Are "Yeshu" and "Yeshua" translated identically in Greek as "Jesus"?

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Jason Hare
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Re: Are "Yeshu" and "Yeshua" translated identically in Greek as "Jesus"?

Post by Jason Hare »

RandallButh wrote: April 14th, 2020, 2:23 am It is common but incorrect to claim that Yeshu was an acceptable form of the name in the first century. The claim is based on ONE ossuary. All other ancient attestations are ישוע. And the one ossuary is peculiar. The name Yeshu is written right up to a border line with no spaceישו, and elsewhere on the ossuary box the full name is written ישוע. So no, the name Yeshu is not first century, it was Yeshuuʕ. (The symbol ʕ marks a voiced pharyngeal fricative, a sound that I enjoy hearing in clear Hebrew speech, though a distinct minority these days, along with a true ħet ח.)
I understood that the final ע was not pronounced in Galilean Hebrew / Aramaic. Am I under a false impression? Either way, I don't think we could expect Greek speakers to distinguish between there being an ayin and there not being one. They simply didn't hear it or represent it. Even if they wrote ישוע, they would very likely have pronounced it without the furtive patach. (As per Paul Billerbeck's writings.)
Jason A. Hare
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RandallButh
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Re: Are "Yeshu" and "Yeshua" translated identically in Greek as "Jesus"?

Post by RandallButh »

As far as I'm aware, both the furtive patach and the final ayin lost pronunciation in Galilean Hebrew at the time,
Not true. However, there were Greek speakers who did not pronounce `ayin or Het. See Bar Kochba letters for some examples.
FTR, when the Arabs came through in the 7th century and transcribed local names, they got the`ayin and Het correct, as still being pronounced. Of course, Babylonians were messing up the pharygeals, but that is another story.

Meanwhile, all second temple inscriptions of Yeshuu` have the `ayin except that one partial example that runs into a border. I don't have my copy of Rahmani available, so I cannot cite its reference number, nor all the other Yeshuu`'s in Rahmani or Ilan. Here is a museum picture link
https://museums.gov.il/en/items/Pages/I ... IMJ_395589
if it pastes: Image
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