“What’s in a name?” Juliet assures Romeo. “That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”

Shakespeare notwithstanding, names in the Bible are important and meaningful. They convey character and calling, purpose and promise.

Significant life transformations are sometimes demarcated by name changes. Abram becomes Abraham. Jacob’s higher nature is called forth by his new name Israel, and Moses renames Hoshea, his young lieutenant, Joshua.

Behind the name Joshua or Y’hoshua in Hebrew is the assurance that YAH (the LORD) yoshia (will deliver or save) His people – a timely reminder, when ten of the men sent with Joshua to spy out Canaan see it as “a land that devours its inhabitants” and is filled with giants (Numbers 13:32).

Plays on words also are commonplace with Hebrew names.

At the angel’s announcement of a son, Abraham like Sarah was incredulous, and he laughed (va’yitzchak). So the son of promise was named Yitzchak (Isaac). Because God heard (ki-shama) Hagar’s afflictions, she was given a son named Yishma’el (Ishmael). Jacob grasped his first-born twin brother Esau by the heel (ba’akev); so he was called Ya’akov.   

WE SEE THIS WORD-PLAY phenomenon in the Gospels with the name Jesus. An angel appears to Mary (Luke 1:31) and to Joseph (Matthew 1:21) announcing the divinely ordained birth of a son. Then he adds, “And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

This is classic Hebraic expression and word play. In English we normally would say, “You shall name him…” or “Call him…” But the biblical pattern is “You shall call his name …” (cf. Genesis 16:11 and 17:19).

The significant name play is lost to English readers but clear in Hebrew: “You shall call his name Yeshua (Jesus) for he yoshia (will save) his people from their sins.”

The name Yeshua (Jeshua) is found thirty times in the Hebrew Bible. But what is seldom appreciated by Christians is that the name was a common one in the first century. My colleague David Bivin of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research has identified it as one of the five most common male Hebrew names of the Second Temple period, along with Shim’on (Simon), Yosef (Joseph), Y’hudah (Judah) and Yochanan (John).

In accordance with Jewish custom, Jesus was given his Hebrew name at his circumcision on the eighth day (Luke 2:21). In this case, it was a common name that held uncommon significance for the identity and mission of Yeshua MiNatzeret (Jesus of Nazareth).

The name, properly pronounced, consists of three syllables: Ye (the e sounding like ei in neighbor); shu (the u sounding like oo in shoot); and a (like the a in father). The accent is on the second or middle syllable.

Why wasn’t the name Yeshua transliterated as Jeshua in the New Testament as it is in English versions of the Old Testament? Because New Testament scriptures were preserved in Greek, not Hebrew, Yeshua was transliterated into the equivalent Greek letters as Iesous (with the addition of a final s for a male name). The iota (I) subsequently was rendered by the letter J in Old English, pronounced as a Y (as in hallelujah). Thus we have the English name Jesus, which in its current pronunciation seems far removed from the original sounding Yeshua.

Christ was not Jesus’ surname. He wasn’t listed in the Nazareth phone directory as “Christ, Jesus”! Christ is the Greek translation of the meaning of the Hebrew title Mashiach, the anointed one. Messiah is its English transliteration.

Christ is a title, therefore, not a second or last name. This is clear from Simon Peter’s response to Yeshua’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” He replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

The early community of faith called upon the name of Jesus (Yeshua) for salvation (y’shuah). Whether in prayer or baptism or healings, everything was done b’shem Yeshua. “In the name of” is a Hebraic figure of speech that means “with reference to” or “in association with” the person of Jesus.

His name is extraordinarily meaningful to us but it is not a magic formula. How one says it is not as important as how one carries it. To walk in obedience to Christ’s commands and to conduct ourselves in ways that sanctify the name of his Father in heaven is the biblical way to honor the name, Jesus