Joshua


Joshua in Biblical Hebrew

There are three Old Testament Hebrew spellings for the names we know as Joshua or Jesus.
 Yahu-sha is used 214 times, Yahu-shua is used 2 times, and Ye-shua is used 1 time.

יהושׁע   Yahu-sha  Strong’s Concordance #: H3091

THIS MOST COMMON USE occurs 214 times in the Old Testament / Tanakh.
 (192 times + 17 with a leading ו  'vav' letter, 4 with a leading 'lamed' ל letter, and 1 with a leading 'bet'  ב  letter)
 legend: # 2 = means it occurs 2 times in same verse; #V = means has a leading ‘vav’ letter; #L = means has a leading ‘lamed’ letter; #B = means has a leading ‘bet’ letter.
 Exodus 17:9,10,13,14; 24:13V; 32:17; 33:11   |   Numbers 11:28; 13:16; 14:6V,30V,38V; 26:65V; 27:18,22; 32:12V,28; 34:17V   |   Deuteronomy 1:38; 3:28; 31:3,7L,14+V,23; 34:9V   |   Joshua 1:1,10,12,16; 2:1,23,24; 3:1,5,6,7,9,10; 4:1,4,5,82,9,102,14,15,17,20; 5:2,3,4,7,9,132,14,152; 6:2,6,8,10,12,16,22,252,26,27; 7:2,3,6,7,10,16,19,20,22,23,24,25; 8:1,32,92,10,13,15,16,182,21V,23,26V,27,28,29,30,35; 9:2,3,6,82,15,22,24,27; 10:1,4,6,7,8,9,12,15,17L,18,20,21,22,242,25,26,27,28,29,31,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,43; 11:6,7,9,10,12,13,152,16,18,21,232; 12:7; 13:1V; 14:1V,6,13; 15:13L; 17:4,14,15,17; 18:3,8,9,102; 19:49lr,51V; 20:1; 21:1; 22:1,6,72; 23:1V,2; 24:1,2,19,21,22,24,25,26,27,28,29,312    |   Judges 1:1; 2:6,7,8,21,23   |   1 Samuel 6:14,18   |    1 Kings 16:34   |   2 Kings 23:8   |   1 Chronicles 7:27   |   Haggai 1:1,12V,14; 2:2,4   |   Zechariah 3:1,3V,6 B,8,9; 6:11 

יהושׁוע  Yahu-shua  Strong’s Concordance #: H3091

Occurs 2 times in the Old Testament / Tanakh.

Deuteronomy 3:21   |   Judges 2:7 (also includes Yahusha in verse)

ישׁוע Ye-shua  Strong’s Concordance #: H3442

Occurs 29 times in the Old Testament / Tanakh.

1 Chronicles 24:11L   |   2 Chronicles 31:15V   |   Ezra 2:2,6,36,40; 3:2,8V,9; 4:3V; 8:33; 10:18   |   Nehemiah 7:7,11,39,43; 8:7V,17; 9:4,5; 10:10V; 11:26VB; 12:1V,7,8,10V,24V,26

The Strong's Concordance identifies Joshua (H3091) and Yeshua (H3442) as two completely different Hebrew names.  In Nehemiah 8:17, “Yeshua (H3442) son of Nun” is mentioned and some scholars propose the idea that this is referring to the famous “Joshua son of Nun.” If that is so, 'Yeshua' is ONLY USED ONCE to refer to Joshua.  All the other uses of ‘Yeshua’ refer to various Israelis in the Old Testament / Tanakh.

When reading Nehemiah 8:17, the Yeshua connection to Joshua is questionable since it would propose the idea that Israel did not observe the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles/Tents), which God commanded, from the time of Joshua (after the Exodus) to the time after the Babylonian Captivity – a period of around a thousand years, that would have also included the reigns of King David and King Solomon.


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L  = means it has a leading Hebrew 'lamed' letter
V  = means it has a leading Hebrew 'vav' letter
B  = means it has a leading Hebrew 'bet' letter
VB  = means it has a leading Hebrew 'vav' and 'bet' letters