from a study by EliYah

Some have written me asking for an explanation of why I use the form “Yahuwshua” in reference to the Messiah while others use “Yahshua”, “Yeshua” , Yahusha, or “Yehoshua”. The purpose of this study is to go through each of these pronunciations and determine which is the most correct.
I’m not one that believes that you need to pronounce the Messiah’s name exactly like I do in order to be saved. However, the issue of the Messiah’s name is a very important one. If you don’t believe me, read the below scriptures:
Acts 2:38 Then Kepha said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahuwshua Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Set-apart Ruwach.
Acts 3:6 Then Kepha said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Yahuwshua Messiah of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Acts 3:16 “And His name, through belief in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the belief which [comes] through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Acts 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
Acts 4:10 “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Ysra’al, that by the name of Yahuwshua Messiah of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom Elohiym raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:17 “But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” 18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Yahuwshua.
Acts 4:30 “by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your Set-apart Servant Yahuwshua.”
Acts 5:28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Yahrushalom with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”
Acts 5:40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten [them], they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Yahuwshua, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of Elohiym and the name of Yahuwshua Messiah, both men and women were immersed.
Acts 8:16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been immersed in the name of the Master Yahuwshua.
Acts 9:14 “And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Master said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Ysra’al. 16 “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Acts 9:21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Yahrushalom, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”
Acts 9:27 But Barnabas took him and brought [him] to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Master on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Yahuwshua.
Acts 9:29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Master Yahuwshua and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.
Acts 10:43 “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
Acts 15:14 “Simon has declared how Elohiym at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
Acts 15:26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Master Yahuwshua Messiah.
Acts 16:18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Yahuwshua Messiah to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.
Acts 18:15 “But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look [to] [it] yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such [matters].”
Acts 19:5 When they heard [this], they were immersed in the name of the Master Yahuwshua.
Acts 19:13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Master Yahuwshua over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Yahuwshua whom Paul preaches.”
Acts 19:17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Master Yahuwshua was magnified.
Acts 21:13 Then Sha’ul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Yahrushalom for the name of the Master Yahuwshua.”
And this is just in the book of Acts! The name of Yahuwshua is intricately linked with the person of Yahuwshua. So in light of the numerous scriptures which show us the importance of His name, we should at least seek to understand how it is pronounced. It is obviously important according to scripture.

 

Origin of the name “Jesus”

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the etymological origin of “Jesus” is:
Jesus ..Middle English, from Late Latin Isus, from Greek Isous, from Hebrew yû‘, from yhôûa‘, Joshua…

 

Notice that it says that the origin of His name is from Latin, then Greek, then Hebrew. So the name “Jesus” is the result of 3 different languages placing their influence on the original name the disciples were proclaiming, baptizing in and praying in. Some of the influence is quite recent. In the 1611 King James Version, it originally had “Iesus” rather than “Jesus” (photo). Later revisions of the KJV changed it to “Jesus”. This leads me to ask some important questions: “Who is the one who gets to decide what it is changed to? Man or YaHuWaH? And if Yahuwshua is supposed to be the same yesterday, today and forever, why do they keep changing His name?”
If you look up the name “Jesus” in a Strong’s lexicon it has “Iesous”:
“2424 Iesous ee-ay-sooce’ of Hebrew origin (3091); Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Ysra’alites:–Jesus.”
Notice that it traces the name of Messiah to Hebrew word #3091 in the Strong’s lexicon. This name is the same name as “Joshua, Son of Nun”. In the Hebrew, this name is spelled . (Yahuwshua)
While there are some out there claiming that “Jesus” is somehow derived from “Zeus”, I have yet to find anyone who is willing to present hard evidence of this claim. One person wrote a book which claimed that “Iesous” means “Hail Zeus”. When I contacted him by phone and asked him for evidence of this claim, he said “Iesous” means “Hail Zeus” in the sense that when you say the “Ie” it sounds like “Yaayy” and “Yaayy” is what people do in modern sports games when they hail their team. Thus, the statement that “Iesous” meant “Hail Zeus” had nothing to do with its meaning in the Greek language.
In fact, the Greek language spells Zeus (#2203 in the Strong’s Lexicon) as ZeuV and doesn’t even have the same letters or sound as the second syllable in IhsouV (Iesous). First of all, the Z in ZeuV produces a “dz” sound, not an “s” sound. Also the eu combination in ZeuVsounds like “eu as in feud“, a letter combination not found in any form of IhsouV/Iesous. So is ZeuV is actually pronounced “Dzyooce” and not “Sooce”. These things alone make it appear quite impossible that Iesous comes from “Zeus”. Look at the first page of the Greek Lexicon in your Strong’s concordance if you want confirmation of the sounds of these Greek letters.
Another important point is that the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures that was completed many years before Yahuwshua came to earth, also rendered the Hebrew name “Yahuwshua” as IhsouV (Iesous). This fact alone clearly demonstrates that “Iesous” is a Greek form of  and wasn’t a form invented by apostate Christians who wanted to honor Zeus in some way.
Interestingly, there is evidence that although the name of Yahuwshua was written in Greek as IhsouV, it may have actually been pronounced the way a Hebrew speaking person would pronounce it. Around 178 CE, a pagan by the name of Celsus engaged in written debates with Christians. In one of them, Celsus (speaking of Christians) said:
“But of course they think otherwise: they assume that by pronouncing the name of their teacher they are armored against the powers of the earth and air. And they are quite insistent on the efficacy of the name as a means of protection: pronounce it improperly, they say, and it is ineffectiveGreek and Latin will not do; it must be said in a barbarian tongue to work. Silly as they are, one finds them standing next to a a statue of Zeus or Apollo or some other god, and shouting, “see here: I blaspheme it and strike it, but it is powerless against me for I am a Christian.” Celsus on the True Doctrine, A Discourse Against the Christians, R. Joseph Hoffman (page118)
Notice that Celsus was quoting Christians as saying that the name of “their teacher” (Yahuwshua no doubt) must not be spoken “improperly” and that it must not be spoken in a “Greek” way or “Latin” way, but in a “Barbarian tongue” for it to be effective. Of course, to the pagans the Hebrew language was nothing more than a barbarian language. This lends evidence that even though the name of Yahuwshua was written as IhsouV, there were at least some people speaking it in the Hebrew way. The Greek alphabet simply lacks the letters necessary to correctly convey how the name is pronounced in Hebrew.
So how is the name pronounced? Let’s start with the form that is found in various Hebrew Lexicons: “Yehoshua”.

Yehoshua

In the Strong’s concordance and other Hebrew Lexicons, the pronunciation listed for the Messiah’s name is typically “Yehoshua”. While I do not believe we should be getting all of our Hebrew learning from a Strong’s lexicon alone (that would be dangerous), most of us do own a Strong’s Concordance so I will be using it during this study for the purposes of illustration.
The reason for the “Yehoshua” pronunciation is due to the Hebrew vowel pointing added by the Masorite scribes who were intent on “hiding” YaHuWaH’s Name. The vowel points are the little dots and dashes under and above certain Hebrew letters. Unlike English, Hebrew was written with mostly all consonants. It was up to the reader to supply the vowels in each word based on the context of the word. The Masorites were concerned that Hebrew was becoming a lost language so they invented the vowel point system to preserve the sounds of the Hebrew language. However, in keeping with tradition they were not interested in letting everyone speak the pronunciation of the Heavenly Father’s name. For this reason, they pointed the Heavenly Father’s name to produce the sound “Yehovah”.

Strongs 3068 – Yehovah – “the self-Existent or Eternal”

To avoid speaking the Heavenly Father’s name, the Jewish tradition was to say “Adonai” (“Lord”) instead of YaHuWaH. For this reason, our English bibles also say “LORD” instead of “YaHuWaH”. So rather than supplying the true vowels of the Heavenly Father’s name, the scribes inserted the vowels for “Adonai” so that the reader would be reminded to say “Adonai” rather than YaHuWaH.
But what if the Hebrew scriptures contained a phrase such as “Adonai YaHuWaH” (Master YaHuWaH)? They would then have to say “Adonai Adonai”, a rather odd (if not a bit embarrassing) phrase. Their solution was to put the vowel points for “Elohiym” within the Heavenly Father’s name so that they would be reminded to say “Adonai Elohiym” instead of “Adonai adonai”. This is even mentioned in the Strong’s lexicon and it lists it as a different word number. Read what it says:

 Strong 3069 – Yehovih (ye-ho-vee) variation of 3068 … “used and pronounced by Jews in order to prevent the repetition of the same sound”

“136” is the Hebrew word “Adonai” and “430” is the Hebrew word “Elohiym”. So these vowel points are used within the Father’s name whenever His name follows 136 (Adonai). And they pronounce this as 430 (Elohiym) to avoid having to say Adonai twice. For this reason, many English translations will render “Adonai YaHuWaH” as “the Lord GOD” with “GOD” being in all capitals to let the reader know that this is where the sacred name is found in the Hebrew. Very few even know that this is why “GOD” is sometimes in all capital letters (See Gen 15:2 for one of hundreds of examples of this). It is amazing how far men will go in order to cleave to tradition!
So how does this relate to the pronunciation of the Messiah’s name? Let’s take a look at His name again in the Strong’s Lexicon:

Strong 8091 – Yehowshua (yeh-ho-shoo’-ah)
or
Yehowshua (yeh-ho-shoo’-ah)
from 3068 and  3467 = Jehova-saved

Notice that there are other names listed in the Strong’s concordance which contain the first three letters of YaHuWaH’s name. And just like YaHuWaH’s name which starts with the “Yeho” vowel points, they use the “Yeho” vowel points in “Yehoram”, “Yehosheba”, “Yehoshaphat” and numerous other names which contain the first part of YaHuWaH’s name. The scribes apparently did not want anyone to accidentally pronounce the Heavenly Father’s name when saying these other names, so they changed the vowel points of those names as well.
Interestingly, they did not change the pronunciation of these same three letters when it was at the end of a person’s name. For instance, look at how Zechariah’s name is presented in the Hebrew text:

Strong 2148 – Zekaryah (zek-ar-yaw) or
Zekaryahuw (zek-ar-yaw-hoo)

Notice the different vowel pointing and pronunciation herein (“ZecharYahuw“). Phonetically, the first three letters in the Heavenly Father’s name are also pronounced “Yahu”. For this reason, the Heavenly Father’s name can be written as “YAHUwah” or “YaHuWaH” .

By the way, for those who think we cannot know what the vowel sounds were in YaHuWaH’s name, it only takes a little research to find the pronunciation of “Yod Heh Waw” because the scribes had no problem giving the correct pronunciation of these three letters at the end of a name. Because it ends in ‘Yahuw’, there was considered to be no risk in accidentally saying “YaHuWaH”. This would also explain why the scribes used the correct vowel points in the shortened form of YaHuWaH’s name (“Yah”):

Strong 3050 – Yahh – contraction for 3068

They even used the correct vowel pointing in “HalleluYah”. Thus, the only time they would revert to the “Yeho” pronunciation of these three letters was when it was at the beginning of a Hebrew name. But I want nothing to do with the unscriptural tradition of saying “Adonai/Lord/Elohiym/God” in place of YaHuWaH. That is one reason I do not refer to the Messiah as “Yehoshua”. “Yeho(ah)” does not save, “Yahuw(ah)” saves!
Having said this, there are some Hebrew students and scholars who have noticed that a natural progression of Hebrew language is to shorten the first vowel and lengthen the second whenever the accent is on the third syllable (in this case “shu”) of a Hebrew word. This would indeed result in the “Y’hoshua” or “Yehoshua” pronunciation. For this reason, some believe “Yehoshua” to actually be the correct pronunciation.
But while this may be true in normal Hebrew words, there is plenty of evidence to support that this was not true in personal names–especially with names containing the first part of YaHuWaH’s name. The Murashu texts, dated 5th century BCE and written on clay tablets in cuneiform script, list the names of about 70 Jewish settlers in Persia.  In these tablets, vowels are used. The Hebrew names which begin with Yod Heh Waw all are written “Yahuw-” and never “Y’ho”.
“In the cuneiform texts Yeho [YHW], Yo [YW] and Yah [YH] are written Yahuw, as for example in the names Jehu (Yahuw-a), Jehoahaz (Yahuw-khazi) and Hezekiah (Khazaqi-yahuw)” A. H. Sayce in “Higher Criticism” notes on p. 87
Notice that not only were names beginning with “Yeho” written as “Yahuw”, but also names beginning with “Yo” such as “Yochanan” (John) and “Yoel” (Joel) were written as “Yahuw”. This indicates John and Joel were originally “Yahuwchanan” and “Yahuwel”.
Also, cuneiform tablets (also containing vowels) were discovered near the Ishtar gate in Babylon which give a list of workers and captives to whom rations were given. In addition to validating the biblical account in 2Kings 25:27-29 where it mentions that Jehoiachin (Yahuwiachin) ate at the King’s table, these tablets help to establish the way these names were pronounced before the Masorite scribes inserted their vowel pointings based on tradition:
“Yauwkin, king of the land of Yahuwd,” (“Jehoiachin, the king of the land of Judah”)
Another witness is found in an inscription of the Assyrian monarch Tiglath-pileser III (Gressmann Bilder 348; ANET 282a). When listing those kings who were paying tribute to this Assyrian King, it mentions “Yauwhazi”, also known as “Ahaz”. Various lexicons such as the New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon (p. 219 b) and the Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (under “Ahaz”) mention this inscription as well.
With all the evidence, it becomes clear that the name was never originally pronounced “Yehoshua”. Rather “Yahuwshua” is more correct and there is no reason to mispronounce the Heavenly Father’s name when speaking the name of His Son. Just as names which end with a reference to YaHuWaH correctly convey the Father’s name (“ZecharYah/ZecharYahuw”), so do the names which begin with it.

Yeshua

Much used by the Messianic movement, “Yeshua” is actually an Aramaic form of the Hebrew name “Yahuwshua”. In the Hebrew script, it is not spelled the same as Yahuwshua. The “Yeshua” name, spelled (Yod Shin Waw Ayin), is found in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra where it lists the names of those who returned from the Babylonian exile. One of them is called “Jeshua, the son of Jozadak”:
Ezra 3:2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the Elohiym of Yisra’el, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moshe the man of Elohiym.
“Jeshua the Son of Jozadak” is the same High Priest mentioned in Zechariah 6:
Zechariah 6:11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
Notice that in Zechariah, he is not called “Jeshua the son of Jozadak” but he is called “Joshua the son of Josedech” (Heb. Yahuwshua the son of Yahuwtsadak). This reflects the Hebrew spelling of the same name. So in Zechariah, he is called Yahuwshua but in Ezra he is called Yeshua. The book of Nehemiah also changes the name of Joshua the son of Nun to “Jeshua, the son of Nun”:
Nehemiah 8:17 And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Ysra’al done so. And there was very great gladness.
The change in spelling to “Jeshua/Yeshua” (“Yod Shin Waw Ayin” ) is due to the Aramaic influence during the exile. In fact, parts of the book of Ezra are written in Aramaic. For confirmation, look at your Strong’s Lexicon:
Strong 3442 – Yeshuwa (yay-shoo’-ah)
3443 — Yeshuwa (yay-shoo’-ah) correp. to 3432
3444 – yeshuw’ah (yesh-oo’-aw) = something saved, deliverance
Notice that #3442 and #3443 are the same exact word with the same Hebrew spelling, but this lexicon lists them separately. Why is this? Well, if you looked up “Jeshua” in the concordance, you will notice that it lists “Jeshua” in Ezra 3:2 as coming from #3442 and “Jeshua” in Ezra 5:2 coming from #3443. The reason for the two different Strong’s word numbers is Ezra 5:2 is a part of the book of Ezra which was written in Aramaic (Ezra 4:8 through 6:18; 7:12-26). This is why #3443 mentions “Yeshuwa” as coming from “Chaldean” in the above definition (3443. Yeshuwa’ (Chald.)). Therefore, “Yeshua” is actually an Aramaic rendering of “Yahuwshua”.
Now, some claim that Yeshua (yod-shin-waw-ayin) is a pure Hebrew word which isn’t derived from “Yahuwshua” at all, but that it is a Hebrew word meaning “Salvation”. The problem with that is the Hebrew word for “Salvation” is not (yod-shin-waw-ayin) (yeshua) at all! The Hebrew word for “Salvation” is word number #3444. Take a look again in the above lexicon graphic and see the differences between 3442/3443 and 3444. They are:
  • There is an additional Hebrew letter at the end (the “Heh”). ((yod-shin-waw-ayin-heh)uses the silent (but anciently guttural) “Ayin” letter to end the word, but #3444 ends in the letter “Heh”. While vowel letter under both words indicate they have have a similar sounding ending, the different spelling indicates they are two different words.
  • In #3444 (Yeshuwah) there is a different vowel pointing under the first Hebrew letter (Yod [remember Hebrew reads from right to left]). 3442/3443 (YESHUA) has 2 horizontal dots underneath the first letter like this: (..) These two horizontal dots represent the Hebrew Vowel point “Tsere” (pronounced Tsey-rey) which produces the “ey” sound as in the English word “Hey”. But #3444 has twovertical dots underneath the first letter like this (:). The two vertical dots represent the Hebrew vowel point “Sheva” which is a very short “e”, somewhat like our “E” sound in the word “Average” (Check the first page of your Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon for verification of this).
    Incidentally, the (:) (Sheva) is also the vowel point used by the scribes in “Yehoshua” and it is why you will sometimes see “Yehoshua” or “Yeshua” written as “Y’hoshua” and “Y’shua”. The purpose of the  is to indicate the presence of the sheva vowel point in Hebrew. But as you can see, “Yeshua” does not contain that vowel point at all. “Yeshua” uses the “Tsere” Hebrew vowel point which produces an “ey” sound. So Yeshua and Y’shuah are actually pronounced differently. The Strong’s Lexicon indicated this when it gave the pronunciation of (yod-shin-waw-ayin) as ‘yay-shoo-ah‘, but #3444 as ‘yesh-oo-aw‘.

So the name “Yeshua” and the Hebrew word “Y’shuah” are not the same. “Yeshua” is the Aramaic form of “Yahuwshua” and “Y’shuah” is the Hebrew word for “Salvation”. Therefore, in spite of what some may say, I find no evidence to suggest that (yod-shin-waw-ayin)(“Yeshua”) means “Salvation” in Hebrew. “Yeshua” is actually not an authentic Hebrew word meaning “salvation”. For it to mean “Salvation” it would have to have the Hebrew letter “heh” added to the end of it, changing the spelling to Yod Shin Waw Ayin Heh and it would need to have the (:) “Sheva” vowel point under the Yod. These things further indicate that “Yeshua” isn’t from Hebrew, but is an Aramaic form of “Yahuwshua”.
Since the Heavenly Father’s name (YaHuWaH) is a Hebrew name, I would not expect to see His Son’s name coming from some other language, whether it be Greek, Latin, Aramaic or English. If neither of these languages do it right, why not return to the original and correct form?

Yahusha

This form gaining in popularity fairly recently. However, it is easily proven to be incorrect. Let’s examine the Strong’s Lexicon entry that represents the Messiah’s name again:
 Strong 3091 – Yehowshuwah (yeh-ho-shoo’ah) or
Yehowshu’a (yeh-ho-shoo’-ah)
Notice in the Hebrew letters that there are two variant spellings of the Messiah’s name here. The first spelling has 6 letters יהושוע and the second spelling has 5 letters יהושע. This is because both spellings are used in scripture. The predominant spelling is יהושע but the longer spelling is also found in scripture. Here are two places where the longer spelling is employed:
Deuteronomy 3:21 “And I commanded Joshua יהושוע at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that YaHuWaH your Elohiym has done to these two kings; so will YaHuWaH do to all the kingdoms through which you pass.
Judges 2:7 So the people served YaHuWaH all the days of Joshua  (Yahuwshua), and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua (Yahuwshua)  יהושוע, who had seen all the great works of YaHuWaH which He had done for Ysra’al.
Variant spellings are not uncommon in Hebrew (especially in names) and usually the longer spelling is the older form and the newer spelling was the result of an extra letter that was not needed.
The longer spelling is also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (e.g. 4Q364 and Damascus Document 5:4).
We do not really need the extra “waw” ו to give us the “shua” sound but since the longer spelling is still being used in the scriptures, it proves that the Messiah’s name cannot be “Yahusha.”
Here is how each letter is pronounced:
י Yod – Produces a “Y” or “I” sound.
ה Heh – As a Hebrew vowel letter it can produce the “Ah” (like in #8283 “Sarah“).
ו Waw – Also called “Vav”. As a Hebrew vowel letter it can produce an “oo” (u) sound like in #7307 Ruach.
ש Shin – Produces the “sh” sound. The following “oo” sound is indicated by a vowel pointing but Deut. 3:21 and Judges 2:7 actually gives us another “waw” after this letter, proving the “shu” pronunciation as valid. This is why Strong’s 3091 gives 2 possible spellings (see above lexicon graphic). This also eliminates “Yasha/Yahusha” and “Yahoshea/Yahushea” as being possibilities.
ו Waw – Again, produces an “oo” (u) sound as in #7307 Ruach. This is the ignored letter in the pronunciation “Yahusha”. The fact that this spelling that includes the Waw exists in the scriptures proves that the Messiah’s name cannot be “Yahusha.”
ע Ayin – Silent without a vowel point but indicates an “ah” sound at the end of “Yahuwshua”.
Those who use “Yahusha” will claim that the “shua” ending cannot be correct and that “shua” actually means something else, but but “shua” sound is found in numerous verb forms which mean “salvation.”
Here are some examples:
  • The Strong’s word #3444 is pronounced “Yeshuah” but it is derived from #3467 “Yasha.” This shows that the “shua” sound can indeed be derived from the root word for salvation, “Yasha.” It’s just the Passive Participle form of “Yasha.”
  • The Aramaic form of Yahuwshua we discussed earlier uses “Yeshua” ישוע and just like יהושוע uses a “waw” ( ו )to give us the “shoo” sound in “shua.” If the original Hebrew form were “Yahusha,” the Aramaic form of the same name would not have been pronounced “Yeshua” (#3442) to begin with. But the Aramaic form is found in the scriptures in 29 verses of inspired scripture (e.g. 1Chron 24:11, 2Chron. 31:15, Strong’s #3442).
  • The Greek form of the name “Iesous” gives us an “oo” sound at the end of the name. Since the “Iesous” form is found in the Septuagint, a translation of the scriptures into Greek that was completed 200 years before Messiah came, it shows that the “oo” sound existed at the end of Yahuwshua prior to the time that Yahuwshua came and died for our sins.
  • The Masoretic Hebrew vowel points give us a “shua” ending as well. That’s why all Hebrew lexicons give us the “shua” pronunciation in this name.
Thus, in spite of those who claim it cannot, the Messiah’s name can have the “shua” sound even though it is derived from “yasha” (meaning “salvation”) and there are clear examples in the scripture where “Yahusha” would be an impossible rendition of the Messiah’s name.
So the pronunciation “Yahusha” can be proven wrong by simply looking at the scriptures and knowing that in order to arrive at the “Yahusha” pronunciation, we would need to ignore the scriptures which clearly have a ו (oo sound) after the ש (sh sound). Ignoring scripture is not something I want to participate in.

Why Yahushua and Not Yahusha (YouTube Video)

Yahshua

This is another popular way of writing the Messiah’s name but I have never seen an example of this word anywhere in scripture.
It appears to have its origins in the Sacred Name movement in the 1930’s when certain men saw that “Jesus” was derived from “Joshua”. Since they understood that the “J” sound is not in the Hebrew language, “Yahshua” was apparently considered correct. It made sense so I used this form for many years. However, I later learned that “Yahshua” clearly ignores the third letter of the Messiah’s name (Waw) which gives us the “oo” (u) sound in Yahuwshua. To demonstrate this, let’s look at the individual letters of .
י Yod  – Produces a “Y” or “I” sound.
ה Heh – As a Hebrew vowel letter it produces the “Ah” or “Oh” sound (like in #8283 “Sarah” and #8010 Sh’lomoh). Otherwise produces the “H” sound and the “ah” sound would have to be supplied by the reader.
ו Waw – Also called “Vav”. As a Hebrew vowel letter it produces an “oo” (u) or “oh” sound (like in #7307 Ruach). Otherwise produces a “W” sound. This is the ignored letter in the pronunciation “Yahshua”. This letter is nowhere represented. Where is the W or initial U??
ש Shin – Produces the “sh” sound. The following “oo” sound is indicated by a vowel pointing but Deut. 3:21 and Judges 2:7 actually gives us another “waw” after this letter, proving the “shu” pronunciation as valid. This is why Strong’s 3091 gives 2 possible spellings (see above lexicon graphic). This also eliminates “Yasha/Yahusha” and “Yahoshea/Yahushea” as being possibilities.
ע Ayin – Silent without a vowel point but indicates an “ah” sound at the end of “Yahuwshua”.
So if the Messiah’s name was “Yahshua”, we would have to delete the third letter (waw) in . For this reason,  cannot not be pronounced “Yahshua”.
There are some who claim that “Yahshua” is actually the correct pronunciation of the Aramaic word (yod-shin-waw-ayin) (“Yeshua”) and the Hebrew scribes simply took out the proper vowel sounds, replacing the “Yah” with “Ye”. But as mentioned before,(yod-shin-waw-ayin)is not a legitimate Hebrew word. Also, as seen in the above scans of the Strong’s Lexicon (and the Hebrew manuscripts as well), the scribes used the “Sheva” vowel pointing (:) to replace the “Ah” sound in “YaHuWaH” and “Yahuwshua”, not the “Tsere” (:) vowel pointing as is found in the name “Yeshua”. If they were interested in changing the vocalization of “Yeshua” to fit their tradition, one would expect them to use  the (:) as they did in  and all of the other names beginning with “Yah”.

Why use Yahuwshua?

Since we seek to walk in the truth, we should want to proclaim His name as YaHuWaH gave it. YaHuWaH is the one who named His Son and we simply have no business changing it. It is all these changes that have brought about the confusion. It can be complicated to sort through it all, but truth seeking is an honorable thing that is pleasing in YaHuWaH’s eyes.
Of course, if we are somehow unable to pronounce the Messiah’s name, certainly YaHuWaH is able to show mercy. But if we are able to, what reason do we have to continue in error? It is better to cleave to what YaHuWaH gave rather than continuing in the traditions and mistakes of men. Continuing in error is never superior to walking in the truth.
YaHuWaH predicted what His Son’s name would be, so we have something we can look to for clarification. In the book of Zechariah, it states:
Zechariah 6:9-13 And the word of YaHuWaH came unto me, saying, 10 Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; 11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua [YAHUWSHUA] the son of Josedech, the high priest; 12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh YaHuWaH of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of YaHuWaH: 13 Even he shall build the temple of YaHuWaH; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
“The Branch” is a prophetic reference to the coming Messiah who would be a Priest AND King (Compare Psallm 110, Isaiah 9:6).
So Zechariah was instructed to take a crown and place it on the head of Yahuwshua (in the Hebrew it has ), the son of Yahuwtsadak. Yahuwtsadak means “YaHuWaH is righteous”. When placing the crown on the head of  the High Priest, Zechariah was told to proclaim:

 “Behold the man whose NAME is the BRANCH”.

Thus, this High Priest (Yahuwshua) had the same name as the coming Messiah who would reign as a priest on His throne. YaHuWaH revealed what His name would be, so why not call Him by that name? We see the examples of the apostles who were proclaiming His name, baptizing in His name, healing in His name, being persecuted for His name, etc. Let’s be willing to do the same by using the Messiah’s name as it is written and understood in Hebrew with a very important Hebrew meaning:

YaHuWaH saves!

Yahushua VS Yahusha VS Yeshua – The Mashiyach’s Name

About Yahweh

The Ysra’al of today is walking the same path that the Ysra’al of the Judges and of some of the Kings walked. Ysra’al has always been prone to wander and make for itself “Aluahiym’s that are not Aluahiym’s”. Aluahiym’s that are the creation of their own minds or that of others. Our Mighty Ones (Aluahiym) has but ONE Name – and it is found only where all Truth is found – in His Word.  Period! If you cannot find it in His Word then it is the wrong Name!

His Name is not found through the wisdom of man: encyclopedias, clever “yahweh” studies, what the Samaritans called Him – “Yabeh”, or what the Greek scholars said His Name was – Yabe (Yave), or Yahovey (English pronunciation).  For those who have eyes to see – count the letters in yahweh – there are six – the number of man. While in YaHuWaH, there are seven – YaHuWaH’s perfect number!

Four ancient Ibry [Hebrew] consonants cannot yield a two syllable word – yahweh.  Nor can four Ibry vowel sounds (per Josephus) yield a two syllable word – yahweh. However, with all of this said, the real test as to the validity of “yahweh” (yahway) is by the Word – the ONLY true test! What is truly amazing is that the “Studies of the Great Name” on many of the yahweh web sites come to this conclusion: “The spelling Yahweh is acceptable as long as one remembers that the “w” has a “uu” sound and not a hard “w” sound.” .… this would yield “Yahuweh (Yah-uu-eh)” which at least contains the “Yahuw” – I AM HE.


It is also interesting that we have three syllables in the “cover-up” done by the Masoretic scribes. So what did those who wished to cover Him up do?  They took the four letters YHWH  and its three vowels; and placed in those four letters, their modern vowel-pointed Hebrew for Adonai. …. By the way Adonai is still three syllables with three vowels.  What this shows is that they also knew that The Great Name had three syllables, not the two – ascribed by so called modern scholars


This is from “nazarite.net”: Concerning the name “Yahweh” – it’s close, except it can’t be. The Fathers name in Hebrew is spelled Yod-Hey-Waw-Hey (YHWH). Now Yod-Hey (YH) is a root and Waw-Hey (WH) is also a root. When you add two roots together you end up with three syllables. Now every seven-year-old kid in the first grade in Israel knows this. This is fundamental rule in basic Hebrew grammar. With the vowel points YH becomes Yah, and WH become Wah, when you add them all together you get YaHuWaH pronounced Yah-hoo-wah with three syllables. Another issue with the name Yahweh is the Hey (H) can’t have one sound one time then another sound another. Yahweh has the Hey (H) as aH in the first root then eH in the second root, which is it?

 

Concerning the oft repeated phrase “I AM HE” which is “Ani Huw (first person)” in Hebrew and translates into “YaHuW (third person)”(Hebrew spelling), and is a major identifying part of His Great Name -YaHuWaH, is for some reason, not seen or acknowledged by them as being of any importance! Notice the text below, just one of many in which the identifying phrase “I AM HE” is used. (The actual Hebrew reads just “I He” – “Ani Huw” – the “am” is place between these words for clarification.)

YashaYahuw (Isaiah) 52:5-6 “And saith – I AM HE  Who is Self Existent; Continually everyday I lament the destruction of My Name that they have set to blaspheme.  Therefore in That Day speaks He, certainly My Name they shall know; it is He Who Exists (YaHuWaH); with tears they shall report, BEHOLD! (from Hebrew)


Since “I AM HE” = “Ani Huw” = “YaHuW”,  then the text above from the Hebrew could be read as follows: 52:5-6 “And saith – YaHuW Who is Self Existent; Continually everyday I lament the destruction of My Name that they have set to blaspheme.  Therefore in That Day speaks He, certainly My Name they shall know; it is He Who Exists (YaHuWaH); with tears they shall report, BEHOLD!
Yahuwdah while in captivity to Babel and on into the reigns of the Medes and Persians were known to those who “loved them not” as the “bearded Yahuw’s” as many of them had “yahuw” as part of their names. Some examples of this are:Ya’azanYahuw, ChabatstanYahuw, YigdalYahuw, Ma’aseYahuw, YoshiYahuw, YirmeYahuw, YashaYahuw, Yahuwyaquim, TsidqiYahuw —- all of these names had meanings that in some manner described their relationship to YaHuWaH. ChabatstanYahuw means “Brightness of YaHuWaH, YigdalYahuw means “Magnified by YaHuWaH, Ma’aseYahuw means “work of YaHuWaH. It is “in” these names that we see the foremost part of the Name of YaHuW-aH – not Yahweh. For the Name of our Mighty One – the Only One is verified in the names of His people.

Shemoth 20:7 “You shall not bring the Name of YaHuWaH  your Aluahiym to naught, for YaHuWaH will not hold him guiltless who brings His Name to naught. (ruin, nothing, despised, worthless – by wrong or non-use)

 

Mishle/Proverbs 30:4

Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended?

Who has gathered the wind in His fists?

Who has bound the waters in His garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if you know?

That text above from Mishle [Proverbs] 30:4 –  is one that is loved and used by many of Ysra’al when introducing others to the Names of the Eternal One and His Anointed.  It still has much to say to us of Ysra’al today – and needs answering.  Ysra’al of today is awash with names that are not names, names that “bring to nothing” the Name of the Eternal One [YaHuWaH] and His Mashiyach [Messiah]Names that cannot be proven from Scripture and have no Scriptural basis.

With this said, I would like to make the following challenges: First challenge – that you use the four texts below to test the validity of the Names by which you call on the Eternal One and His Anointed.  These texts are self-checking, that is, the Father’s Name should appear within the Name of His Anointed according to text one; and the Anointed’s Name should contain the Father’s Name according to text two & three. …. and the Anointed’s Name should be distinctive from all other Names given as stated in text four.  So write out the Names you call our Father and His Son and see if they meet these requirements!  – and there is no way that YaHuWaH’s Name can be separated from the Name of His Anointed,  for YaHuWaH’s Name must be within the Name of YaHuWSHuWaH. (For YaHuWaH was within YaHuWSHuWaH in all His Weightiness, Fullness and Power – bringing the world to Himself) The enunciation of one Name will verify the other Name!

1. ☛  Shemoth/Exodus 23:20 “Behold, I send My Messenger before you, to guard you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 23:21 Pay attention to Him, and listen to His voice. Don’t provoke Him, for He shall not pardon your disobedience, for My Name is in Him.” ….  (the  Name for Himself that He gave to Moshah – YaHuWaH)

2. ☛  Yahuwchanan [John]  5:43 I have come in My Father’s Nameand you don’t receive Me. If another comes in his own name, you shall receive him.” and ….

3.  Yahuwchanan [John]17:11 O Set-apart Father, guard them by Your Name, which You have given Methat they may be one union, even as We are.”

Along with these two texts, one must keep in mind that “The Name” given to the Mashiyach is above and is distinctive from all other names – the Fathers’s name is within His  … as Sha’uwl states in Phillipians 2: 9-11:

4.  Which is why YaHuWaH also highly exalted Him, and gave to Him A Name which is above every other name; in order that at the Name of YaHuWSHuWaH  every knee should bow, of the ones in the heavens, and the ones on the earth, and the ones under the earth, and that every tongue should openly acknowledge: YaHuWSHuWaH the Anointed is YaHuWaH, to the esteem of Aluah the Father”(cf. YashaYahuw 45:23-24 – By Myself I have sworn, the Word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. They shall say of Me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only within YaHuWaH!”)

A positive example of this “self check” is given here:

1.  [From the Hebrew: The Father: –  YaHuWaH : The Son: – YaHuWSHuWaH   (YaHuW-SHuWaH – I AM HE YaHuWaH who SAVES/DELIVERS). He came in His Father’s Name – including the tetragrammaton.]

2. [One name combination that does not follow these texts is:

 Yahweh (Yahway) for the Father and Y’shua, Yahshua, or Yahusha, for the Son.  The name Yahweh is not within YaHuWSHuWaH, as He did not come in that name  ….. therefore, something is wrong!] (Though, I did come across a web site that was true to the above “tests” – They call the Father yahweh, and His Son yahwehshua. – at least they are honest to the texts!)

WHO IS “YAHWEH”?


The Masoretic text from which many scholars, Christians, and Messianic’s get the name Yahweh – using the YHWH of the tetragammaton – do not understand that the Masoretic’s incorrectly borrowed the vowels from the Hebrew word for “Lord” and attached these vowels to the tetragammaton. In doing so they came up with the name “Jehovah”. But knowing there is no “J” sound in Hebrew or “V” sound in Hebrew, they eventually came up with Yahweh (Yah-way) – to which most cling tenaciously.

With a little research, one can easily find that the Greeks called their chief god “Zeus”. The Romans called him “Jupiter” for he was their chief god. He was their god of light, the sky and weather, and the god of the state, of its laws, and its welfare. Jupiter was also given the name “Jove” in Latin. Let’s take a look at how “Jove” is pronounced.

In Latin there is no “J” sound –  but is pronounced like the English “Y”. The short “O” in Latin sounds like the English “AH”. The Latin “V”  sounds like the English “W” as there is no “V” sound in Latin. The “E” in Latin sounds like the short “EH” in English. Now let’s see how “Jove”  is sounded out in English.
J = Y
O = AH
V = W
E = EH

JOVE = YAHWEH

Therefore, those who call the Eternal One – The Creator of All – by the name YAHWEH are calling Him by the name of the Roman god Jupiter, and the Greek god Zeus. This is nothing less than an abomination – bringing His Name to nothing, and mouthing the name of a pagan god and then saying it is His Name.

Here is a challenge” from another website dealing with the name “yahweh – yah-way”
“In fact, I issue this challenge to anyone who believes the Creator’s name to be “Yahweh.”
If you’ll send me a copy of the name “Yahweh” written in Hebrew with the Masoretic vowel points; along with the corresponding locations in the Old Testament (Masoretic Text) where that particular combination of consonants and vowels points appear in writing, and articulates the pronunciation “Yahweh,” I will gladly place it here!” (No one has ever sent him the data he requested!)

Note: That the Father’s Name appear within His Mashiyach’s Name is vital, for YaHuWaH’s Mashiyach isYaHuWaH manifested in the flesh-!! A beautiful and wonderful truth that explains so much in the Word …. and is very easy to see throughout the Writings of the TaNaK [First Testament] and the Brit Chadasha. [Apostolic Writings/New Testament]

Acts 2:36  “Let all the house of Ysra’al therefore know certainly that Aluah has made this YaHuWSHuWaH whom you hanged on a stake, both Master YaHuWaH and haMashiyach.”

Acts 2:38 Kepha said to them, “Each of you reconsider, and be immersed, every one of you, in the Name of the Master YaHuWaH-YaHuWSHuWaH haMashiyach for the washing away of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruwach haQadosh. from AENT

Note: Derivatives of the Name of The Almighty should also be found in the Word within the names of His people.[All Hebrew names have meaning and often picture the works, deliverance, and wonders of the Eternal One. …. YashaYahuw [Isaiah] (YaHuWaH is deliverance) and YirmeYahuw [Jeremiah](YaHuWaH will raise up) are examples of this. YirmeYahuw 15:16 Your Words were found, and I ate them; and Your Words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by Your Name, YaHuWaH, Aluahiym of Hosts. (YirmeYahuw = (YaHuWaH will raise up or appoint”) Note: There are also some 99 others of Ysra’al who have “YaHuW” in their names: 72 names that end with “YaHuW”, 27 names having “YaHuW” at the beginning, and 1 with it in the middle. … for a total of 100! (YaHuw – YHW – is the Hebrew spelling)

*Note on the úW/uw : The “waw” in Paleo-Hebrew and Ancient-Hebrew is  pronounced as “uW”, it is not just a simple “v” or “w” sound. …. rhymes with “wuu”. Dawid Ray ” False Name and Mystery Babylon”

Second challenge: can you find one name – just one – given in the TaNaK that is a derivative of “Yahweh“??  Let the “judge” be the “Blue Scriptures” from ISR … for some “yahweh people” have their “own” versions which have been liberally “tweaked”!

There will be coming soon a time of great testing, of oppression/tribulation and of trial; we will need to call upon the Name of The Almighty for deliverance. … and if we have the wrong name – their will be no deliverance.  Now is the time to be sure we know that Name and trust in it. Psalms 9:9-10 YaHuWaH will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble. Those who know Your Name will put their trust in You, for You, YaHuWaH, have not forsaken those who seek You. … and from Yahuw’al  2:32 It will happen that whosoever shall call on the Name of YaHuWaH  shall be delivered;  for in Mount Tsiyon and in  Yahrushalom there shall be those who escape [are delivered], as YaHuWaH  has said, and in the remnantthose whom YaHuWaH shall call.  [Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13]

In First Melakim [Kings] 18, there is the recounting of the apostasy of the first House of Ysra’al led by Iyzebel (see First Melakim [Kings] 17- 21 page) and her false prophets during Ach’ab’s reign. (A very prophetic passage being played out in many of the Ysra’al of today, who are calling on the name “yahweh” or other false names – (Ba’al),  – and whose false prophets number at least 850 and who eat at Iysebel’s table! cf. Rev. 2:19-24) Perhaps these “850 false prophets should assemble themselves together and see if they can find in the TaNaK [First Testament] just one derivative of “yahweh” ….. it can’t be done!  Many of the present day “prophets of yahweh/Ba’al” are also “nico- laitans” (rulers of the layity – their excuse being that they are protecting their flock from the “wolves”, however, their real motive is to keep the flock under their control so they can be easily “fleeced”; spiritually, emotionally, doctrinally, and in some cases financially!)


Jacob O. Meyer of the “Assemblies of Yahweh” states that he is 99.99% sure that the Great Name is Yahweh …. but if he finds out differently from some advanced “scholarship”, then he will change his position! What an amazing statement! He is denying the Word – the only source where one can find the Great Name! He needs to (as all yahweh believers should) – heed the word that YaHuWaH gave us in YashaYahuw [Isaiah] 2:22 “Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?” and from YirmeYahuw [Jeremiah] 17:5 ” Thus says YaHuWaH: Cursed is the man who trust in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from YaHuWaH!” This is especially true for those seeking to know His Great Name!


There are many more just like him who turn their backs on the only true source  of Wisdom – the Word – where His Name can be proven. There is a host of different “Assemblies”, “Congregations”, “Houses” of yahweh, etc. All of which rely on “sources” for His Name that are not Scriptural, and lean upon the fact … “there are so many of us that call upon this name, how can it be wrong”. Well, so did all Ysra’al  call upon “Ba’al” in the days of Ach’ab when Iysebel and her false prophets led Ysra’al astray.  What has been – will be!

As for those who say – and they are many – “It really doesn’t matter if we say “yahweh” or “YaHuWaH” or any other name, for Aluahiym “knows” what we mean and He will accept what we say until He makes His Name known to us.” (- but He already has! It’s in His Word for those willing to search it out!) But, if this is how you feel, well, why not go back to g_d, l_rd, j_zeus, etc. – for YaHuWaH “knows” what we mean and therefore it is acceptable with Him! I think NOT!

The Wu Sound is essential for the above above words!

Yes, it’s all about Names – the correct ONES

Author

We are the Followers of YAH Grafted into YAH's Covenant Without End Rev 1:8 I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tau’, the Beginning and the Covenant without End, says יְהוֹשׁוּעַ H3091 (Yahushua Ha Mashiach) “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

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