Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament
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A large variety of names and titles have been used to describe Jesus, many of which reflect various theological understandings or different beliefs about him.
Personal name
Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, which in turn comes from the Greek Ιησούς (Iēsoûs).
The earliest use of Iēsoûs is found in the Septuagint, where it is a transliteration of the Hebrew name Yehoshua (יהושע — known more commonly in English as Joshua), and also its short form Yeshua (ישוע).
The Aramaic form is often cited as ישׁוע / Yēšûaʿ, though this is modern speculation, as the original form is not preserved in an existing Aramaic text. However, there is some evidence from the Greek of Matthew that points in this direction:
- Matthew 1:21 21 She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins. (WEB)
In Aramaic, ישׁוע is the 3rd-person imperfect singular of the verb "to save," ("he will save") giving some possible sense to this parenthesis in the narrative of Matthew.
The Hebrew Yehoshua means the Lord is salvation (literally Yahweh is salvation, [1] [2] Strong's Concordance, 2424 and 03091). This is the name that Moses gave to his successor as leader of the Israelites, and is also known in English as Joshua.
Muslims know Jesus as Isa (عيسى ), a form with basically the same consonants in a different order, and he is considered to be one of the Prophets of Islam in the Qur'an. Christian Arabs refer to Jesus as Yasu' al-Masih (يسوع المسيح). A small minority hold that Isa is related to the biblical Esau, but this is less likely given the name's indisputably strong link with Yeshua and its informal abbreviation: "Yissu".
Other older English transliterations from Yehoshua/Yeshua include Joshua and Jeshua. Some more recent transliterations include Yahshua, Yahshuah, Yahoshua, Yaohushua and other similar variants, though these typically reflect theological viewpoints of certain groups rather than scholarly linguistics.
Christ
Christ is not a name but a title, and comes, via Latin, from the Greek Christos (Χριστός Khristós), which means "anointed" (to anoint is to rub with perfumed oil). The Greek form is a literal translation of Messiah from Hebrew mashiyakh (משיח) or Aramaic m'shikha (משיחא), a word which occurs often in the Old Testament and signifies "high priest" or " king" – a man, chosen by God or descended from a man chosen by God, to serve as a religious, civil, and/or military authority. Some of the Messiahs from the Biblical tradition include Saul, David, Aaron, Cyrus, and many more. Other sources suggest the title Christ is linked to Latin crestus, 'good'. To Muslims, Jesus is known as the prophet Isa al Masih (عيسى المسيح ), the equivalent of Jesus the Messiah.
Other titles in the Gospels
In the Gospels, Jesus has many titles besides "Messiah": Prophet, Lord, Son of man, Son of God, Son of David, King of the Jews and Emmanuel. Together Christians understand these titles as attesting to Jesus' divinity. Some historians argue that when used in other Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the time, these titles have other meanings, and therefore may have other meanings when used in the Gospels as well. The following sections examine the various titles given to Jesus.
Prophet
According to such verses as Matthew 21:11 and Luke 7:16, Jews of the time thought of Jesus as a prophet; according to such verses as Mark 6:4, Matthew 13: 57, and Luke 4:24, Jesus considered himself to be a prophet. In the Hebrew Bible, prophets were generally men who spoke with God and proclaimed God's words to the people, often criticizing political and economic elites in the process. The Pharisees seem to have believed that the age of the prophets ended with Malachi (Daniel, for example, was not considered a prophet, and the sages claimed that they had succeeded the prophets as transmitters of God's law); the author of 1 Maccabees, however, believed that prophets would one day reappear in Judea. Ecclesiasticus 48: 10 identifies the reappearance of a prophet with the messenger who will arrive as a harbinger of the end of time – Acts 3: 17–26 suggests that some early Christians may have identified the second coming of Jesus (rather than his original earthly career) with this type of prophet. Nevertheless, neither the Gospels nor other early Christians seemed to have favored this title, perhaps because 1st and 2nd century Roman Judea saw many charlatans who claimed to be prophets announcing the end of days, and who were executed by the Romans.
Prophets in the Hebrew Bible were also advocates of monotheism, and healers. In Luke 4: 25–27, Jesus specifically refers to two such prophets, Elijah and Elisha. In this and in other contexts, historians conclude that the Gospels seem to use the term "prophet" as synonymous with miracle-worker and healer.
Lord
The Gospels and Acts frequently use "Lord" as a title for Jesus, and the disciple Thomas addresses Jesus as "My Lord and my God!" in John 20:28. Different scholars have come up with various explanations: some believe that Jesus' disciples called him lord, but not because he was divine; this was merely a title used when students addressed their teachers. Most Christian theologians believe that the New Testament uses the term lord to refer to Christ's divinity, citing passages such as the abovementioned quote from Thomas as well as other statements attributed to Jesus, such as "I and the Father are One" (John 10:30), and "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9), and similar statements. Others argue that neither Jesus nor his disciples used the Aramaic term for lord, mara, and that the Greek term kyrios (meaning, "the Lord") was borrowed from pagan Hellenic usage by early Gentile converts to Christianity. The Hebrew Bible distinguishes between "lord" (adon) and "God"; the word "lord" does not necessarily imply divinity, although God is often described as "the Lord". Surviving inter-testamental Aramaic texts frequently use the Aramaic mara to mean "the Lord", that is, God – but they also provide evidence of people using mara and kyrios as personal titles (for example, used to address a husband, father, or king). There is little evidence that either term was used specifically to mean "teacher", but there is much evidence of students using the term "mar" to refer to their teachers respectfully, or to refer to an especially respected and authoritative teacher. A close reading of the Gospels suggests to historians that most people addressed Jesus as lord as a sign of respect for a miracle-worker (especially in Mark and Matthew) or as a teacher (especially in Luke). In most cases one can substitute the words "sir" or "teacher" for "lord", and the meaning of the passage in question will not change.
Son of Man
See related article: Son of man.
Jesus is rarely described as Son of man ([bar nasha'], in Aramaic) outside of the Gospels, but in the Synoptic Gospels Jesus refers to himself as using this title over sixty times. Some take this as an allusion to Daniel 7:13, which associates "one like a son of man" with a messianic vision. Six Gospel uses of the title directly refer to, and many others allude to, Daniel. Since Daniel is an apocalyptic work, some scholars link Jesus' use of the term "son of man" with the short apocalypse of chapter 13 of the Gospel of Mark; such a view paints Jesus as preacher of apocalyptic Judaism. However, most of the uses in Mark, and many examples from the other Gospels, are non-Danielic. Indeed, other Aramaic and Hebrew texts reveal that the phrase was used almost exclusively to mean simply "man" or "human," or as a way by which a speaker may refer to himself in a humble manner. Thus, many historians and nearly all Aramaic linguists conclude that this phrase was not a title, but a normal Aramaic self-appellation.
Son of God
The New Testament frequently refers to Jesus as the son of God; Jesus seldom does, but often refers to God as his father. Christians universally understand this to mean that Jesus was literally God's son – according to the Nicene Creed, God's only begotten son, one with the Father (cf. John 3:16). The phrase itself is thus taken to be synonymous with divinity, based on passages such as Luke 1:35, decribing Gabriel's annunciation of Jesus' birth: "The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.' The Hebrew Bible, however, uses the phrase "son of God" in other senses: to refer to heavenly or angelic beings; to refer to the Children of Israel, and to refer to kings. There is no New Testament evidence to suggest that early Christians thought of Jesus as an angel, so the first two usages seem not to apply.
Mark identifies Jesus as the son of King David, and Matthew and Luke provide lineages linking Jesus to King David. II Samuel 7: 14, Psalms 2: 7 and 89: 26–27, refer to David as the son of God, although historians find no evidence that the authors of the Bible believed David to be divine or literally God's son. (Many Christians interpret these and other Psalms as referring prophetically to Jesus, the "seed" referred to in Psalm 89. See Christ in the Psalms by Father Patrick Reardon.)
In post-Biblical Judaism, the title was often applied to righteous men: Ecclesiasticus 4: 10 and the Wisdom of Solomon 2: 17–18 use the term to refer to just men, and Jubilees 1: 24–25 has God declaring all righteous men to be his sons. Philo too wrote that good people are sons of God, and various rabbis in the Talmud declare that when Israelites are good, they are sons of God. The Talmud provides one example that parallels that of Jesus: Rabbi Hanina, whom God referred to as "my son", was also a miracle worker, and was able to resist Agrat, queen of the demons. Some scholars thus suggest that "son of God" was a title used in the Galilee by miracle-workers. Other scholars have suggested that the identification of "son of God" with divinity is pagan in origin; the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt referred to themselves as sons of Zeus or of Helios; Roman emperors used the title divi filius, or son of God. They suggest that the belief that Jesus was in fact the "son of God", and the association of his divine paternity with his being "messiah", were added after Christianity broke with Judaism.
Jesus was somewhat unusual among rabbis in referring to God as "father". In Aramaic, "son of the father" would be "bar-Abbâ". This title has led to some non-traditional interpretations of the story of Barabbas.
King of the Jews
The title of "King of the Jews" is used to refer to Jesus in two recorded episodes during his life. In both it is implicitly accepted to be a valid title, which is supported by the genealogies given in Matthew and Luke.
It is first used by the Magi, who ask of King Herod "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him" (Matthew 2:2, TNIV). The teachers of the law answer that he will be found in Bethlehem, according to the prophesy of Micah (5:2).
It is again used in Jesus' trial. In all of the gospels, Pilate is recorded as asking Jesus "Are you king of the Jews?", to which Jesus replies "You have said so" (Mark 15:2 and parallels). This implies that the Sanhedrin had told Pilate that Jesus had claimed this title. Pilate then orders the written charge on the sign on Jesus' cross to read "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" (John 19:19 and parallels). John (19:20) reports that the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. In Latin this can be translated as "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum". The abbreviation INRI is therefore used to represent this in many depictions of Jesus' crucifixion.
Lamb of God
Geza Vermes averred that the title Lamb of God does not necessarily refer to the metaphor of a sacrificial animal. He points out that in Galilean Aramaic the word talya, literally "lamb," had the common meaning of "male child". This is akin to "kid" meaning "child" in modern colloquial English. The female equivalent of Talya was Talitha, literally "ewe lamb" and figuratively "girl" (the word is found in the Narrative of the Daughter of Jairus). Thus, "Lamb of God" could have been a slang means of saying "Son of God" or "God's Kid".
Titles not used in the Gospels
Christ the King
In Roman Catholic theology, one title given to Jesus is "Christ the King", and there is a feast day associated with this title. This title is meant to say that Christ should rule over all aspects of life, including political life. Thus, this title is opposed to secularism.
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
Handel referred to Jesus as "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords" in his Messiah oratorio, a reference to 1st Timothy 6:15.
King of Heaven
There is a long tradition of using this title for both Christ and God the Father, especially in medieval Catholicism. For instance, St. Joan of Arc used phrases such as "King Jesus, King of Heaven and of all the world, my rightful and sovereign Lord" (in a letter she dictated on 17 July 1429).
HO ON
In Exodus 3 when God appeared in the burning bush, Moses asked by what name he should be called. In the Septuagint translation God replied « ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Ὤν». « Ὁ Ὤν» (HO ON) translates the Hebrew «אהיה», but a rendering in English has been seen as problematic. It is variously given as "I AM", "The Existing One", "He Who Is", "THE BEING", or similar senses. In Eastern Orthodox icons Jesus is usually portrayed with a cross inscribed in his halo, and by way of identifying him with the God who revealed himself to Moses the letters ὁ, Ὤ, and ν are often written in its branches.
Abbreviations
Starting in the third century the nomina sacra, or names of Jesus, were sometimes shortened by contraction in Christian inscriptions, resulting in sequences of Greek letters such as IH (iota-eta), IC (iota-sigma), or IHC (iota-eta-sigma) for Jesus (Greek Iēsous), and XC (chi-sigma), XP (chi-ro) and XPC (chi-rho-sigma) for Christ (Greek Christos). Here "C" represents the medieval "lunate" form of Greek sigma; sigma could also be transcribed into the Latin alphabet by sound, giving IHS and XPS. Some of these Greek monograms continued to be used in Latin during the Middle Ages. Eventually the correct meaning was mostly forgotten, and erroneous interpretation of IHS led to the faulty orthography "Jhesus". Towards the close of the Middle Ages IHS became a symbol with the "H" appearing as a cross and underneath it three nails, while the whole figure is surrounded by rays. IHS became the accepted iconographical characteristic of St. Vincent Ferrer and of St. Bernardine of Siena. Bernardine, at the end of his sermons would exhibit this monogram devoutly to his audience for which he was criticized and even brought before Pope Martin V. The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) founder, Ignatius of Loyola adopted the monogram in his seal and it became the emblem of his institute. IHS was sometimes wrongly understood as "Jesus Hominum (or Hierosolymae) Salvator", i.e. Jesus, the Saviour of men (or of Jerusalem=Hierosolyma).
Other titles in the Qur'an
In the Qur'an, Jesus (Isa) is given a number of titles:
- Son of Maryam (his matronymic): 2:253, 3:45, 4:157, 4:171, 5:46, 5:78, 5:112, 5:116, 19:34, 57:27, 61:6
- Messenger (of God) (to the Israelites): 2:253, 3:49, 3:53, 4:157, 4:171, 5:111, 19:30, 61:6, 61:14
- Messiah (Masih): 3:45, 4:157, 4:171
- Word (Kalima): 3:45, 4:171
- Spirit (Ruh): 4:171
- Servant of God: 19:30
In addition, pious Muslims follow mention of his name, and that of other prophets, with "upon him be peace" (cf. 19:33.)
External links
- Hebrew Names and Titles for Jesus
- The most accurate form of the name of Jesus in several Semitic languages (also with brief discusion of Greek adaptation and its evolution into English)
- The Mistaken J
- Missing J
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)