Intestinal Influenza”, “Malaria”, Acute Alcoholism”,
“Typhoid Fever”, “Appendicitis”, “Colitis”, “Ulcer”, “Gall Bladder Involvement”, Scarlet Fever”,
“Asthma”, “Pneumonia”, “Neuritis”, “Mumps”, “Rheumatism”, “T.B.”, “Undulant Fever”, “Lead
Poisoning”, etc, etc. When the larvae lodge around the heart, the disease is diagnosed as various forms of
“Heart Disease”, etc. etc… It realy it is “TRICHINOSIS” !
One reason million of people are infected with Trichinosis is because pork is used so widely as an
adulterant in meat product.. The P.H.R. concludes that of the total persons dying over the period of these
surveys, ONE out of SIX was infected with the Trichina parasite ! Further more, the hog is such a
dangerous carrier of disease because the animal itself is diseased. Its lungs are frequently filled with
‘tubercules’. In 75 cases of 100 you will find the liver filled with abcesses. Lard then is nothing more than
extract of a diseased carcass..”
In Isaiah 65: 3-4 “A people that provoke ME to anger continually to MY FACE; that sacrificed in
gardens, and burned incense upon altars of brick; which remain among the graves, and lodge in the
monuments, which EAT SWINE’S FLESH, and broth of ABOMINABLE things is in their vessels “.
In Isaiah 66: 17 “They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in
the midst, EATING SWINE’S FLESH, and the ABOMINABLE, and the MOUSE, shall be consumed
together, said YAHWEH” .
(Do you wish to order “pork chops” for dinner tonight ? )
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