Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament
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A large variety of names and titles are used in the New Testament to describe Jesus.
Personal name
Authors have put forward numerous explanations to explain the origin of the name Jesus, and have offered a still larger number of explanations for the meaning of the name. What we do know for sure is that it originates from the Hebrew יהושוע [yehoshua`], which is a theophoric name first mentioned within the Biblical tradition in Exodus 17:8 as one of Moses' companions (and, according to tradition, later successor). Breaking the name down, we see that there are two parts: יהו [yahu], the theophoric reference to the deity Yahweh, and the three letter root שוע. Due to disputes over how to render שוע lexically, Talshir, M. H. Segal, A Grammar of Mishnaic Hebrew (Tel Aviv: 1936), p. 146."שׁוע", Ernest Klein, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language (New York: MacMillan Publishing Company 1987)Strong's Concordance [H3091]Philo, De Mutatione Nominum, §21Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius, Hebrew and English Lexicon With an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic (Hendrickson, 1985), ISBN 0913573205. Cf. Blue Letter Bible, [H3442] there are a number of generally accepted phrases this combination can translate to:
- *"Yahweh saves"
- *"Yahweh is salvation"
- *"Yahweh is [my] help"
- *"Yahweh (is) a saving-cry"
When the New Testament was complied, ישוע [yeshua`] was transliterated into Koine Greek as closely as possible, the result being Ἰησοῦς [Iēsous]. Where Greek has no equivalent of the semitic, ש [sheen], it was replaced with a σ [sigma], and a masculine singular ending was added. With the range of dialect that existed in 1st Century Judea (especially around Galilee) scholars believe that the final ע [`ayin] was simply dropped altogether. The earliest usage of this transliteration is actually found in the Septuagint and in writings of Philo of AlexandriaPhilo Judaeus, De ebrietate in Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunted. P. Wendland, Berlin: Reimer, 1897 (repr. De Gruyter, 1962)vol. 2:170-214, Section 96, Line 2..
From Greek, Ἰησοῦς [Iēsous] moved into Latin with the authorship of the Latin Vulgate. The morphological jump this time was not as large as previous changes between language families. Ἰησοῦς [Iēsous] quickly assimilated into Iesus
Near the end of Middle English, the vowels changed during the Great Vowel Shift in the 15th century, and the letter 'J' was first distinguished from 'I' by the Frenchman Pierre Ramus in the 16th, but did not become common in Modern English until the 17th century. As such we can see that such works as the first edition of the King James Version of the Bible in 1611 continues to the name with an I. [Image] of the first edition of the King James Version of the Bible, Gospel of Luke. From http://nazirene.peopleofhonoronly.com/. Retrieved March 28, 2006.
Finally, after thousands of years and several languages later, the name finally came to rest as the Modern English "Jesus" [ˈdʒi.zəs].
Christ
Christ is not a name but a title, and comes into English from the Greek Χριστός (Christos), via the Latin Christus. It means "anointed one".Blue Letter Bible, [G5547] The Greek is a translation of the Hebrew mashiyakh (משיח) or Aramaic m'shikha (משיחא), from which we derive the English word Messiah. The title occurs in the Old Testament and there it signifies a "prophet," "high priest" or "king" — a man, chosen by God or descended from a man chosen by God, to serve as a religious, civil, and/or military authority.
Other titles in the New Testament
The New Testament uses many titles to refer to Jesus, including: God, Prophet, Lord, Son of man, Son of God, Lamb of God, King of the Jews, Rabbi and Emmanuel. Many Christians understand these titles as attesting to Jesus' divinity. Some historians have argued that when used in other texts of the time, these titles had other meanings, and therefore may have had other meanings when used in the Gospels as well.God
Several passages in the New Testament refer to Jesus as Θεός (Theos). This is the Koine Greek term for Deity, and most English versions of the New Testament translate this title as "God".[John 1:1], [1:18], [20:28]; [Philippians 2:6]; [Colossians 2:9]; [2 Peter 1:1]; [Titus 2:13] The meaning of this title, as applied to Jesus, is a matter of dispute, but most Christians understand it as an affirmation of divinity.
Prophet
According to the New Testament, many Jews of the time thought of Jesus as a prophet.[Matthew 21:11]; [Luke 7:16] The New Testament also indicates that Jesus considered himself to be a prophet.[Mark 6:4]; [Matthew 13:57]; [Luke 4:24] In the Hebrew Bible, prophets were generally men who spoke for God, proclaiming God's words to the people, and often predicting future events.
Lord
The Gospels and Acts frequently use "Lord" as a title for Jesus. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus accepted this title as his own.John 13:13-14. However, some scholars believe Jesus did not claim this title himself. They argue others ascribed it to him.
Many Christians interpret the term as a reference to divinity. In one passage Jesus is addressed as "My Lord and my God".[John 20:28] Scholars explain the use of this title in various ways: some believe that Jesus' disciples called him "Lord", but not because he was divine. According to Geza Vermes, a close reading of the Gospels suggests that most people addressed Jesus as lord as a sign of respect for a miracle-worker (especially in Mark and Matthew) or as a teacher (especially in Luke). In many cases one can substitute the words "sir" or "teacher" for "lord", and the meaning of the passage in question will not change, though in some instances the substitution would make little sense.e.g., [Acts 2:36] Others believe that the New Testament uses the term lord to mean divine, but that it was only after Jesus' death and resurrection that his followers ascribed to him divinity.After Easter one of the most important OT texts to be applied to the Risen One was Psalm 110:1. Here the word 'Lord' is used both for God and for the messianic king (Acts 2:34). The application of this text to Jesus meant that the title mari, 'my Lord,' addressed to him during his earthly life in recognition of his unusual authority was upgraded as a messianic address. Thus, we get the liturgical acclamation in Aramaic marana tha, 'our Lord, come' (1 Cor. 16:22; Rev. 22:20). ("Lord" in Harper's Bible Dictionary, Paul J. Achtemier ed. [San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985]). Sitll Others argue that neither Jesus nor his disciples used the Aramaic term for lord, mara, and that the Greek term κύριος (kurios) was borrowed from pagan Hellenic usage.With the mission to the Gentiles, which began in Antioch (Acts 11:20), Christianity entered a milieu in which the title 'Lord' was already given to the deities of various religious cults. They were 'lords' (the feminine, kyria, was used for the goddess Isis) of their religious communities. Scholars used to hold that this pagan usage was the source for the application of the title kyrios to Jesus, but that theory has been ruled out by the Aramaic evidence for the use of 'Lord.' Moreover, Christianity did not regard Jesus as a cult deity. Christian worship was directed to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. At the same time Paul can assert the Lordship of Christ polemically against the pagan cults. 'There are many 'gods' and many 'lords'—yet for us there is one God, the Father. . .and one Lord, Jesus Christ' (1 Cor. 8:6). (Ibid., Harper's Bible Dictionary). However, kurios had long been used by the Septuagint to translate אדני (adon).[T]he divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai (My Lord), which was translated as Kyrios (Lord) in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica [15th edition], vol. 10, p. 786).
The translation of YHWH by the word Lord in the King James's and in other versions is due to the traditional reading of the Tetragrammaton as Adonai, and this can be traced to the oldest translation of the Bible, the Septuagint. [. . .T]he Greek translators of the Bible. . .took great care to render the name Π I Π I regularly Κυριός, Lord, as if they knew of no other reading but Adonai. Translations dependent upon the Septuagint have the same reading of the Name. (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901, vol. 1, pp. 201, 203).
The Hebrew Bible distinguishes between "lord" (adon) and "God"; the word "lord" does not necessarily imply divinity, although God is often described as "the Lord". Surviving inter-testamental Aramaic texts frequently use the Aramaic mara to mean "the Lord", that is, God; but they also provide evidence of people using mara and kurios as personal titles (for example, used to address a husband, father, or king). There is little evidence that term was used specifically to mean "teacher", but there is much evidence of students using the term mar to refer to their teachers respectfully, or to refer to an especially respected and authoritative teacher. In one passage in the New Testament "lord" and "teacher" are distinguished by two different Greek words.[John 13:13-14]
Son of Man
Jesus is rarely described as Son of man (בר נשא bar nasha, in Aramaic) outside of the Gospels, but in the Synoptic Gospels this title is used in several speeches by Jesus, in a way that is near universally considered to have been intended as a self-reference. Historically, the title is a Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or self in a humble manner. As a result, it was commonly used in prayer or in poetry. See main article Son of man for a list of examples of how the phrase was used in ancient times.
Some argue that the phrase alludes to Daniel 7:13, which associates "one like a son of man" with a messianic vision, and six Gospel uses of the title directly refer to, and many others allude to, Daniel. Since Daniel is an apocalyptic work, some scholars link Jesus' use of the term "son of man" with the short apocalypse of chapter 13 of the Gospel of Mark; such a view paints Jesus as preacher of apocalyptic Judaism. However, most of the uses in Mark, considered by many to be the oldest Gospel, and many examples from the other Gospels, are non-Danielic.
Geza Vermes, observing that other Aramaic texts reveal that the phrase was used frequently to mean simply "man", or as a way by which a speaker may refer to himself, concluded that it is possible that this phrase was actually not a title. Whatever the meaning of the expression, when transcribed into Greek it is almost always used with the direct article ὁ (ho), translated "the", when it refers to Jesus.
Son of God
The New Testament frequently refers to Jesus as the son of God; Jesus seldom does, but often refers to God as his father. Christians universally understand this to mean that Jesus was literally God's son — according to the Nicene Creed, God's only-begotten (or unique) son, one with the Father (cf. John 3:16). The phrase itself is thus taken by many to be synonymous with divinity. Some see a parallel in Hebrews 2:8, where "the Son" appears to be used synonymously with "God". As with "Son of Man", "Son of God" is usually used with the direct article when referring to Jesus.
Geza Vermes has argued that Jesus and his followers may have understood this title differently. He observes that the Hebrew Bible uses the phrase "son of God" in other senses: to refer to heavenly or angelic beings; to refer to the Children of Israel, and to refer to kings. There is no New Testament evidence to suggest that early Christians thought of Jesus as an angel, so the first two usages seem not to apply.
However, Mark identifies Jesus as the son of King David, and Matthew and Luke provide lineages linking Jesus to King David. II Samuel 7:14, Psalm 89:26-27 and possibly 2:7, refer to David as a "son" of God, although historians find no evidence that the authors of the Bible believed David to be divine or literally God's son. (Some Christians, namely those believing in Bible prophecy, interpret these and other Psalms as referring prophetically to Jesus, the "seed" referred to in Psalm 89. See Christ in the Psalms by Father Patrick Reardon).
In post-Biblical Judaism, the title was often applied to righteous men: Sirach 4:10 and Wisdom of Solomon 2:17-18 use the term to refer to just men, and Book of Jubilees 1:24-25 has God declaring all righteous men to be his sons. Philo too wrote that good people are sons of God, and various rabbis in the Talmud declare that when Israelites are good, they are sons of God. The Talmud provides one example that parallels that of Jesus: Rabbi Hanina, whom God referred to as "my son", was also a miracle worker, and was able to resist Agrat, queen of the demons. Vermes suggests that "son of God" was a title used in the vicinity of Galilee by miracle-workers.
Other scholars have suggested that the identification of "son of God" with divinity is pagan in origin; the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt referred to themselves as sons of Zeus or of Helios; Roman emperors used the title divi filius, or son of God. They suggest that the belief that Jesus was in fact "the son of God", and the association of his divine paternity with his being "messiah", were added after Christianity broke with Judaism.
King of the Jews
The title of "King of the Jews" is used to refer to Jesus in two recorded episodes during his life. It is first used by the Magi, who ask of King Herod "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him".[Matthew 2:2], TNIV The teachers of the law answer that he will be found in Bethlehem, according to the prophesy of Micah.[Micah 5:2]
It is again used in Jesus' trial. In all of the gospels, Pilate is recorded as asking Jesus "Are you king of the Jews?", to which Jesus replies "You have said so".[Mark 15:2] and parallels This may imply that the Sanhedrin told Pilate that Jesus had claimed this title. Pilate then orders the written charge on the sign on Jesus' cross to read "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews".[John 19:19] and parallels John reports that the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.[John 19:20] In Latin this can be translated as "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum". The abbreviation INRI is therefore used to represent this in many depictions of Jesus' crucifixion.
Lamb of God
A title of Jesus used exclusively by John the Apostle,[John 1:29], [1:36]; cf. [Revelation 5:6], passim though "lamb" is used by other New Testament writers. Paul specifically identifies Jesus with the Paschal lamb.[1 Corinthians 5:7] Geza Vermes averred that the title "Lamb of God" does not necessarily refer to the metaphor of a sacrificial animal. He points out that in Galilean Aramaic the word talya, literally "lamb", had the common meaning of "male child". This is akin to "kid" meaning "child" in modern colloquial English. The female equivalent of Talya was Talitha, literally "ewe lamb" and figuratively "girl" (the word is found in the Narrative of the Daughter of Jairus[Mark 5:21-43]). Thus, "Lamb of God" could have been a slang means of saying "Son of God" or "God's Kid".. The Greek word for "lamb" used by John does not have the "child" connotation.
Rabboni/Rabbi
Mary Magdalene calls Jesus Rabboni,[John 20:16] which means "my rabbi" [lit. "my teacher"], which is also used for Jesus in other passages.e.g., [Matthew 26:25]; [John 1:38]; [John 3:2] A rabbi is a Jewish teacher, usually referring to a religious teacher.
Apostle
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus is called an Apostle.[Hebrews 3:1] An apostle is one who is sent for some purpose, who represents the authority of the sender, similar to an emissary. A verbal form of the word is used of Jesus in the Gospel of John, where it is translated "one...sent".[John 17:3]
References
Works cited
- Vermes, Geza Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels, Augsburg Fortress Pub, 1981. ISBN 0800614437
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