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      After I did the translation of the Hebraic Roots Bible, I realized that in many instances, the translator can choose from a number of words and phrases that may all fit the translation in many given circumstances. Also, in certain languages, such as Hebrew, there are a myriad of meanings that may be implied in a word but not in the actual definition, which also makes it harder to translate, and more important for proper study notes for the translation.

      The second thing to remember, and this is what I believe may be somewhat of a stumbling block in the Sacred Name Movement, is that the movement is basing much of their premise primarily on the English transliteration of Hebrews names, in which English was only a language from about the 1600’s, instead of Hebrew and Aramaic, in which the Bible was written.

      My point is as follows: there has been discussions on whether the name of the Savior was originally Yeshua or Yahshua and the answer in reality is neither, since both are English transliterations, which try to give the original intent, but the original intent was not written in English, but Hebrew and Aramaic, which has no true vowels (there are letters such as the vav, and ayin that at times make vowel sounds) but Hebrew and Aramaic have only simple markings, which even came later as the original language did not even have markings for vowel points. As a matter of fact, even the original Torah given to Moses by Yahweh did not even have separation of words, but simply letters all uniformly set in rows.

      So, in English some may put the name as Y’shua while others will use Y’hshua. The first being the shortened Aramaic and the second being the elongated Hebrew. Sometimes the Hebrew also has the letter vav after the ‘Hey’. And even in English, the words ‘hey’ and ‘hay’ both have the same phonetic sound, as in the Hebrew vowel pointing of the patach and Kametz, and even the Tzeirei is barely recognizable.

      As a matter of fact, names in Biblical times were created much earlier than an alphabet, and the alphabet, which came later had to try to fit the phonetic sounding of the name, which was not always the case, and so names do not have to fit a particular grammatical rule.

      Some have also mixed up the Jewish acronym “yeshu” which is used by Jews for our Savior’s name and means may his blood be blotted out forever, to be the same name as the Aramaic, Yeshua. There has been ample evidence from archaeology showing that in the first century the Aramaic name Yeshua (which simply means salvation) was a common name of about one in four males.

      To say the name Yeshua is a curse or some other nonsense, as I have heard from some circles, only shows ignorance. They do nothing to promote the true names of our Heavenly Father Yahweh or His set apart Son Yahshua.

      What we also know is that the name Yahoshua or Yahshua are both the Hebrew form of the same name and both were used in the first century, with the ‘o’ being dropped much of the time during the Herodian period, and Yahshua being the more common form corresponding to the Aramaic Yeshua.

      There is no reasoning to this linguistically, but a simple fact of the custom of the time just as my name could be Don or Donald depending on who is addressing me.

I admit that Yeshua was an Aramaic form of Yahshua, however I prefer to use Yahshua because it was prophesied that the Savior and Messenger of Yahweh would have the name of the Father Yah Yahweh in His name.

Exo 23:20 Behold, I am about to send a messenger before you, to guard you in the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared.

Exo 23:21 Be on guard before Him, and listen to His voice. Do not be rebellious against Him, for He will not forgive your transgressions; for My name is in Him.

Also, Yahshua came in His Father’s name and Heb 1:4-5 clearly states that He, Yahshua had a more excellent name than the Cherubs because He was a Son and took on the family name of Yahweh, where the cherubs had the generic title of “El” in their name such as GabriEL, and MichaEL.

Heb 1:4 and He is altogether superior to the cherubs, just as the name He has inherited is a more excellent name than theirs.

Heb 1:5 For to which of the cherubs did He ever say, “You are My Son; today I have begotten You?” And again, “I will be a Father to Him, and He shall be a Son to Me.”

So, I believe from the Scriptures stated and many others that Yahshua better describes the Savior and Son of Yahweh from a linguistic standpoint, and who only had the proper set apart name for the authority to be Savior of Israel and the world.

Act 4:10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Yahshua, Messiah, the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom YAHWEH raised from the dead, in this name this one stands before you whole.

Act 4:11 This One is the Stone rejected by you the builders, the One who has come to be into the Head of the Corner; (Psa 118:22)

Act 4:12 And there is salvation in no other man, for neither is there any other name under Heaven having been given among men by which we must be saved.

The name Yeshua simply means salvation, the name Yahshua means Yahweh’s salvation; the above scripture clearly states that the name of the Son would be a more excellent name than the cherubs, because it has the family name of Yah, compared to the cherubs having the generic title “El”.

The following verses show the cherub Gabriel came to have Miriam name the very Son of Yahweh, not just any common name meaning salvation, but to name the child after Yahweh, the Father, to show whose salvation is being borne into the world.

Mat 1:20 And as he was thinking about these things, behold, a Cherub of YAHWEH was seen by him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mariam as your wife. For that in her is generated by the Holy Spirit.

Mat 1:21 And she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Yahshua, for He shall save His people from their sins.

Mat 1:22 And all this happened so that might be fulfilled that which was spoken by YAHWEH through the prophet, saying,

Mat 1:23 “Behold! The virgin will conceive in her womb and will bear a son, and they will call His name Emmanuel,” which is interpreted, our Elohim with us. (Isa 7:14)

Mat 1:24 And being aroused from sleep, Joseph did as the cherub of YAHWEH commanded him, and took his wife,

Mat 1:25 and did not know her until she bore her son, the Firstborn. And he called His name Yahshua.

Verse 23 states that this child would be ‘Elohim with us’, because He would be the Son of Yahweh and bear the very family name of the Father Yahweh in His name. That is why there can only be one name in which men are saved, as salvation is in Yahweh alone.

Isa 43:11 I, I am YAHWEH; and there is no Savior without Me.

Yahweh sent His only begotten Son Yahshua not to only bring salvation, but to specifically bring YAHWEH’S SALVATION, and that is why the Son had the name of the Father physically in His name and that is why He revealed Yahweh’s family name to His disciples and instructed them to baptize new believers in this family name.

John 17:26 And I made known Your name to them, and will make it known, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.

Act 2:37 And hearing, they were touched in the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men, our brothers, What shall we do?

Act 2:38 And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, each of you in the name of Yahshua YAHWEH for the forgiveness of sins, that you may receive the gift of the Spirit of Holiness.

Also, remember when we are going over this point that writing in Biblical times was very rare, so the name was mostly spoken, NOT written, and would have sounded almost exactly the same.

Also, when writing was becoming more common the Rabbis of the first century felt it improper to write the sacred name of Yahweh and started to change the vowel markings in names carrying the sacred name Yahweh to alter it to sound different.

This is where the erroneous and impossible name of Jehovah came about, but also where I believe the Savior’s true name of Yahshua (Yahweh’s Salvation) started to be written as simply Yeshua, without the name of Yahweh in the name of the Son as Scripture stated.

The COYJ spells our Savior’s name in Hebrew Yod, hey, vav, shin, ayin, exactly how it is spelled in the book with the same name, the servant of Moses, Yahoshua the son of Nun. We are transliterating the vowel in English between the Yod and the Hey as the English ‘Ah’.

In Hebrew, there are no true vowels but vowel markings. Some letters such as yod, or ayin, and even at times aleph, can take a vowel position but most times the word can be marked without even putting the letter in.

Speaking came about much before writing and far before an alphabet, which probably started with the 10 commandments at Sinai, so it is the phonetic speaking that people understood not the Modern Hebrew rules of grammar.

One cannot criticize a transliteration into another language as it is up for interpretation, and some languages do not even have some sounds in other languages, as how do you transliterate a chet sound from Hebrew when it doesn’t exist in English. Also, some spellings vary such as Kumran and Qumran due to this point. And in English if someone used the word ‘hey’ or the word ‘hay’ would anyone really know the phonetic difference in sound?

The phonetic sounding of Yeshua and Yahshua can be very similar, however it is in the spelling of the name that the true intent of the importance of the name is rendered. This is why the COYJ uses the spelling Yahshua, because it shows the name of the Father, which He said would be in the name of the Son, but also that all other forms of the Hebrew and Aramaic root of this name being yod, shin, ayin represent our Savior, whether a verb, a noun, a personal name, a pronoun etc., all point to the redemptive work of Yahshua our Savior.

That is why the Hebrew Roots Bible is the only Bible we know of that shows the Savior in every one of these aspects in the Tanach, and that is the good news message, not the transliterating of the name in other languages as writing was not even common in biblical times.

The only difference with most sacred namers is that they correctly place a Kametz at the beginning of the name instead of a shva, as mentioned, the name of the father is 68 times mentioned as Yah, not Ye. The Rabbis have admitted their changing of the vowels of the sacred name to make sure the reader would not pronounce the name of Yahweh inadvertently when reading the Hebrew Tanach.

Exo 23:21 states the name of Yahweh’s servant has the name of the Father (Yah) in His name. Also, the word HalleluYAH, meaning praise Yah, clearly shows the Father’s name begins with Yah not Yeh.

Exo 23:20 Behold, I am about to send a messenger before you, to guard you in the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared.

Exo 23:21 Be on guard before Him, and listen to His voice. Do not be rebellious against Him, for He will not forgive your transgressions; for My name is in Him.

Because of the great redemptive work that Yahshua did on behalf of His Father Yahweh, Yahweh has exulted His name to be above every name, and this is another reason why we use Yahshua, instead of the common Yeshua.

Php 2:5 For think this within you, which mind was also in Messiah Yahshua,

Php 2:6 who existed in the very form of Elohim, thought it not robbery to be the equal with Elohim,

Php 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the image of a servant, having become in the image of the sons of men

Php 2:8 and being found in form like a man, He humbled Himself, having become obedient until death, even the death of a torture stake.

Php 2:9 For this reason also, YAHWEH highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name,

Php 2:10 that at the name of Yahshua “every knee should bow,” of those in heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth,

Php 2:11 and “every tongue should confess” that Yahshua Messiah is YAHWEH, (the Son) to the glory of YAHWEH His Father.