Graphic from: http://www.truthcontrol.com/pictures/transliteration-yeshua-jesus
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
– Isaiah 7:14
Before you start throwing rotten fruit at me, read this to the end.
First, there is no “J” in Hebrew, or Greek, or Aramaic (the local language in Judea). The Messiah is prophesied to be called “Immanuel,” meaning “the Lord’s salvation.” But the Hebrew name given by the angel Gabriel to Joseph to name the Messiah was most likely Yeshua (ye-SHU-a), not Immanuel or Jesus.
When you translate the very common Old Testament name Yeshua into English you get “Joshua.” However, if you translate Yeshua into the Greek language, it becomes Iēsous, and in Latin Iesus . Translating Iesous into English gives “Jesus.” So the translation of the translation produces something different from a direct translation (Jesus vs. Joshua). However, Acts 2:21 commands us to “call on the name of the Lord to be saved.” It doesn’t stipulate which translation, spelling, or pronunciation to use.
From this we can conclude the Messiah never heard anyone call him “Jesus”. Additionally, Revelation 19:12 tells that when the Messiah returns, “He has a name written that no one knows except Himself.” Thus, we just need to call upon him and put our faith and trust in him, whatever his name may be. For more details see: http://jesusisajew.org/YESHUA.php
As for the Messiah’s heritage, he could be called a Judean because he was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Since the Hebrew language does not have the letter “J” the actual name for Judah is Yuhudah, and the people that lived there Yahudites.
He could be called an Egyptian because his parents took him to Egypt as a baby to avoid being killed by King Herod. He could be called a Nazarene because his parents relocated there after leaving Egypt. He could be called a Galilean because he moved near the Sea of Galilee at the age of 30 to start his ministry. He could be called an Israelite because he was a descendent of Jacob and the tribe of Judah. He could be called a Hebrew because that was his religious heritage. But he was not a Jew because the term did not exist at the time.
The word “Jew” is a translated English word created in the 17th century as a substitute for Yahudite. Jew does not appear in the 1611 translation of the King James Bible. So when you read the words “Jew” and “Jewish” in your Bible, understand they are a substitution and not the actual words used in ancient scriptures.
Most modern day Jews are NOT descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel; most are converts to a form of Hebrew theology. About 85-90% have their roots in the Ashkenazi Jews that began around 1000 AD in Germany. For more details go to: http://israelect.com/reference/WillieMartin/ChristNotAJew.htm
Now I hope you can put down the rotten fruit.