Yeshua vs. Yahshua

Posted on February 2, 2008 by Kevin in Hebrew Lesson   |    Print This Post
Updated on February 2, 2009

Q: Why “Yeshua” and not “Yahshua”?

A: This is really quite a simple exercise. The name יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua) appears multiple times in Ezra and Nehemiah and once in each of the books of Chronicles. In the English, you can usually find it as “Jeshua”. To arrive at the correct pronunciation, however, you have to accept the Masoretic vowel pointings. Those who are insistent upon the “YAHshua” pronunciation reject the traditional Masoretic vowel pointings when it does not suit their beliefs.

The name begins with a י (yud), which carries with it the sound of our English “Y”. The vowel point associated with the yud is the ֵ (tsere), which makes the vowel sound “eh” in sephardic/modern Hebrew (“ey” in Ashkenaz). So the first sound is יֵ "yeh".

The second letter is the שׁ (shin), which makes the “sh” sound. The שׁ is followed by a ו (vav) with the וּ (shuruk) pointing, which makes an “oo” sound. (The ו alone makes a “v” sound, but when it appears as וּ the ו functions as a vowel.) Together, יֵשׁוּ makes the sound “yeh-shoo”.

The final letter is the ע (ayin). By itself, the ע is a silent letter, however, it appears as עַ with the ַ (patakh) vowel pointing, which adds the “ah” sound to the letter.

Together, the three syllables of יֵשׁוּעַ are pronounced “yeh-shoo-ah”. We transliterate this in English as “Yeshua.” There is no way to get the “Yah” sound from this spelling, and there is no Scriptural reason to spell it differently.