Yeshu

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yeshu (יֵשׁוּ) is the normal spelling of Jesus in the modern Hebrew language . When translating the Greek name Ιησους (Iesous) in relation to other people, the spelling יְהוֹשׁוּעַ respectively יְהוֹשֻׁעַ( Yehoshua ) orיֵשׁוּעַ(Yeshua) used. Only among Hebrew-speaking Christians in modern Israel is the form Yeshua found in connection with Jesus of Nazareth. This follows the form "Yeshua" z. B. in the book Esra and in the translation of the New Testament into Hebrew by Franz Delitzsch (1887).

Also יֵשׁוּ הַנּוֹצְרִי Jeschu haNotzri (Yeshu of the Nazarenes) is used in secular and rabbinical texts ,יֵשׁוּעַ מִנָּצְרַת Yeshua miNatzrath (Yeshua of Nazareth) but only in texts by Christians.

Archaeological finds

Tal Ilan documents 85 testimonies of Yeshua, 15 of Yeshua and only one of Yeshu among the inscriptions in the Second Temple period . The exception can be found in one of twenty ossuary, Rahmani No. 9 (EL Sukenik 1931). The text has the double form "Yeshu ... Yeshua ben Joseph". A photo of it shows that “Yeshu” was crossed out. Among papyrus finds, e.g. B. from Qumran and Nahal Hever , the name form "Yeshua" is often found. “Yeshu” was never found.

etymology

Yeshu as a polemical term

Traditionally the form Yeshu is a polemical term. Paul Billerbeck (1922) understood it as the “intended mutilation” of Jesus for Jesus of Nazareth, if not according to the cursing formula jimmah semö vzikhrö . Since the shortened form of the name Yeshu is never used for one of the seven Yeshua of the Tanach , or for Yeschua ben Sira , one must assume, according to Blinzler (1969), that Yeshu is an intentional mutilation and always refers to Jesus of Nazareth. Leon Modena also saw a connection with the J- Sh -U cursing formula jimmah semö vzikhrö .

Yeshu as a short form

According to Heinrich Graetz , Yeschu is an abbreviation of Yeschua.

Yeshu as a Galilean dialect name

Günther Schwarz , Peter Stuhlmacher , David Flusser and Josef Konrad claim that Yeshu is “almost certainly” the Galilean pronunciation of the name Yeshua. Richard Bauckham, on the other hand, thinks Yeshua is the standard pronunciation of the name.

In other Jewish sources

“Yeshu” also occurs in non-Christian ancient sources on Jesus of Nazareth in the Talmud and in the Sefer Toledot Jeschu , a collection of Jewish sagas that probably originated in Italy before the 8th century.

Under Syrian Orthodox Patriarchs

In the list of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch by Martin Tamcke (2009), “Ignaz Josua” (Syriac: ܝܫܘܥ Yeshua ) comes out as “Ignatius Jeschu”. Usually the name is transcribed as "Ignatius Jeschua".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ben Yehuda Dictionary of the Hebrew Language. 1989, ISBN 978-0-671-68862-2 , p. 514.
  2. ↑ Bantam-Megiddo Hebrew Dictionary 2009 p. 177 .
  3. ^ Reuben Alcalay 1963 The Complete Hebrew-English Dictionary. Masada Publishing Co. Ramat Gan, Jerusalem. 1995 p. 968
  4. ^ Martin Hengel Between Jesus and Paul: studies in the earliest history of ... 1983 p. 187 "A. Schalit, dictionary of names between Flavius ​​Josephus, 1968, 60f. counts 19 people with the name, Tcherikover-Fuks, CPJ III,… It is all the more striking that soon after 70 the short form yeSua “'disappears almost completely from Jewish sources as a proper name. YeSua "'han-nosri had made it impossible for Jews."
  5. ^ Robert E. Van Voorst. Jesus outside the New Testament. 2000, ISBN 978-0-8028-4368-5 . P. 124. "This is likely an inference from the Talmud and other Jewish usage, where Jesus is called Yeshu, and other Jews with the same name are called by the fuller name Yehoshua," Joshua ""
  6. ↑ Jésus dans la littérature arabe et hébraïque contemporaine Jean-Marie Delmaire, Najîb Mansûr Zakka p. 49 “Aharon Avraham Kabak”
  7. ^ Joseph Klausner Yeshu ha-Notsri: zemano, hayav, ve-torato (Jerusalem, 1922) title.
  8. ↑ ברית חדשה United Bible Societies. 1887, Matt 1: 1
  9. ↑ Jan AB Jongeneel: Jesus Christ in world history: his presence and representation 2009, p. 84: "Both Talmuds include polemical statements, usually brief and oblique, about Yeshu ha-Nozri, whose life and teachings are ..."
  10. ↑ ברית חדשה Modern Hebrew version, United Bible Societies.
  11. ↑ Tal Ilan: Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity , article יהושע.
  12. ^ Rahmani: Catalog of Jewish Ossuaries in the Collections of the State of Israel
  13. ^ Richard Bauckham : The Names on the Ossuaries ; in: Charles Quarles (ed.): Buried Hope Or Risen Savior: The Search for the Jesus Tomb ; 2008; P. 69.
  14. ↑ Shanks H. Witherington B .: The Brother of Jesus ; P. 60
  15. ^ Yigael Yadin: The Finds From the Bar Kokhba Period in the Cave of Letters ; Judean Desert Studies Jerusalem; 1963; P. 12.
  16. ↑ Rudolf Augstein Jesus Menschensohn 1972, p. 437 "In rabbinical literature the name Jeschua is mostly reproduced with Jeschu. Since the abbreviation is only found in Jesus' name, it was seen as an intended mutilation for anti-Christian motives. [Cf. Strack-Billerbecks 1 , P. 64] By contrast, David Flusser: "That is almost certainly the Galilean pronunciation of the name." [Jesus, p. 13]
  17. ↑ Hermann Leberecht Strack, Paul Billerbeck Commentary on the New Testament from Talmud and Midrash 1 1922 p. 64 - "Since the abbreviation of [Heb. Yeshua] to [Heb. Yeshu] is only found in Jesus' name, it is intended to be mutilated The three consonants j, s, v are not intended abbreviations of the cursing formula jimmah semö vzikhrö ...
  18. ↑ Rise and Fall of the Roman World: History and Culture Vol 2, 25, 1 Hildegard Temporini, Joseph Vogt, Wolfgang Haase - 1982 p. 667 "But neither the text itself nor the context suggest the assumption of another Jesus, 101 Yes, Jesus was rather understood as the intended mutilation of Jesus for Jesus of Nazareth "
  19. ↑ Josef Blinzler Der Prozess Jesu 1969 p. 42 "In addition, the shortened form of the name Jeschu is never used for one of the seven Yeshua of the OT or for Jeschua ben Sira, so that one must assume that Jeschu is intended mutilation13 and always designates Jesus of Nazareth. "
  20. ↑ Allen Howard Podet A translation of the Magen wa-hereb of Leon Modena, 1571-1648 E. Mellen Press 2001 p. 181 "(Since the Christians have dropped the 'ayin, they cannot now substitute the second letter hen of the Tetragrammaton for it.) 5. As initials, "Yeshu" signifies, "May his name be erased!"
  21. ^ VA Bennett The Lost Art of Christian Mysticism Revealed 2003 p. 28 "Secondly, the indigenous name was altered by dropping the letter a, thus changing the name to Yeshu. This was done in order to fulfill the wishes of rabbinical elite, who desire to erase Y'shua's name from the minds of masses. "
  22. ^ Heinrich Graetz: Volkstümliche Geschichte der Juden . 1923: “The disciple soon became bigger than the master. Jesus (Yeshu, abbreviated from Yeshua ...) "
  23. ^ World Jewish Bible Society (Ed.): The Jewish Bible quarterly: Dor ledor 29 (2001), p. 56: "Another example of retaining only one letter of the Tetragrammaton is the Hebrew name Yeshu [Heb.], Rendered into Greek as 'Jesus'. This is a short form of Yeshua [Heb.] That is itself a short form of Yehoshua [Heb.]. "
  24. ↑ Günther Schwarz: The Jesus - Gospel ; 1993; P. 353: "The Galilean pronunciation of this name (Jesus) was almost certainly yeshu".
  25. ↑ Peter Stuhlmacher: Foundation. From Jesus to Paul ; 2005; P. 52: "His name was pronounced Yeshu in Galilee and Yeshua in Judea".
  26. ↑ David Flusser: Jésus ; 1972, 1999; P. 15: “Sometimes he is also called Yeshu there. That is almost certainly the Galilean pronunciation of the name ”.
  27. ↑ Josef Konrad: The riddles of the New Testament: In the light of science and mysticism ; 2010; P. 327: "In the meantime it is also considered certain that in Galilee they did not say Yeshua, but rather 'Yeshu'."
  28. ↑ Donald H. Akenson : Saint Saul: a skeleton key to the historical Jesus ; 2000: "Probably the name was pronounced in the rough regional dialect of Galilee as 'Yeshu'".
  29. ↑ David Jäggi: Brief introduction to the book Zechariah: The attempt of a biblical ... ; 2011; P. 13: “Yeshua is also known as the short form of Yehoshua. Jesus is the Greek translation of this name. Yeshua or Yeshu, depending on the geographical location in Israel, was one of the most common names at the time of Jesus and before that ”.
  30. ↑ Peter Paul Fischer: Rabbi Jehoschua: Notes on the history of ideas of a prophet ; 2000; P. 12: "'Yeshu' is a multifaceted message: Yeshu is the Galilean-Aramaic short form of the Hebrew Yehoshua and as a family name it is inappropriate for a scribe".
  31. ^ Richard Bauckham , in: Charles Quarles (ed.): Buried Hope Or Risen Savior: The Search for the Jesus Tomb ; 2008; S. 81f .: "It seems very likely that almost everyone bearing the name in our period used the short Hebrew form Yeshua [...] the name makes it virtually certain that Jesus of Nazareth was normally called by the short Hebrew / Aramaic form Yeshua ' . It is curious, but doubtless coincidental, that the ossuary (Rahmani 9) that provides the sole instance of the short form Yeshu in our period is the same one that also calls the same person Yeshua 'bar Yehosef, just as on the Talpiot. "
  32. ↑ Jennings
  33. ^ William Wright: Catalog of Syriac manuscripts in the British museum ; British Museum. Dept. of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts, 1870; P. 613: "j, of the Nestorian patriarch Yeshua ', or Joshua, bar Nun (see Assemani, Bibl. Or., T. Iii., Pars 1, pp. 165, 166)."