I. Name

Iēsous is the Greek form of the Hebrew personal name yĕhōšūʿa stamped after its postexilic variant yēšūʿa. The votive name means “Yahweh is help (salvation)” as rightly interpreted by Philo, Mut. 121. It is derived from the root yšʿ, frequent in other Hebrew and Semitic personal names, too (TWAT 3 1037–1038). In its postexilic form the theophoric element is no longer clearly recognizable. The etymologies in Sir. 46.1 and Matt. 1.21 only perceive the verb yšʿ “to save”. In the OT the most …