Why does Muhammad have a problem with one Hebrew name in particular?
In the Hebrew Bible, Adam and Eve are Adam and Hava.
In Arabic, they are Adam and Hawa.
In the Hebrew Bible, Abraham is Avraham.
In Arabic, he is Ibrahim.
Lot is Lot whether it's Hebrew or English.
In Arabic, he is Lut.
Moses is Moishe, but in Arabic, he is Musa.
You see the consistency here, right?
The Arabic hews very closely to the original Hebrew when it comes to Bible names.
So why is it that suddenly, when it comes to the name of the King of kings and the Lord of lords...
Muhammad decided to change Jesus' name to Isa (or Eesa)?
God didn't name Jesus "Isa" in the Bible.
He named Him Yeshua, short for Yehoshua, which means "The Lord Saves."
Here it is in Matthew 1 (text in parentheses mine):
20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus (Yehoshua in the Orthodox Jewish Bible), because He will save His people from their sins.”
Yehoshua is transliterated as "Iesous" in the Greek, and IESVS in Latin, from which we get the English word, "Jesus."
In John 19:19-20, we read:
19 Pilate also had a sign lettered and put on the cross. The inscription was:
JESUS THE NAZARENE
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
The sign on the cross would have had Jesus' name spelled out as IESVS-IESOUS-YEHSHUS (Latin, Greek, Hebrew).
Jesus was known as Yeshua in the Hebrew, and Iesous in the Greek.
Eesa, on the other hand, is said to be the Arabic for "Esau," which means "hairy" in Hebrew.
"Eesa" means nothing in Arabic.
There is no meaning or definition whatsoever for the name "Eesa" in Arabic.
It is certainly curious that Muhammad would choose to replace Jesus' name, Yehoshua, "The Lord Saves," with another name which means absolutely nothing, especially in our context.
This after YHWH had taken such pains to make sure that the world got the message that this Child was going to be unlike any other. For example:
- the virgin birth
- signs in the heavens preceded and attended His coming
- angels appeared to shepherds
- prophets spoke at His dedication at the Temple
- He did miracles such as had never been seen on earth then and since
- He rose from the dead on His own power after three days, just as He had prophesied
Some say that Muhammad got the name Eesa from manuscripts which are not a part of the Christian Bible. These were the Gnostic Gospels, which is a collection of false teachings written hundreds of years after Jesus' return to heaven.
This is a huge problem for Islam because the Gnostic Gospels' Isa is a person who is far removed from the real Jesus of the Bible.
For example:
- the real Jesus of the Bible never killed anyone, much less children. But the Gnostic Isa did.
- the real Jesus of the Bible never did any miracles just for show. But the Gnostic Isa did.
- the real Jesus of the Bible never cursed people or made them blind. But the Gnostic Isa did.
The real Jesus of the Bible gives life. He doesn't take it.
The real Jesus of the Bible is humble and meek. He's not proud or boastful.
The real Jesus of the Bible heals others. He doesn't harm them.
Dr. Michael Brown suggests that Muhammad may also have gotten the name "Eesa" from a code name that Jewish rabbis from his era were using for Jesus. Jewish rabbis who rejected the Messiahship of Jesus.
Now, if Muslims believe that Muhammad wrote the Quran, then it would most certainly be understandable that Muhammad made this mistake simply because he didn't know that the Jews were using code to avoid using Jesus' real name. But that is not what Muslims believe. Instead, they believe that their Islamic god Allah wrote the Quran in eternity. Which leads us to the question...
Why didn't Allah know Jesus' real name was Yeshua?
Why didn't Allah know the Jews were using code?
Christians have no such problems because the God of the Bible had already declared...
In the Hebrew Bible, Adam and Eve are Adam and Hava.
In Arabic, they are Adam and Hawa.
In the Hebrew Bible, Abraham is Avraham.
In Arabic, he is Ibrahim.
Lot is Lot whether it's Hebrew or English.
In Arabic, he is Lut.
Moses is Moishe, but in Arabic, he is Musa.
You see the consistency here, right?
The Arabic hews very closely to the original Hebrew when it comes to Bible names.
So why is it that suddenly, when it comes to the name of the King of kings and the Lord of lords...
Muhammad decided to change Jesus' name to Isa (or Eesa)?
God didn't name Jesus "Isa" in the Bible.
He named Him Yeshua, short for Yehoshua, which means "The Lord Saves."
Here it is in Matthew 1 (text in parentheses mine):
20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus (Yehoshua in the Orthodox Jewish Bible), because He will save His people from their sins.”
Yehoshua is transliterated as "Iesous" in the Greek, and IESVS in Latin, from which we get the English word, "Jesus."
In John 19:19-20, we read:
19 Pilate also had a sign lettered and put on the cross. The inscription was:
JESUS THE NAZARENE
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
The sign on the cross would have had Jesus' name spelled out as IESVS-IESOUS-YEHSHUS (Latin, Greek, Hebrew).
Jesus was known as Yeshua in the Hebrew, and Iesous in the Greek.
Eesa, on the other hand, is said to be the Arabic for "Esau," which means "hairy" in Hebrew.
"Eesa" means nothing in Arabic.
There is no meaning or definition whatsoever for the name "Eesa" in Arabic.
It is certainly curious that Muhammad would choose to replace Jesus' name, Yehoshua, "The Lord Saves," with another name which means absolutely nothing, especially in our context.
This after YHWH had taken such pains to make sure that the world got the message that this Child was going to be unlike any other. For example:
- the virgin birth
- signs in the heavens preceded and attended His coming
- angels appeared to shepherds
- prophets spoke at His dedication at the Temple
- He did miracles such as had never been seen on earth then and since
- He rose from the dead on His own power after three days, just as He had prophesied
Some say that Muhammad got the name Eesa from manuscripts which are not a part of the Christian Bible. These were the Gnostic Gospels, which is a collection of false teachings written hundreds of years after Jesus' return to heaven.
This is a huge problem for Islam because the Gnostic Gospels' Isa is a person who is far removed from the real Jesus of the Bible.
For example:
- the real Jesus of the Bible never killed anyone, much less children. But the Gnostic Isa did.
- the real Jesus of the Bible never did any miracles just for show. But the Gnostic Isa did.
- the real Jesus of the Bible never cursed people or made them blind. But the Gnostic Isa did.
The real Jesus of the Bible gives life. He doesn't take it.
The real Jesus of the Bible is humble and meek. He's not proud or boastful.
The real Jesus of the Bible heals others. He doesn't harm them.
Dr. Michael Brown suggests that Muhammad may also have gotten the name "Eesa" from a code name that Jewish rabbis from his era were using for Jesus. Jewish rabbis who rejected the Messiahship of Jesus.
Now, if Muslims believe that Muhammad wrote the Quran, then it would most certainly be understandable that Muhammad made this mistake simply because he didn't know that the Jews were using code to avoid using Jesus' real name. But that is not what Muslims believe. Instead, they believe that their Islamic god Allah wrote the Quran in eternity. Which leads us to the question...
Why didn't Allah know Jesus' real name was Yeshua?
Why didn't Allah know the Jews were using code?
Christians have no such problems because the God of the Bible had already declared...
Jesus is Lord!
See also:
Where is Jesus Prophetically Named in the Old Testament?
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