Jesus Christ’s real name was most likely Yeshu Nazareen, according to language and phonetic experts, as cited in a New York Post report. Being the most prominent figure in Christianity, there have been question marks over the true name of the messiah, despite English not being a language of the Judeah — the region in the Roman Empire where Jesus and his disciples lived. There is a high possibility that Jesus conversed in Aramaic which could explain the reason behind his real name.
The surviving papyrus documents from the Galilee region (Jesus was likely raised in Nazareth in Galilee) show that Aramaic was the common tongue among the Jewish population. Early Greek translations of the Gospel also recorded the son of God saying certain phrases in Aramaic.
More conclusively, “Jesus” with a hard “j” did not exist during the time when he lived. The letter “j” and its phonetic sound would only appear in the written language, 1,500 years after Jesus’ death. “Christ” was not an actual surname either but rather a title that simply means: “God’s anointed one.”
Going by this theory, Jesus, the lord and saviour would have gone by Yeshua or Yeshu, which were the two of the most common names in Galilee at the time. His full name at the time would have been, Yeshu Narazene, as per ancient Aramaic.
Since Jesus is referred to throughout the Bible as ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ or ‘Jesus the Nazarene’ it’s possible he might have used this as a practical means of distinguishing himself from other people called Yeshu or Yeshua.
“In the ancient world, most people didn’t have a last name as we understand it today. Instead, they were identified through other means, such as their parentage, place of origin, or other distinguishing characteristics,” Dr Marko Marina, a historian from the University of Zagreb in Croatia was quoted as saying.
So Jesus, who is often referred to in the bible as “Jesus Of Nazareth” or “Jesus the Nazarene” due to his birthplace, would’ve been “Yeshu Narazene” in ancient Aramaic.
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How did Yeshu Narazene become Jesus of Nazareth?
If the messiah’s real name was Yeshu Narazene, then the question arises: how did it become Jesus Christ? The answer is rather simple and lies in the age-old practice of translating the sound of the old language between languages.
As per experts, when the New Testament was translated to Greek, the scholars tried to accommodate the Aramaic name but the phonetic inadequacies proved to be a challenge. Hence, an alternative was opted and Yeshua was transliterated as “lesous”.
When the New Testament was translated into Latin, “lesous” was transliterated as “lesus”. By the 17th century, the “j” sound became prevalent and “lesus” became “Jesus” — leading to the birth of the modern-day name.
If the name change comes as a surprise, don’t be startled to know that Jesus Christ was not actually born on December 25. Pope Julius I simply chose the date in the fourth century so that it falls on the same day as the pagan Saturnalia festival.