Yahshuah

Yahshuah is a form of the Hebrew name of Jesus produced by mystical speculation at various periods of history, but which is rejected by mainstream linguistics and textual scholarship in the field of ancient languages. The essential idea is of an alphabetic consonantal framework Y-H-Sh-W-H, which can be supplied with vowels in various ways. (Also, the "W" can be converted into a "U", since the Hebrew letter ו "waw" writes either a [w] consonant sound — later on pronounced [v] — or a long [u] vowel sound: see Mater Lectionis.)

Renaissance occultism

The first ones to use a name of Jesus something like "Yahshuah" were Renaissance occultists. In the second half of the 16th century, when knowledge of Biblical Hebrew first began to spread among a significant number of Christians, certain esoterically-minded or occultistic circles came up with the idea of deriving the Hebrew name of Jesus by adding the Hebrew letter "shin" ש into the middle of the Tetragrammaton divine name "yod-he-waw-he" יהוה to produce the form "yod-he-shin-waw-he" יהשוה. This was given a basic Latin transliteration JHSVH or IHSVH or IHSUH (since there was no letter "W" or "sh" / [š] sound in Latin, and "I" and "J" were then not yet clearly distinguished as letters of the alphabet, nor were "U" and "V"). This could then be supplied with further vowels for pronounceability. It was a happy coincidence that the first three letters of this consonantal transcription IHSVH etc. were identical with the old IHS/JHS monogram of the name of Jesus (from Greek "iota-eta-sigma").

In Renaissance occultistic works, this "Pentagrammaton" (or five-letter divine name) was frequently arranged around a [http://www.byzant.com/Mystical/Symbols/Pentagrammaton.aspx mystic pentagram] , where each of the five Hebrew letters י ה ש ו ה was placed at one of the points (the letter "shin" ש was always placed at the upward-pointing vertex of the pentagram). One of the earliest attested examples of this diagram is in the [http://www.levity.com/alchemy/wroclaw.html "Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum"] or "Magical Calendar" (published 1620 but dated 1582). This idea of the "Pentagrammaton" was funneled into modern occultism by 19th-century French writer Eliphas Levi and the influential late 19th-century society of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn favored the consonantal transcription IHShVH or YHShVH, and the pronunciation Yeheshuah.

However, in all early Hebrew or Aramaic sources, the name "Jesus"/"Jeshua" actually appears as "yod-shin-waw-`ayin" ישוע Yeshua (or as the related longer form of the same name, "yod-he-waw-shin-`ayin" יהושע "Joshua"; or as the intentionally-altered derogatory Talmudic variant "yod-shin-waw" ישו Yeshu), so that the Renaissance speculations were incorrect. Note that the letter "`ayin" ע was specifically pronounced as a voiced pharyngeal consonant sound in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic, and could not be easily confused with either a pronounced [h] sound or a silent Hebrew letter "he" ה.

Modern "Divine Name" groups

Some modern religious groups have speculated that the most correct form of the Hebrew name of Jesus should be based on the spelling "yod-he-shin-waw-`ayin" יהשוע (apparently a reordering of the letters in the Hebrew spelling of the name "yod-he-waw-shin-`ayin" יהושע, pronounced [yěhōšūǎ`] and usually translated into English as "Joshua", but closely connected with the Hebrew form of the name of Jesus). This Hebrew letter sequence "yod-he-shin-waw-`ayin" can be transcribed into English in various ways (since Masoretic Niqqud is rejected), including Yahshua, Yahoshua, etc. — see Yahshua.

When a final "H" is added on to these transcriptions (e.g. Yahshuah, Yahoshuah etc.), or when such consonantal transcriptions as YHSWH or YHShWH are used (both quite similar to the old transcription JHSVH, given the differences between the English and Latin uses of the alphabet), then it seems rather clear that there is confusion between the name of Jesus and the Tetragrammaton (whether under the influence of the old occultistic "Pentagrammaton", or independently). Certainly the consonantal transcription YHShVH is used both by occultists and Divine Name religious adherents.

ee also

*Names and titles of Jesus
*Yeshua (name)
*Yahshua

External links

* [http://symbolictruth.fateback.com/yeshua-yasu-isa.htm The correct form of the name of Jesus in several Semitic languages]
* [http://www.yahshuah.com/bkjy.html Jesus or Yahshuah?] - Argument for use of Hebrew name of Yahshuah
* [http://www.seekgod.ca/htwhatsinaname.htm The Sacred Name or True Name] - An argument against use of the Hebrew name of Yahshuah in reference to the names Yahshua, Yahshuah,Y'shua, Yeshua, and Yehoshua.