When it comes to the son of YAHUAH, there are many names being taught today. We have set forth the name of Savior as YAHUSHA (יהושע), partly because this name is identical to the name we have set forth in Bemidbar (Numbers) describing the Ephrayimiy Husha, the son of Nun, who was selected as one of the twelve to spy out the Promised Land during the beginning of the Exodus.
Bemidbar (Numbers) 13:8
Of the tribe הטֶּמַ of Ephrayim אפרים, Hushaהוּשׁע the son בּן of Nun נוּן.
Bemidbar (Numbers) 13:16
These are the names שֵׁם of the men אֱנוֺשׁ which Mosheh מֹשֶׁה sent שָׁלַח to spy out תּוּר the land אֶרֶץ. And Mosheh מֹשֶׁה called קָרָא Husha הוּשׁע the son בֵּן of Nun נוּן Yahusha יהוּשׁע.
In the Masoretic text, you see the name Yahusha spelled in the Hebrew as yod (י) heh (ה) vav (ו) shin (ש) vav (ו) ayin (ע) or Yahushua. Therefore, the assumption is that Mosheh added not only YAH – the name of He who visited Mosheh at the burning bush, but also added the vav to create “shua” as the ending syllable.
Strong's Hebrew Dictionary 7737 sets forth שָׁוָה “shua” as the word shavah. Its usage within the KJV means to level, i.e. equalize; figuratively, to resemble; by implication, to adjust (i.e. counterbalance, be suitable, compose, place, yield, etc.):--avail, behave, bring forth, compare, countervail, (be, make) equal, lay, be (make, a-) like, make plain, profit, reckon.
Therefore, the name YAHUSHUA can be understood as YAH, which is the shortened name of the Father, HU (in the Hebrew (הוא)), which means “he”, and finally “shua”, which means makes level or equal. Therefore, YAHUSHUA means in this analysis, YAH is He who makes equal. The term YAH is found in 45 verses in the Tanakh, including Shemot (Exodus) 15:2 YAH יה is my strength עז and song זמרת, and he is become my yeshua (salvation) ישׁוּעה: he זה is my EL אל, and I will prepare him a habitation נוה; my father's אב ELOHIYM אלהים, and I will exalt רוּם him.
YAHUSHA has a wonderful meaning. Strong’s H3467 declares that ישׁע (ya^sha’) is used as a primitive root, meaning properly: to be open, wide or free, that is, (by implication) to be safe; causatively to free or succor: to avenge, defend, deliver, help, preserve, rescue, to be safe, to bring or to have salvation, to save, or to be a Savior, or to get victory. We have elected to publish the name YAHUSHA, in the first instance because it is the most accurate transliteration of the name given to the Messiah, as he was given the same name as Husha / Yahusha son of Nun, whom the English world has always called Joshua. However, the name YAHUSHA means I AM HE who avenges, defends, delivers, helps, preserves, rescues, saves, brings salvation, your Savior, who brings you to victory.
How can we be sure that YAHUSHA is correct and not Yahushua, Yeshua, Yahshua, Yahoshua, etc.? While definitive proof we do not have, we do have evidence the preponderance of which allowed us to reach a conclusion that the formal name is YAHUSHA, rather than the previously mentioned alternatives.
1. The underlying sources to be used for New Testament translation or transliteration is not the Masoretic Hebraic text, but rather the Textus Receptus with reference to the usage in the Aramaic Peshitta. The Greek yields Ieesus, while the Aramaic delivers a variant which depends on the interpreter. As a consequence, a review of interpretations yields YAHUSHA, YESHUA, and even YAHOSHUA.
2. With this being the ambiguous surface from which you must start, the next review requires reference to the underlying Hebrew to make a review of similarities. We reached the conclusion, after transliterating the proper nouns of the Old Testament, a number of things:
A. The name revealed in the Tetragrammaton (yod heh vav heh) was actually YAHUAH. Now this was the subject of great debate and two trips to Israel to try and find our answer, between the possibilities: was it pronounced YAHUAH, or YAH'HAVAH? You see that one treats the vav as a vowel, and the other as a consonant. There were difficulties. For instance, those who practice Kabalah in Israel use the name Havah'Yah, in a way that allows the sacred name to be spoken without violating Talmudic edicts forbidding the pronunciation of the sacred name. Again, using Darash comparative analysis, we looked at any examples of how the vav was treated, not only in the present, but historically. Specifically, we looked at two words for guidance: David and Chavvah (often substituted as Eve). Now David (dalet vav dalet) reads the same forward or backward. Using the vav as the only vowel, the pronunciation is DUDE. Using the Aramaic hermeneutic, the pronunciation implies another vowel to the first consonant dalet (here, the rule is ah prior to the second century BC, eh from the second century to the adoption of the Babylonian Talmud, and eh or hi thereafter as common usage), which would then yield Daud (dah-ood) as the pronunciation, rather than dah-veed' as in the modern. Chavvah or Chuah presented the same difficulty, however modern usage helped us to reach our ultimate conclusion, as many of the streets in Yerushalayim have scriptural names. One, for example, is called Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah); another Yesha'yahu. Even the prime minister has a name that ends with yahu -- not YAHAV.
B. HaMashiach comes in the name of the Father, therefore the first prefix is YAHU, not YAHO, or even just YEH or YAH. Some commentators use Yah’sua, or Yeshua. PP Simmons, aka Carl Gallups insists on Ya HO' shua, construing the vav as an O. The prefix "sha" means salvation, hence the Hebrew word Shamayim, which means the heavens (the waters of salvation). Savior, in the Hebrew is Yesha in the modern, but the root is Yasha - i.e., Yah saves. This is the root of the name Yesha'yahu - or, a savior of YAHUAH. So the next question is the prefix - should it be SHA or SHUA, adding the additional vav? We reached the conclusion that the prefix SHUA, although a common usage of the name which is typically translated in English as Joshua, is more accurately pronounced YAHUSHA - the salvation of YAHUAH. This is consistent with several Aramaic interpreters, and the opinions of several groups of scholars who have reached similar conclusions.
This conclusion was also confirmed by the testimony of two witnesses in the Ruach while we were in Israel - one in Yerushalayim, and one at the Sea of Galilee. Can we give you a fervent and unequivocal answer? No. However, we believe that among the choices, YAHUSHA is established by the language itself as the most accurate transliteration.