Scientists have revealed that Jesus’ real name was never ‘Jesus’.PauseMute
Possibly the most well known name in human history, experts have now said that ‘Jesus Christ’ may never have been the name of the main man.
Experts believe that the head of Christianity would have gone by another moniker – one in his own Aramaic language.
The word ‘Jesus’ has letters in it that were not used in written text until 1,500 years after his supposed death.
As well as the fact that after 2,000 years of history, the name ‘Jesus’ has been changed and obscured after many translations and misprints.
The name would have started in Aramaic and then been translated into Hebrew, then Greek and later on in history, Latin – before it could get to English in the 16th century.
Experts also say that his last name could not have been ‘Christ’, and would instead have been related to his hometown.
Dr Marko Marina, a historian from the University of Zagreb, said: ‘In the ancient world, most people didn’t have a last name as we understand it today. Instead, they were identified through other means, such as their parentage, place of origin, or other distinguishing characteristics.
‘For example, someone might be referred to as “John, the son of Zebedee” or “Mary Magdalene”, with “Magdalene” probably indicating she was from a place called Magdala.’
All of this to say his real name was more likely Yeshu Nazareen, than ‘Jesus Christ’.
As to how to pronounce his potential name, Dr Marko says we can ‘make a strong educated guess based on linguistic and cultural context.’
The modern Hebrew version would pronounce it ‘Yeh-shu-ah’.
Scholars also believe he most likely spoke Aramaic and not English.
Professor Dineke Houtman, an expert on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity from the Protestant Theological University in the Netherlands said: ‘We cannot know for sure which languages Jesus spoke. However, given his family background in Nazareth, we can assume his day-to-day language was Aramaic.’
Experts also believe he had short, curly hair, brown skin and eyes, with a short-trimmed beard. Not the typical image we see of ‘Jesus’ in modern times.
Fascinating!
