TR: yeshuah → soteria (Salvation)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
─────────── ─────────────── ────────
יְשׁוּעָה (yeshuah) → σωτηρία (soteria) → σωτηρία (soteria)
H3444, 76x 38x as translation 43x in NT
"salvation" of yeshuah "salvation"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H3444 | יְשׁוּעָה (yeshuah) | 76 | salvation, deliverance (abstract state) |
| H3468 | יֶשַׁע (yesha) | 35 | salvation, deliverance (concrete safety) |
| H8668 | תְּשׁוּעָה (teshuah) | 32 | rescue, deliverance, help |
| H3467 | יָשַׁע (yasha) | 198 | to save, deliver (root verb) |
Key OT passages: - Gen 49:18 — "I have waited for thy yeshuah, O LORD" — first occurrence; patriarchal longing - Exo 14:13 — "Stand still, and see the yeshuah of the LORD" — paradigmatic national deliverance - Isa 61:10 — "He hath clothed me with the garments of yeshuah, he hath covered me with the robe of tsedaqah" — salvation as divine clothing
Library: H3444-yshuwah.md
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Co-occ | PMI Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yeshuah (H3444) | σωτηρία (G4991) | 38 | 24.85 | Primary abstract equivalent |
| yeshuah (H3444) | σωτήριον (G4992) | 34 | 22.59 | Concrete/adjectival form |
| teshuah (H8668) | σωτηρία (G4991) | 25 | 24.20 | teshuah also maps heavily to soteria |
| yesha (H3468) | σωτηρία (G4991) | 14 | 17.50 | yesha maps less exclusively |
| yasha (H3467) | σωτηρία (G4991) | 12 | 9.64 | Verb occasionally rendered as noun |
Reverse bridge — σωτηρία (G4991) ← Hebrew sources:
| Hebrew Source | Co-occ | Score |
|---|---|---|
| yeshuah (H3444) | 38 | 24.85 |
| teshuah (H8668) | 25 | 24.20 |
| yesha (H3468) | 14 | 17.50 |
| yasha (H3467) | 12 | 9.64 |
| peleytah (H6413) | 7 | 12.02 |
| mashiyach (H4899) | 4 | 7.36 |
Greek soteria absorbs three distinct Hebrew nouns (yeshuah, teshuah, yesha) plus the root verb yasha into a single Greek term. The Hebrew distinctions between abstract state (yeshuah), concrete rescue (teshuah), and safe condition (yesha) collapse in the LXX.
Semantic shift in translation: The LXX preserves the primary meaning well. Both Hebrew and Greek terms center on deliverance/rescue by God. The occasional LXX rendering of yeshuah as ἀγαλλίασις (exultation, 10x) and δικαιοσύνη (righteousness, 8x) shows the translators sometimes rendered the associated effect (joy, righteous standing) rather than the concept itself.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G4991 | σωτηρία (soteria) | 43 | salvation, deliverance, preservation |
| G4992 | σωτήριον (soterion) | 5 | saving thing, salvation (concrete) |
| G4990 | σωτήρ (soter) | 24 | savior, deliverer |
| G4982 | σώζω (sozo) | 106 | to save, deliver, heal |
Key NT passages: - Luk 1:69 — "And hath raised up an horn of soteria for us in the house of his servant David" — echoes OT horn/salvation imagery - Act 4:12 — "Neither is there soteria in any other" — exclusive claim - Rom 1:16 — "The power of God unto soteria to every one that believeth" - Eph 1:13 — "The gospel of your soteria" - 1Th 5:8 — "For an helmet, the hope of soteria" — echoes Isa 59:17 "helmet of yeshuah"
Library: TODO(need G4991 study)
Direct OT→NT Quotations¶
| NT Verse | Quotes OT | Shared Word | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Th 5:8 | Isa 59:17 | yeshuah → soteria | "Helmet of salvation" — identical armor-of-God metaphor |
| Luk 1:69 | Psa 18:2 / 2Sa 22:3 | yeshuah → soteria | "Horn of salvation" — Davidic messianic vocabulary |
| Luk 2:30 | Isa 52:10 | yeshuah → soterion | "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation" — Simeon's quotation |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - Salvation belongs to and comes from God — the theocentric framing persists from Gen 49:18 through Rev 19:1 - The word retains its comprehensive scope: physical deliverance, spiritual rescue, eschatological hope - The armor metaphor (Isa 59:17 → 1Th 5:8) transfers intact from YHWH's own armor to the believer's
What shifts: - OT yeshuah is overwhelmingly national/corporate (Israel's deliverance); NT soteria tilts toward individual faith response ("to every one that believeth," Rom 1:16) - OT usage is concentrated in poetry/worship (83% in Psalms+Isaiah); NT usage spreads across epistolary theology - The three Hebrew nouns (yeshuah, teshuah, yesha) collapse into one Greek term, losing the nuanced distinctions between abstract state, concrete rescue, and safe condition
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup, --lexicon) Last updated: 2026-05-18