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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 famous and most often mentioned bearer of the name is the successo…

I. Name Kyrios (fem. kyria) is a substantivated adjective probably deriving from a thematic form * kyros (Sanskrit sūra ‘strong’, ‘hero’). In Greek profane life it means a man of superior status, who has authority and can dispose of things and persons under his control. As a religious title it betrays the respect of a deity’s ‘servant’ and can function as a proper name. II. Identity Though Pindar, Isthm. 5:53 (first half of the 5th century bce), praises Zeus, who destines everything, as ho pantōn kyrios (Lord of all things), usually there are other titles expressing the sovere…