Why the Name Jesus?

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

According to the early Nilotic Hebrew (4000-2000 BC), the first act of the Creator at the beginning was šw (Shu), meaning light. This is not the light of day. It is the eternal, uncreated light associated with the High God's son Y-shu (Yeshua), as proclaimed in John's Prologue.

Jesus or Yeshua is the name that was given to the son the Virgin Mary conceived by divine overshadowing. Luke 1:35 makes this clear. The angel explained to Mary: "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

As Joseph's cousin bride, it was Mary's prerogative to name her firstborn son after her father, Joachim. However, according to Matthew's Gospel, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to name the child Jesus. The angel instructed Joseph, "You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins".

The name Jesus is related to the Hebrew word Yeshua, meaning Salvation. However, the name is older than the Hebrew language. It is found as early as 2600 BC among the Hebrew priests of the Nile Valley as Yesu or Yeshu.

A prince named Yesu is mentioned as the son of Ameny, the son of Shenwy, the son of Nakht on a memorial stela from Abydos. It speaks of Shenwy and his wife, Hedjret. One of Hedjret's grandsons is called išw, which could be an early form of the name Jesus/Yeshu (Bill Manley, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, p. 77.)

The name Yesu is attached to the roles of priest and king in ancient hieroglyphics. Reading from left to right: The feather represents judgment. The horn represents power. The staff represents royal authority, and the chick represents new life. All of these symbols speak of Jesus Christ.

The end of Matthew chapter 1 makes this startling assertion. This Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. Therefore, in addition to being our judge, our authority, our king, and the giver of new life, Jesus is God. 

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". (Phil 2:9-11)

The initial Y is a solar cradle that indicated divine appointment/divine authority. The Son of God was called Y-Shu which is Yeshua or "Jesus" in English Bibles. Likewise, YHWH would have been Y-Hu in Ancient Egyptian which referred to the Divine Word. In Ancient Egyptian hu (ḥw) personified the generative word, authority, and the "first word" of creation. It refers to the authoritative word that resides with the high king or High God. In the Egyptian Coffin Texts (2000 BC) we read concerning the Creator God, "I was the one who began everything, the dweller in the Primeval Waters. First Hahu emerged from me and then I began to move."

People are surprised to learn this. However, the point of origin of the early Hebrew appears to be the Nile Valley and that is where the earliest known site of Hebrew worship was at Nekhen.

Related reading: BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Who is Jesus?; They Believed in a Messiah 6000 Years Ago; Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant

Appointment by Divine Overshadowing

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Hebrew offered prayers with sacrifices placed on their horned altars. The curved basin of the horned altar represents the bottom edge of the solar orb. This is an example of an "apophatic" or negative image. The sun and the horns of the celestial bull were sacred symbols for the early Hebrew. These spoke of the High God as King and Judge.

According to the Pyramid Texts, Utterance 205, the Great Bull smites the enemies of Re. This is expressed in the Pyramid Texts, Utterance 388: "Horus has shattered (tbb, crushed) the mouth of the serpent with the sole of his foot." Those words are echoed in Genesis 3:15, the first messianic prophesy of the Bible.

The Bull is to be sacrificed so that the king may eat the foreleg and haunch in the sky (Pyramid Texts, Utterance 413). By eating the sacrifice, the deceased king becomes one with the sacred bull. The king is urged to rise, to "gather his bones together, shake off your dust" and enter into immortality. (See The Sky Bull Eaten to Gain Immortality.)

Among the early Hebrew, the sun was the primary symbol of the High God, and appointed or consecrated persons were identified by a solar orb over their heads or an initial Y in their Hebrew names. The Y designates a divinely appointed place, servant, ruler, or sacrifice. This is represented by the initial Y in the Hebrew names of biblical rulers: Yaqtan (Joktan); Yachin (Joachin), Yishmael (Ishmael); Yishbak; Yitzak (Isaac); Yacob (Jacob); Yosef (Joseph); Yetro (Jethro); Yeshai (Jesse), Yonah (Jonah), Yoel (Joel), and Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus). The Y is a solar cradle like the bull horns, and it indicated divine appointment by overshadowing. 

The Y also represents two upright feathers which indicate one who judges. (See Hilary Wilson, Understanding Hieroglyphs, p. 131.)

Yesu Judges Between the Horns

The name Yesu indicates a similar idea. It was not an uncommon name among the ancient Egyptians. Yesu is clearly related to the name Yeshua (Jesus/Joshua). The name speaks of one who judges or measures or weighs (feather) between the horns and identifies that one with Horus/HR, the patron of kings. The falcon was a totem of Horus, the son of Re.

The name Yesu is shown in hieroglyphs with a feather, a horn, a ruler's staff, and the falcon.

Divinely Appointed Places and People

Many ancient shrine cities had names that began with the solar symbol Y. Jerusalem was called Yeru. On the border of Nubia and Egypt was a holy shrine city on Elephantine Island. It was called Yebu. According to "The Diplomatists Handbook For Africa" by Count Charles Kinsky, Yebu is a variant of Jebu. Yeru-salem was a Jebusite city.

Divine appointment by overshadowing is symbolized by the sun resting in the Y. This is a common image in the ancient world. My friend, Sarki Arzika, has written about a connection to the Hausa of Nigeria:

Dear Alice,

"Concerning the Y shaped form you write about, this is a characteristic of ancient Hausa architecture which were of triangular forms and mounted with symbols like rabbit ears at each corner. This Y shape is present on some ancient capes used generally by Maharba (hunters), Priests, and Kings."

Between the Horns

The symbol of the High God resting between the horns of the appointed sacrificial calf was a Messianic image. At the shrine cities of Dan and Bethel the central image was the overshadowed bull calf. This is the same image that Aaron fabricated in the wilderness. 

Nowhere in Scripture is Aaron criticized for making the golden calf. However, the people who worshiped the image are criticized. Here a distinction must be made between the symbolism of the golden bull calf and the actions of the people. The distinction is clear when we consider that Christians do not worship the cross. We worship the Messiah who died on the cross to make atonement for sin.

On ancient monuments and reliefs, the ram was shown with the solar orb between the horns. The ram provided by God on Mount Moriah was a symbol of the son of God, HR (Horus in Greek). In ancient Egyptian HR means Most High One. Among the Horite Hebrew HR was said to rise in the east as a lamb and set in the west as a ram in mature strength. He was called "Horus of the two horizons", which expressed two aspects of his nature as both meek and fierce. The Horite Hebrew recognized God Father and God Son. The divinely appointed ram was a symbol of Jesus among some early Christians. 

The Divine Son Conceived by Overshadowing

In ancient Egyptian iconography, Hathor, the mother of Horus, is shown wearing the Sun between the horns. She foreshadows the Virgin Mary who conceived by divine overshadowing (Luke 1:35). 

Related reading: The Substance of Abraham's Faith; Solar Symbolism of the Proto-Gospel; Ram Symbolism in the Ancient World; What Abraham Discovered on Mount Moriah