And You Shall Call His Name...

                          ...Y’HOSHUA!   יהושע    
...for He shall save His people from their sins.      Matthew 1:21

(The English transliteration of the name Y'hoshua has come up with several variations in spelling: Yeshua or Yahshua, etc.  The common substitute in English for the Hebrew name Y'hoshua is Joshua.)


Matthew 1:21 tells us exactly what YHVH meant 
for His Son's name to be...         Y'hoshua! 


(Look it up in the Strong's Concordance...the English word in this verse says Jesus, but the Strong's reference tells us that the name given to the Messiah, the newly born boy, was the Hebrew name Y'hoshua.)


What does Y'hoshua mean?


YAH is salvation!

I have touched on this topic several times in recent blog posts.

Recently some people have asked me why I insist on using the Hebrew name for the Messiah instead of referring to him as Jesus Christ.  I have had some people hint recently that I am being legalistic by using the name Yahshua, or even antagonistic by insisting on the usage of Yahshua instead of Jesus.  I've even had a person express concern that I no longer believe in Jesus because I choose to use the Hebrew name of Yahshua!

So today I want to explain more of the deeper reason why this name is so SPECIAL…not just to me, but to all of us!

If you look at any version of the Scriptures that has the Strong’s reference to the original Hebrew word, then you can easily see the name of our Messiah used throughout the Old Testament! 

(And by the way, you can download several versions of the Word which include Strong's references embedded in the text to your computer for free...see the E-Sword link on the right side menu bar or click here.)

Let me be a bit more specific now about how our Messiah shows up BY NAME in the Tanach (Old Testament)...
You might already know that the Hebrew word yeshua is the same as the English word salvation.  If you read the Hebrew version of the Word of YHVH, you will see the word yeshua frequently.

To let the importance of this sink in a bit more, allow me to list some scriptures where I replace the English word with the Hebrew word.

Look for the word yeshua as well as the related and very similar words yesha and yasha (all meaning salvation).

Exodus 14:13  
(the Israelites had just been released by Pharaoh, but now Pharaoh was chasing after them)

And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the yeshua (salvation) of  יהוה (YHVH), which He does for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you are never, never to see again.

Exodus 15:1-2

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to יהוה (YHVH), and spoke, saying, “I sing to יהוה, for He is highly exalted! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!

Yah is my strength and song, and He has become my yeshua. He is my Ěl, and I praise Him – Elohim of my father, and I exalt Him.

1 Samuel 2:1-2 
(the song Hannah sang to YHVH for giving her Samuel, the child she prayed for)

And Ḥannah prayed and said, “My heart rejoices in יהוה (YHVH), my horn is exalted in יהוה. My mouth is opened wide over my enemies, for I have rejoiced in Your yeshua.

There is no one set-apart like יהוה, for there is no one besides You, and there is no rock like our Elohim.

Psalm 14:7

O that the yeshua of Israel would be given out of Zion! When יהוה turns back the captivity of His people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalm 27:1

  יהוה is my light and my yesha; whom should I fear?  יהוה is the refuge of my life; of whom should I be afraid?

Psalm 51:10-12

Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your yesha, and uphold me, Noble Spirit!

Psalm 62:1-8

My being finds rest in Elohim alone; from Him is my yeshua.

He alone is my rock and my yeshua, my strong tower; I am not greatly shaken.

How long would you assail a man? You crush him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence… My being, find rest in Elohim alone, because my expectation is from Him.

He alone is my rock and my yeshua, my strong tower; I am not shaken.

My yesha and my esteem depend on Elohim; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in Elohim.

Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; Elohim is a refuge for us. Selah.

Psalm 98:1-4

Sing to יהוה a new song! For He has done wonders; His right hand and His set-apart arm have brought Him deliverance.

 יהוה has made known His yeshua; His righteousness he has openly shown before the eyes of the nations.

He has remembered His kindness and His trustworthiness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the yeshua of our Elohim.

Raise a shout to יהוה, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

Psalm 119 (such a beautiful picture of the fullness of the Word… obedience to the Word of YHVH and the relationship with the Living Word of YHVH, Yahshua the Messiah!  These two things cannot be separated...Yahshua reminds us of this in John chapters 14 and 15.)

Verse 123:  My eyes have longed for Your yeshua, And for the word of Your righteousness.

Verse 155:  Yeshua is far from the wicked, for they have not sought Your laws.

Verse 166:  יהוה, I have waited for Your yeshua, and I have done Your commands.

Verse 174:  I have longed for Your yeshua, O יהוה, And Your Torah is my delight.

Isaiah 12

And in that day you shall say, “I thank You יהוה, though You were enraged with me, Your displeasure has turned back, and You have comforted me.

See, Ěl is my yeshua, I trust and am not afraid. For Yah, יהוה, is my strength and my song; and He has become my yeshua.”

And you shall draw water with joy from the fountains of yeshua.

And in that day you shall say, “Praise יהוה, call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His Name is exalted.

Sing to יהוה, For He has done excellently; this is known in all the earth.

Cry aloud and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!

Isaiah 24:23; 25:7-9

And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, for יהוה of hosts shall reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His elders, in esteem! …

And He shall swallow up on this mountain the surface of the covering which covers all people, and the veil which is spread over all nations.

He shall swallow up death forever, and Adonai יהוה shall wipe away tears from all faces, and take away the reproach of His people from all the earth. For יהוה has spoken.

And it shall be said in that day, “See, this is our Elohim. We have waited for Him, and He saves (yasha) us. This is יהוה, we have waited for Him, let us be glad and rejoice in His yeshua.”

Isaiah 45:1-8 (YHVH says this about Koresh/Cyrus, King of Persia)

Thus said יהוה to His anointed, to Koresh, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that gates are not shut:

 ‘I go before you and make the crooked places straight; I shatter the gates of bronze and cut down the bars of iron.  And I shall give you the treasures of darkness and hoarded wealth of secret places, so that you know that I, יהוה, who are calling you by your name, am the Elohim of Israel. For the sake of Jacob My servant, and of Israel My chosen, I also call you by your name, I give you a title, though you have not known Me.

I am יהוה, and there is none else – there is no Elohim besides Me. I gird you, though you have not known Me, so that they know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none but Me. I am יהוה, and there is none else, forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil. I, יהוה, do all these.’

Rain down, O heavens, from above, and let clouds pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, let them bring forth yesha, and let righteousness spring up together. I, יהוה, have created it.

(Have you really read YHVH’s words to King Cyrus before?  
Have you seen the important implications that fill this passage?) 

Isaiah 49:3-9 (spoken about both Israel and Yahshua the Messiah…one of those mysteries of YHVH, the combination of Israel and Yahshua the Messiah)

And He said to Me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I am adorned.’

 And I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for emptiness, and in vain. But my right-ruling is with, יהוה  and my work with my Elohim.’ ”

 And now said יהוה – who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, though Israel is not gathered to Him, yet I am esteemed in the eyes of יהוה, and My Elohim has been My strength – and He says, “Shall it be a small matter for You to be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved ones of Israel? And I shall give You as a light to the gentiles, to be My yeshua to the ends of the earth!”

Thus said יהוה, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to the despised , to the loathed One of the nation, to the Servant of rulers, “Kings shall see and arise, rulers also shall bow themselves, because of יהוה who is steadfast, the Holy One of Israel. And He has chosen You!”

Thus said יהוה, “In a favorable time I shall answer You, and in the day of yeshua I shall help You – and I guard You and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the ruined inheritances, to say to the prisoners, ‘Go out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

Isaiah 52:6-10

“Therefore My people shall know My Name, in that day, for I am the One who is speaking. See, it is I.”  How pleasant upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings good news, who proclaims yeshua, who says to Zion, “Your Elohim reigns!”

The voice of your watchmen! They shall lift up their voices, together they shout for joy, because eye to eye they see the return of יהוה to Zion.  Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For יהוה shall comfort His people, He shall redeem Jerusalem.  יהוה shall lay bare His set-apart arm in the eyes of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth shall see the yeshua of our Elohim.

Isaiah 61:10

I greatly rejoice in יהוה, my being exults in my Elohim. For He has put garments of yeshua on me, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 62:1-2  (another one of those chapters where Israel and Yahshua the Messiah are both referenced!)

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I do not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her yeshua as a lamp that burns.

And the nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your esteem. And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of יהוה   designates.

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your King is coming to you, He is righteous and endowed with yasha, humble and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jonah 2:9 (Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish)

…But I offer to You with the voice of thanksgiving, I pay what I have vowed. 

Yeshua is of יהוה




Luke 2:27-32  (Simeon’s prayer to YHVH in the temple…this is the word used in the Hebrew version of the New Testament!  See how it all comes together!!)

And he came in the Spirit into the Set-apart Place. And as the parents brought in the Child יהושע(Y'hoshua/Yahshua), to do for Him according to the usual practice of the Torah,

 then he took Him up in his arms and blessed Elohim and said,

 “Now let Your servant go in peace, O Master, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen Your Yeshua, which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for the unveiling of the gentiles, and the esteem of Your people Israel.”

Luke 3:2-6

…the word of Elohim came to John the son of Zeḵaryah in the wilderness.   And he went into all the neighborhood of the Jordan, proclaiming an immersion of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it has been written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, “A voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of יהוה, make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough become smooth ways, and all flesh shall see the yeshua of Elohim.’ ”

Acts 4:8-12

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:

If today we are called to account for a good deed towards a sick man, by whom he has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the Name of יהושע (Yahshua) Messiah of Nazareth, whom you impaled, whom Elohim raised from the dead, by Him this one stands before you, healthy.

This is ‘the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’

 “And there is no yeshua in anyone else, for there is no other Name under the heaven given among men by which we need to be saved.”

Revelation 12:10-11

And I heard a loud voice saying in the heaven, “Now have come the yeshua and the power and the reign of our Elohim, and the authority of His Messiah, for the accuser of our brothers, who accused them before our Elohim day and night, has been thrown down.  And they overcame him because of the Blood of the Lamb, and because of the Word of their witness, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

Isn't it interesting and encouraging and exciting to see Yahshua the Messiah, the Salvation of YHVH throughout the Word of Adonai from beginning to end?!


And this is only a partial list!


Perhaps now it is more clear to people why I feel so strongly about using the Hebrew name given by YHVH to His Son, the Messiah.  It is so much more than just a cultural name!


When I read the Name of Yahshua throughout the promises of His Word (and remember that He wrote the Word and He IS the Word), I realize even more how much our YHVH loves us!  And I also see that YHVH has put Himself and His Messiah, the Salvation, in front of His chosen people in every way possible.  When their eyes are opened and they see the TRUTH of YHVH's salvation through Yahshua the Messiah, what a day of rejoicing that will be...when all of Israel shall be saved!  (Romans 11)


But that is another topic for another day.  :o)




Thank you for joining with me on this part of my journey!


Blessings in our yeshua, our salvation, Yahshua the Messiah,


Gina Dittmer