Q. Did Jesus have a LAST NAME? A. No. Although many people refer to Him as Jesus Christ, the Greek word translated as "Christ" is cristos (Greek: Χριστός , Strong's Concordance # G5547), which means "anointed" and was commonly used to refer to the prophesied Messiah or Savior. It would be more proper, grammatically, to say the phrase: Jesus, the Christ. "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." (Luke 1:31, NIV) "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus." (Luke 1:31, NKJV)
The name Jesus is a transliteration of the Greek word Ιησους, Strong's Concordance #G2424. A transliteration is taking the way a word is pronounced in one language and spelling it according to the way it SOUNDS when written with the letters of another language. The Greek word used for Jesus (Ιησους), in turn, is derived from the Hebrew or Aramaic word Yehowshuwa. This word, Strong's Concordance #H3091, is the same Hebrew word translated in the Old Testament as Joshua. It is interesting that the name of the God of the Old Testament, first mentioned in Exodus 6:2, is the Hebrew word YHWH (Strong's Concordance #H3068). Note that Hebrew does not print the vowels in words as is done in English. If you write God's name as it was written in the Old Testament (we would pronounce it Yahweh or Jehovah) and add the Hebrew word we would pronounce yasha (which means "salvation, or "to free"), you will get the word Yehowshua. This clue to the identity of Jesus as the SAME GOD who created heaven and earth, who wrote the Ten Commandments with His finger, and who dealt with the nation of Israel is sadly hidden from many people. | 