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The question. “Jesus or Yeshua, which one is the proper name to use?” is quite common among some Christian circles.

It is correct that the Hebrew name for “Jesus” is actually Yeshua and the English spelling for Yeshua is “Joshua.”  However, when Yeshua was translated into Greek, the language that the New Testament was written in, it becomes “Ieous,” and the English spelling of this is “Jesus.” So the name Jesus is really just a result of translating it from one language into another.

This is confusing for some people but we have many examples of this type of thing happening with words and names quite often.  For instance, I have a friend named George. In Spanish there is no name as “George,” but instead it is  “Jorge.”  Another example is how in English we have the word “book,” in German it is called a “buch,” in Spanish it is “libr0,” and in French a “livre.” But all four words are referring to the exact same thing and no one would every properly say that it is not a book if someone uses a different word in a different language. 

Someone else once said, “Those who argue and insist we call Jesus by his correct name, Yeshua, are concerning themselves with trivial, non-essential matters. English speakers call him Jesus, with a “J” that sounds like “gee.” Portuguese speakers call him Jesus, but with a “J” that sounds like “sjeh,” and Spanish speakers call him Jesus, with a “J” that sounds like “he.” Which one of these pronunciations is the correct one?” All of them, of course, depending on which language they speak.

The fact is that the name does not change who or what it is that we are referring to. So basically Yeshua, Joshua, Ieous, or Jesus are all referring  to the same person, and that is why no matter which one you use, He will not be offended and will answer to.