The following is a point about which I have been curious for a number of years, but it just never seemed worth the effort to post a question about it. But recently I've seen the name Y'shua used on this forum. So before I forget about it, I am finally going to post a question on the subject.
I know a bit of Hebrew and can work with a Hebrew Tanakh. In the books of Ezra, Nehimiah and Chronicles in the Hebrew Tanakh the name yod-shin-vav-ayin appears. In all cases the yod is vocalized with a tsere which is grammatically a long e (and would be marked with an overbar if diacritical marks are used). Generally, a ' is used to transliterate a sheva (also alef and sometimes ayin, but that is not contextually reasonable here), which is a half vowel, i.e. a very briefly and indistinctly pronounced vowel. Although a sheva is often transliterated with an e (a small raised e or inverted e if such symbols are available) I have never seen a tsere transliterated as '. So my question is: Is there some convention being used that I don't understand, or is this simply an error? The Hebrew translation of the NT produced by the Bible Society in Israel always uses a tsere to vocalize the yod in the name of the Messiah; therefore, I am leaning toward the idea that the transliteration as Y'shua is, in fact, an error. Is there anyone here who can shed light on this?
I know a bit of Hebrew and can work with a Hebrew Tanakh. In the books of Ezra, Nehimiah and Chronicles in the Hebrew Tanakh the name yod-shin-vav-ayin appears. In all cases the yod is vocalized with a tsere which is grammatically a long e (and would be marked with an overbar if diacritical marks are used). Generally, a ' is used to transliterate a sheva (also alef and sometimes ayin, but that is not contextually reasonable here), which is a half vowel, i.e. a very briefly and indistinctly pronounced vowel. Although a sheva is often transliterated with an e (a small raised e or inverted e if such symbols are available) I have never seen a tsere transliterated as '. So my question is: Is there some convention being used that I don't understand, or is this simply an error? The Hebrew translation of the NT produced by the Bible Society in Israel always uses a tsere to vocalize the yod in the name of the Messiah; therefore, I am leaning toward the idea that the transliteration as Y'shua is, in fact, an error. Is there anyone here who can shed light on this?
Also, about a year or so ago, I finally got off the bandwagon that opposes use of the name "Jesus." Since most of my friends are non-denom Christians, I tend to use "Jesus" more in emails and whatnot than "Yeshua." Sometimes you have to recognize when you're putting up a stumbling block. (feel free to ignore this tangent, as I don't want to be responsible for derailment of this thread)
