# G2424 - Iesous **Strong's:** [G2424](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2424/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** ee-ay-sooce' **Part of speech:** masculine proper noun **Etymology:** Greek transliteration of Aramaic *Yeshuaʿ* (יֵשׁוּעַ), the post-exilic contracted form of Hebrew *Yehoshuaʿ* (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, "Joshua") = *YHWH* + *yashaʿ* (יָשַׁע) = **"YHWH saves" / "YHWH is salvation."** See [H3467 - yasha](/codex/h3467-yasha/). **NT occurrences:** ~917, the most-named individual in the New Testament. ## Semantic range / referents 1. **Jesus of Nazareth**, the Christ; the central referent in ~99% of NT occurrences. 2. **Joshua, son of Nun**, the OT-Joshua; the Greek NT uses *Iēsous* in [Acts 7:45](/codex/acts-7-45/) (Stephen's speech) and [Hebrews 4:8](/codex/hebrews-4-8/). 3. **Jesus son of Eliezer**, in the genealogy of Jesus in [Luke 3:29](/codex/luke-3-29/) (a name in the Davidic genealogical line). 4. **Jesus surnamed Justus**, Paul's coworker in [Colossians 4:11](/codex/colossians-4-11/). 5. **Jesus Barabbas**, disputed reading at [Matthew 27:16-17](/codex/matthew-27-16-17/) (preferred in NA28; the Barabbas's first name in some manuscripts). The dominant theological / christological weight rests on (1). ## Theological force, the name as doctrine The personal name *Iēsous / Yeshuaʿ* is *itself* a theological statement. **[Matthew 1.21](/codex/matthew-1-21/)** makes the etymology explicit: "you shall call His name Jesus, *for He will save His people from their sins*" (καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν, αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν). The angel's *for* (γάρ) glosses the Hebrew etymology directly: the name *is* the function, "YHWH saves" embodied in the bearer. **The Christological force activates in three directions:** 1. **The name itself asserts divine identity.** The name *Yeshuaʿ* is "YHWH saves", and in the Gospels, *He* is the One who saves. The implication: the bearer of the name is the YHWH-of-the-name in person. [Justin Martyr](/codex/justin-martyr/) (*Dialogue with Trypho* 75) and Cyril of Jerusalem (*Catech.* 10.11) develop this argument early. 2. **The name carries OT exclusivity-of-salvation.** [Isaiah 43:11](/codex/isaiah-43-11/), "I, even I, am the LORD; and there is no Savior (*moshiaʿ*) besides Me." [Joel 2:32](/codex/joel-2-32/), "whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." Paul's application of [Joel 2:32](/codex/joel-2-32/) to Jesus in [Romans 10:13](/codex/romans-10-13/) is the canonical-hinge text: the YHWH-text becomes a Jesus-text. **[Acts 4:12](/codex/acts-4-12/)**, "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other *name* under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." 3. **The name is the typological hinge to the OT Joshua.** *Yehoshuaʿ* led Israel into the land of promise, but [Hebrews 4:8](/codex/hebrews-4-8/) explicitly notes that "if *Iēsous* (Joshua) had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that," opening the typological space the *true* Joshua / Jesus fills: bringing the people into the eschatological inheritance. **The "Jesus Christ" dyad.** *Iēsous Christos* combines the personal name (*Yeshuaʿ*, YHWH saves) with the messianic title ([G5547 - christos](/codex/g5547-christos/), anointed). The dyad is canonical and theologically saturated: *the One named YHWH-saves is the Anointed One*. Paul's standard greeting *charis humin kai eirēnē apo theou patros hēmōn kai kyriou Iēsou Christou* ("grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ") is a high-Christological assertion: the *theos-pater* and *kyrios Iēsous Christos* together constitute the divine source of grace and peace. ## Notable verses ### The naming of Jesus - **[Matthew 1.21](/codex/matthew-1-21/)**, "you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" - **[Luke 1:31](/codex/luke-1-31/)**, the annunciation: "you shall name Him Jesus" - **[Luke 2:21](/codex/luke-2-21/)**, the circumcision: "His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb" - **[Matthew 1:25](/codex/matthew-1-25/)**, "He called His name Jesus" ### The exclusivity of the name for salvation - **[Acts 4.12](/codex/acts-4-12/)**, "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven... by which we must be saved" - **[Acts 2:38](/codex/acts-2-38/)**, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ - **[Acts 3:6](/codex/acts-3-6/), [16](/codex/acts-3-16/)**, healing in the name of Jesus - **[Acts 16:18](/codex/acts-16-18/)**, exorcism in the name of Jesus ### [Joel 2:32](/codex/joel-2-32/) transferred to Jesus - **[Romans 10.13](/codex/romans-10-13/)**, "everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved", Paul applies Joel's YHWH-text to Jesus - **[Acts 2:21](/codex/acts-2-21/)**, Peter's Pentecost sermon: "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved", applied to Jesus in context ### "Lord Jesus", Kyrios applied to the bearer of the name - **[Romans 10:9](/codex/romans-10-9/)**, "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord (*Iēsoun Kyrion*) and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" - **[1 Corinthians 12:3](/codex/1-corinthians-12-3/)**, "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' (*Kyrios Iēsous*) except by the Holy Spirit" - **[Philippians 2:9-11](/codex/philippians-2-9-11/)**, "God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him *the name which is above every name*, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow... and every tongue will confess that *Jesus Christ is Lord*" ### The OT-Joshua use - **[Acts 7:45](/codex/acts-7-45/)**, "our fathers... brought it in with Joshua (*Iēsou*) when they dispossessed the nations" - **[Hebrews 4:8](/codex/hebrews-4-8/)**, "if Joshua (*Iēsous*) had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that" ## Patristic / scholarly note The Christological argument from the name is among the oldest in the Christian tradition. **[Justin Martyr](/codex/justin-martyr/)** (*Dialogue with Trypho* 75), Joshua's name = Jesus's name; the typology is exact. **Origen** (*Homilies on Joshua*), develops the Joshua-Jesus typology in 26 sermons. **Cyril of Jerusalem** (*Catechetical Lectures* 10.11), reads the etymology as transparent doctrinal claim: the One who saves *is* the YHWH-Savior. **Athanasius** (*De Incarnatione*), the name-bearer as God-in-flesh. In Reformation-evangelical scholarship (B.B. Warfield; Murray Harris, *Jesus as God: The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus*, 1992; Sinclair Ferguson, *In Christ Alone*, 2007; David B. Capes, *The Divine Christ: Paul, the Lord Jesus, and the Scriptures of Israel*, 2018), the etymology functions as a load-bearing piece of high-Christology defense: the name itself transferred YHWH-salvation to the bearer. The name is also significant for **Messianic Jewish** apologetics: the post-exilic shift from *Yehoshuaʿ* to *Yeshuaʿ* prepares the Greek *Iēsous*; the recovery of *Yeshuaʿ* (the Hebrew form) in modern Messianic Judaism connects contemporary Jewish-Christian dialogue to the Christ's actual Aramaic name. The Latin tradition (Vulgate *Iesus*) and English tradition (*Jesus*, with the *J* representing the original consonantal *I/Y*) preserve the chain: *Yehoshuaʿ → Yeshuaʿ → Iēsous → Iesus → Jesus*. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Anchor texts: [Matthew 1.21](/codex/matthew-1-21/), [Acts 4.12](/codex/acts-4-12/), [Romans 10.13](/codex/romans-10-13/), [Hebrews 4:8](/codex/hebrews-4-8/), [Philippians 2.5-11](/codex/philippians-2-5-11/). ## See also - [H3467 - yasha](/codex/h3467-yasha/), *yasha* (to save), the Hebrew verbal root behind the name - [G5547 - christos](/codex/g5547-christos/), *Christos*, the messianic-title companion - [G2962 - kyrios](/codex/g2962-kyrios/), *Kyrios*, the LXX YHWH-rendering applied to Jesus - [G4990 - soter](/codex/g4990-soter/), *sōtēr* (Savior), the title-form of what the name asserts - [Christs Deity](/codex/christs-deity/), the doctrinal hub the name-etymology serves - [Names of Jehovah](/codex/names-of-jehovah/), companion concept - Passages: [Matthew 1.21](/codex/matthew-1-21/), [Acts 4.12](/codex/acts-4-12/), [Romans 10.13](/codex/romans-10-13/), [Romans 10.9](/codex/romans-10-9/), [Philippians 2.5-11](/codex/philippians-2-5-11/)