# Does the term "jebus" predate The Simpsons usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218 "2007-03-31T17:15:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/1 "2007-03-31T17:15:49Z")
In a Simpsons episode where Homer is sent to a South Pacific island as a missionary he uses the word “jebus” several times, a humourous mispronunciation of Jesus. I hear alot of people using that term now as a general exclamation and see it used alot on messageboards. Does the word predate that Simpsons usage or did the writers of the show invent the word? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/2 "2007-03-31T17:35:01Z")
> [@](#): > > In another animated show, Family Guy, Jebus appears as a typo on page 375 in The Bible. This episode of Family Guy actually aired a few months before its first appearance in The Simpsons. [Jebus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made-up_words_in_The_Simpsons#Jebus) ---
**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:** [March 31, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/3 "2007-03-31T19:25:55Z")
As we all know, Jebus is the Son of Og. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/4 "2007-03-31T19:33:04Z")
Save me, Jebus! ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/5 "2007-03-31T20:00:37Z")
(However, it also shows up in the O.T. (Chronicles) as an old name for Jerusalem) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/6 "2007-04-01T01:45:01Z")
Would it be safe to say that most people who use the term “jebus” now heard it on the Simpsons or from someone who heard it on the show? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/7 "2007-04-01T02:39:06Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Would it be safe to say that most people who use the term “jebus” now heard it on the Simpsons or from someone who heard it on the show? [/QUOTE] Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/8 "2007-04-01T02:51:10Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Yes. [/QUOTE] To expand on that a bit, none of the usual word origin sites, other than [Urban Dictionary](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jebus), seem to cover Jebus, and UD points to the Simpsons. As **capybara** mentioned, Jebus may be an [old name for Jerusalem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Jerusalem#Jebus), but that tidbit certainly didn’t spring into the national conciousness prior to the Simpsons episodes. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/9 "2007-04-01T17:10:49Z")
A few quick searches turn up the following info: - The word Jebus (or a word typically written in modern English as “Jebus”) appears in the Bible. (Chronicles 11:4, Judges 19:10) - Homer Simpson protests “I don’t even _believe_ in Jebus” and later shouts “Save me, Jebus!” in “Missionary: Impossible”, Simpson’s episdoe 241, from Season 11 (First Aired: Sunday February 20, 2000). Later in the same episode he broadcasts the message "“Hello? Earth to Jebus!” via shortwave radio. From context it seems clear that this is not a reference to the Biblical Jebus, but rather a humorous mispronunciation of the name “Jesus”. - The Family Guy episode “Holy Crap” also references Jebus, when one of the Pope’s aides discovers this apparent typo on page 375 of the Bible. According to wikipedia, this episode predates the Simpson’s episode. - Jebus seems to have been taken up as Internet slang based mainly on its usage on the Simpsons – and possibly also from its usage on Family Guy. However, the search _Jebus Simpsons_ gets over 74,000 hits on google, as opposed to just over 18,000 for _Jebus “Family Guy”_ – indicating the use of the word on the Simpsons is probably better known. Usage of Jebus on the web seems to almost always be in place of the name Jesus, which suggests a reference to the Simpson’s episode rather than the Biblical use of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-jebus-predate-the-simpsons-usage/398218/10 "2007-04-01T23:13:10Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Would it be safe to say that most people who use the term “jebus” now heard it on the Simpsons or from someone who heard it on the show? [/QUOTE] Who shot who in the what now?