# Common biblical name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027 "2001-06-25T02:00:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![insider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/1 "2001-06-25T02:00:40Z")
Was “Jesus” a common name in biblical times. Has there ever been a mention of any other individuals named “Jesus” in any documents from the biblical period who were not considered “Christ”? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/2 "2001-06-25T02:24:58Z")
“Jesus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua,” (more closely spelled “Yeshua,” or “Yehoshua.”) The New Testament was written in Greek, which accounts for the Hellenization of the name. So, to your question. No, there weren’t any other “Jesuses,” but the Hebrew form was used before. (I think in Hebrew, the name translates to something like “God is salvation.”) But IANAHE. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/3 "2001-06-25T02:26:08Z")
Jesus (Hebrew _Yesua_) is just a variation of Joshua (Hebrew _Yehosua_). Another famous Jesus was the author of Ecclesiasticus, Jesus ben Sirach. ---
**Author:** ![zerohero121](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6a8cbe/32.png) [@zerohero121](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zerohero121)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2001, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/4 "2001-06-25T06:33:55Z")
I was thinking I was crazy a couple of minutes ago thinking there were other Jesus’s mention, but I realized I wasn’t. I did some research and there were! An ancestor of Jesus Christ, evidently in his mother’s line. (Lu 3:29) Some ancient manuscripts here read “Jose(s). A Christian, evidently Jewish, and fellow worker of Paul. He was also called Justus.—Col 4:11. Mike ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2001, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/5 "2001-06-25T22:56:23Z")
There’s also Jesus Alou, who batted a lifetime .280 in a 15-year career, playing for the Giants, the Astros… Wait a minute, I reached for my Baseball Encyclopedia instead of my Bible. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/6 "2001-06-25T23:40:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DAVEW0071 \* > playing for the Giants I’ll never forget the time David pitched against them. Beaned this one guy right in the head. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/7 "2001-06-26T00:16:06Z")
If Jesus was Jewish, how come he had a Mexican name? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/8 "2001-06-26T00:27:27Z")
> [@](#): > > If Jesus was Jewish, how come he had a Mexican name? And if the Mexicans are so Christian, how come they keep invoking pagan Greek gods - “Hey, Zeus”? ---
**Author:** ![Richard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Richard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/9 "2001-06-27T14:56:39Z")
As was pointed out earlier, Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name which is usually rendered in English as Joshua. In fact, in Hebrews 4:8, the King James version renders the name as Jesus, when the context makes clear that they are really talking about the old-testament Joshua, as all the recent versions render the verse. Also, I once heard (sorry, I don’t have a cite) that Barabbas, who Pilate released instead of Jesus, had the first name Jesus. That is not mentioned in the Bible, so I don’t know where the information might have come from. Perhaps it is just an urban legend. If true, that is an interesting coincidence(?), since Barabbas means “son of the father”. Jesus, son of the father, released instead of Jesus, Son of the Father. ---
**Author:** ![rayniday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@rayniday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayniday)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/10 "2001-06-27T16:39:48Z")
From Philip Yancey’s _The Jesus I Never Knew_: > [@](#): > > Jesus’ own name comes from the word _Joshua_–“he shall save”–a common name in those days…Its very ordinariness, not unlike “bob” or “Joe” today, must have grated on Jewish ears in the first century as they listened to Jesus’ words.Jews did not pronounce the Honorable Name of GOD, save for the high pries one day a year, and even today Orthodoz Jews carefully spell out G\_D. For people raised in such a tradition, the idea that an ordinary person with a name like Jesus could be the son of God and Savior of the World seem utterly scandalous. Jesus was a man, for goodness’ sake, Mary’s boy. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-biblical-name/70027/11 "2001-06-27T20:14:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rayniday \* > **For people raised in such a tradition, the idea that an ordinary person with a name like Jesus could be the son of God and Savior of the World seem utterly scandalous. Jesus was a man, for goodness’ sake, Mary’s boy.** Well, if he takes away the part of the quote that says “with a name like Jesus”, he’s got it right. It was a pretty common name at that point, because, by then, a lot of Jews either took Greek names, or took Greek versions of Hebrew names. Part of that whole Hellenization thing…