TR: Yehoshua → Iēsous (The Name "YHWH Saves")¶

The Chain¶

Hebrew OT                    LXX (Greek OT)              Greek NT
───────────────────          ───────────────────          ───────────────────
יְהוֹשׁוּעַ (Yehoshua)    →  Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs)           →  Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs)
H3091, 199x OT               LXX co-occ: 185x             935x in NT
"YHWH is salvation"          Standard transliteration     Personal name of the Messiah

Post-exilic contracted form יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua, H3442) is also rendered Ἰησοῦς (28 LXX co-occurrences) — the direct phonetic source for the Greek form carried into the NT.

OT Usage (Hebrew)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H3091	יְהוֹשׁוּעַ (Yehoshua)	199	"YHWH is salvation" — Joshua son of Nun; High Priest Jehoshua (Zec 3; 6)
H3442	יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua)	29	Post-exilic short form — High Priest Jeshua; Levite clan heads
H3467	יָשַׁע (yasha, root verb)	205	"to save, deliver" — the theological engine behind the name

Key OT passages (H3091): - Exo 17:9 — first mention: "Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek" - Num 13:16 — Moses renames Hoshea ("salvation") to Yehoshua ("YHWH saves") - Jos 1:1 — "after the death of Moses... the LORD spake unto Joshua" (inheriting the leadership of Israel into the land) - Zec 6:11-12 — High Priest Joshua crowned as type: "Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH" (messianic typology explicit)

Key OT passages (H3442): - Ezr 2:2; 3:2 — Jeshua the High Priest leads post-exilic return - Neh 8:17 — "since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun" (same name, contracted spelling applied retroactively)

Canonical word studies: TODO(need H3091 study), TODO(need H3442 study)

LXX Bridge¶

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
H3091 Yehoshua	Ἰησοῦς (G2424)	185	34.31	Overwhelmingly primary; standard LXX rendering for Joshua
H3442 Yeshua	Ἰησοῦς (G2424)	28	22.20	Phonetically identical Greek output; post-exilic form
H3091 Yehoshua	συγκαλέω (G4779)	5	10.78	Collocation artifact (Joshua "calling together")
H3091 Yehoshua	Ἱεριχώ (G2410)	8	9.08	Joshua-Jericho narrative co-occurrence
H5126 Nun	Ἰησοῦς (G2424)	28	22.03	"Joshua son of Nun" collocation

Semantic continuity: The LXX makes no attempt to translate the name's theophoric meaning — it transliterates. Greek-speaking Jews read Ἰησοῦς for Joshua, Jeshua, and later for the Messiah without orthographic distinction. The etymology ("YHWH saves") is preserved only through explicit exposition, as in Mat 1:21.

Semantic narrowing in NT: Of the 935 NT uses of Ἰησοῦς, only two unambiguously refer to OT Joshua (Act 7:45; Heb 4:8). One refers to a companion of Paul called Justus (Col 4:11). The remaining ~932 all refer to Jesus of Nazareth.

NT Usage (Greek)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G2424	Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs)	935	Personal name of the Messiah
G4990	σωτήρ (sōtēr)	24	"Saviour" — cognate title
G4991	σωτηρία (sōtēria)	45	"Salvation" — cognate concept
G4982	σῴζω (sōzō)	110	"to save" — verb cognate

Key NT passages: - Mat 1:21 — explicit etymology: "thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save (σώσει) his people from their sins" (direct wordplay linking G2424 ↔ G4982, replicating the Hebrew yasha ↔ Yehoshua link) - Act 4:12 — "neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (explicit theological identification of the name with salvation) - Heb 4:8 — "if Jesus [= Joshua] had given them rest" — deliberate typological pivot: OT Joshua failed to give final rest; Jesus the Messiah does - Phl 2:9-10 — "God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow"

Direct OT→NT Name Typology¶

NT Verse	OT Figure Referenced	Shared Name	Significance
Act 7:45	Joshua son of Nun	Ἰησοῦς = H3091	Joshua brought Israel into the land possession; Stephen frames him typologically
Heb 4:8	Joshua son of Nun	Ἰησοῦς = H3091	Joshua's "rest" was incomplete — anticipates Christ's Sabbath-rest
Mat 1:21	(etymology)	Ἰησοῦς / σῴζω = yasha	Name's meaning explicitly preached as fulfilled in Messiah
Luk 3:29	Genealogy lists a "Jesus" (Joshua)	Ἰησοῦς	Shows name's continuity in lineage

Continuity and Shifts¶

What stays the same across testaments: - Phonetic form: Yeshua → Iēsous (transliteration preserved across LXX and NT) - Theophoric meaning: "YHWH saves" remains the semantic core — even when speakers/hearers no longer parse the Hebrew - Association with deliverance: Joshua delivers into land; High Priest Jeshua leads post-exilic restoration; Jesus delivers from sin

What shifts: - Referent narrows from multiple bearers (Joshua, Jeshua, others) to one dominant referent (the Messiah) — 99% of NT uses - Theological weight intensifies: the name becomes "above every name" (Phl 2:9), an object of confession (Rom 10:9), baptism (Act 2:38), and prayer (Jhn 14:13) - From proper noun denoting a savior-figure (OT) to proper noun denoting the Savior embodied (NT) - OT theophoric compound name (YHWH + yasha) finds its christological rationale made explicit: the one who bears the name is the one whom the name names — YHWH saves in person