yeshua

Yeshua is the Hebrew form of the given name commonly rendered in English as Jesus. The name means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation,” derived from the Hebrew root y-s-h-ʿ. In Hebrew and Aramaic, several related forms exist, including Yehoshua (the longer form that appears as Joshua in English translations) and Yeshu or Yeshua in later Rabbinic and modern usage. The standard English form Jesus comes via Latin Iēsus and Greek Iēsoûs, which in turn derive from the various Hebrew and Aramaic forms.

Historically, Yeshua was a common Jewish given name during the Second Temple period. Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish teacher and preacher active in 1st-century Judea and Galilee, is the best known bearer of the name in modern times. Details about his life come primarily from Christian sources, with cross-cultural and historical scholarship noting his execution under Roman authority during the Pontius Pilate era.

In religious traditions, Yeshua is the name associated with Jesus of Nazareth in Christian discourse, where he is regarded as the Messiah and the Son of God by most denominations. In Judaism, Jesus is not accepted as the Messiah, and the name Yeshua is typically not used to refer to a messianic figure within mainstream Jewish theology. In modern Hebrew, Yeshua is also used as a given name and to refer to Jesus in contemporary contexts, while scholarly writing often uses Yeshua to denote the historical figure.