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Name: Perceptions •
Title: How COMMON the name JESUS would have been? •
Date posted: 03/15/07 0:20
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Q: I wonder how common would the name Jesus would have been in the first century, actually?
Any Historical evidence!
Is there a possibility that different people of similar name, travelled out of Middle Eastern Regions, during earlier centuries, for preaching?
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Name: Krystyna •
Date: 03/15/07 0:57 |
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A: Well...I've heard that the name "Jesus" (actually it was really something like "Yeshua") was used either 4 percent of the time or 7 percent of the time...I guess it depends on whose figures you run across. But I don't really know what that is based on. I've heard it was based on the number of ossuaries found over time. If so, I don't know if it would really reflect just how common it was across the breadth of the population, because not all folks were buried in tombs & then ossuaries. What I do know is that I had a copy of Josephus' writings (his histories are one of the main sources for that time period) and the name "Jesus" was listed in the index 14 times I think (14 different Jesus'). There were only a couple of names I counted that were listed more often: Joseph (16) and Simon (20). The name "Antiochus" was mentioned as often as Jesus I think too. So...it seems to me that it must have been a fairly popular name.
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Name: Perceptions •
Date: 03/15/07 1:07 |
A: Thankyou.
One thing we must acknowledge that believing in Jesus and taking this name , commonly, might have been a careful practice, then.
So what do you say about the name becoming popular in other regions where disciple travelled to preach,or may be other Jesuses, too? :-)
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Name: Krystyna •
Date: 03/15/07 18:23 |
A: Well...here's another little "twist" to the situation. "Yeshua" is actually the same name as "Joshua". (remember...we are taking names from another language with another alphabet & trying to translate them into our own language & alphabet). As you are probably aware, Joshua was the guy who took over from Moses & led the Israelites into the Promised land & who fought the battle of Jericho. As such, there were probably a LOT of Jewish mamas who named their sons "Joshua" or " Yeshua"
As far as the name becoming popular in other regions, I haven't read anything about that, but it seems logical to me that it would have been a name that was increasingly used as Christianity spread. I know a lot of guys in Mexico are named that! LOL
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Name: Perceptions •
Date: 03/15/07 20:15 |
A: Well I am precisely talking about the 1st. aor 2nd. centuries.
And, also about the probability that other people of similar names.
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