The whole idea of Messiah, the Anointed One, is Jewish in origin. Yeshua said, "...Salvation is from the Jews" (Jn. 4:22). No other people or religion has ever conceived of a son-redeemer sent by his father to save the world.

Furthermore, when Yeshua was born, the angel told Miriam (Mary) to call the child "Yeshua." As the boy grew, He answered to the name Yeshua--not the English equivalent of Jesus nor that of any other language. There was literally no other name except Yeshua!

So when the first Jewish believers went into non-Jewish regions, they had to bring these Jewish concepts and Hebrew names into a pagan world. One tool that greatly helped them was the Septuagint--the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Septuagint was used by the Greek-speaking Jewish community scattered throughout the Hellenistic world.

The Septuagint translators sometimes encountered a word that, being rooted in a Jewish concept, had no Greek equivalent. For example, they "greekized" Maschiach (found in Daniel) in order to make it more familiar to the Greek-speaking Jews and easier to pronounce. They decided to literally translate the concept "Anointed One" into its Greek equivalent. The word that was created was Christos--a "native" Greek word that was understood by non-Hebrew speakers.

As Jewish believers like Paul began to spread the Good News to the pagan Greek world, they keenly felt the necessity to greekize many more Hebrew words which were based on Jewish concepts.

God is a universal God, they reasoned, and Yeshua is the Lamb of God Who came to take away the sin of the world. Why then cause a stumbling block by preserving Hebrew-sounding names? Why not convert them to words which had meaning and were familiar to Greek people?

The same process obviously occurred with the Hebrew name "Yeshua." It certainly didn't sound Greek, didn't look Greek and was probably difficult for Greek-speakers to pronounce. Certain disciples of Yeshua, who were crying out to God for the souls of the pagan men and women, felt it expedient to allow these people to easily and comfortably pronounce Yeshua's name. Result: "Iesous."

In this greekized form, therefore, Iesous Christos was preached throughout the known world. The name of the Messiah was further adapted into various languages beyond the Greek-speaking communities. Jesus Christ in English, Jesu Christo in Spanish, and Jesus Christus in German are but a few of the adaptations found in the western languages alone. Other examples of English adaptations include: Lord (Adonai), Passover (Pesach), Mosaic Law or Pentateuch (Torah), Sabbath, a day of rest (Shabbat).

Never in their wildest dreams, however, did early Jewish evangelists consider preaching to the Jews about Iesous Christos. This was against the principle and spirit by which they adapted Yeshua's name to the Gentile languages. The early believers understood that the truths of the Gospel are to be preached in the vernacular, the language and the understanding of the person being reached.

So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air (I Cor. 14:9).

Even though the context of this Scripture is completely different, the principle of speaking to be understood applies to every situation.

Those who truly love the Jewish people will find a way to "speak clearly" so as not to speak into the air. They will find a way to communicate rather than expect the unsaved Jew to "understand" the real and original meaning of greekized words. Gentilized words may be precious to the one witnessing, but they are usually meaningless, or worse yet, may arouse negative associations within the Jewish heart.

If men have adapted the name of Yeshua HaMashiach to hundreds of languages, should not the Jewish people be free to use the original name of the King of the Jews? In being all things to all men, you will be following in the footsteps of Paul, the Jewish Apostle to the Gentiles, and other like-minded early ambassadors.

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