No satisfactory explanation hag j-et been offered of the varying forms i'i:'in; and yii:'- The high priest, for instance, who led the Jews back from Babylon with Zerubbabel, is constantly called fs'in; in the prophetical books of Haggai and Zechariah (RV Joshua,' not ' Jehoshua, as in the name of his father * JcAozadak '), and with equal Donstancy il>u\ in the historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah (where also the name of his father is written in the abbreviated form * Jozadak '). Were, then, both forms used at the same time? Or is this a hint that the difference is due to later recensions, and that the fonn ' Jeshua' is later than the time of the Exile? Agfain, how did *Jehoahua.' become 'y^shua'? The question is the more difficult as nowhere is the intermediate form 'Joshua' found, as in the other names formed with ' Jeho-," e.g. inxv side by side with lIJNin;, etc. The nearest parallel seems to be the name of the king of Moab, who is called ' JIfpsha' ' (s;\?'C) in the MT of 2K S-l. but HI».»-i in the LXX ; or the name M/oab,' which is explained as if =>ne-'«6 in Gn 1937. The reason for the vowel change has been sought in the analogy of names beginning with el, or merely on phonetical principles (differ- entiation, as r'tshon from rash, etc.). (For quite a different explanation, which will hardly stand examination, see Fr. Pra- torius in ZDMG lix. 342) The difficulty is increased by the fact that the name is spelt \limr\' (with ?) but twice (Dt 321, Jg 27) ; and ytPin^ may therefore have been originally * Jehosha',* like Vf^K alongside of U^O'h«.
Hitherto it has generally been presupposed that the name was formed from the root V"'' ' to save ' (or rather ' to be safe '), like yc'ii, which, according to Nil 138* '* and Dt 32", was the earlier name of 'Joshua'; cf. the name ywin on a Palestinian jar- handle, combined by Macalister with the name 'Jiis" 1 Ch 4=" (PEFSt, 1905, p. 330). But the dropping of the first letter is not easily explained on this theory. And the analogy of tne names yw, U^o-h^, SiBinj side by side with MB*, Mw'^g, y^rriS, points to the possibility that ya'i.i; is related to il?'"^-,, as ipa is to yjBi As to the meaning of these names nothing is certain. That to popular sentiment the name recalled the idea of salvation is proved for the OT by Nu 138- '«, and for the NT by Mt 1=' 'Thou shalt call his name Jcsiis; for he shall save his people from their sins.' Perhaps also in ITh 1"> Iriaovv rbv pvd|i.cvov V^'i we have an allusion to this etymology. Greek Christians were reminded by the name of the root idonai, ' to heal ' ; cf. Sib. Or. i. 351 Kai rdre 5?; yocrfpovs Itjo-cTai ; Clem. Al. Pmdag. i. 7. 61 ToiovTov ijflif dfofjia <riaTi]piov TrpocptjTeueL Trat- Sa7U7oO . . . 'if' oOs 6 X670S 6 Tei.dr/i'Los ovk idrai, direLXij lao'crai, /f.r.X., ib. iii. 12. 98 6 tw^evos ^^wc Kai aCiiia Kol yj/vxWt ''■*'' atSiov dvSpuTov, 'lijaov! ; Cyril of Jerusalem, Cateches. x. p. 88 'Itjo-oOs roii'iii' iari Kara. TT)v 'EXXdSa 7Xu(r<ra;' 6 luficvos . 'EireiSaf larpci; iart. ^vxuti' Kal ffu>fj.6.Tii3V^ Ka.1 depaTrevrr)^ irvevp-arbyv, TV(p\u>v /liv atffSriTwv ffepairevriji . , , xwXuk (patvo/xevuv larpos ; Epiphanius, Jfa-r. 29, Nazar. § 4 'l7;<roi"s 70^ Kara TTlv E^paiKTji' didXeKToy depaTrcvrrji fcaXcirat, tjtol larpds Kal aarrip. Epiphanius betrays in these last words also a knowledge of the Hebrew root ; and the same is the case -with Chrysostom, who expressly states (Horn. 2 in Matth. p. 23), t6 yap 'IijeroPs toCto 6f0^a OVK IffTLv 'Vj\\y}VLKliv^ dXXa tiJ 'E/3patwf <pu)vrj oOno \4y(Tai 'l7)ffoCs" S iariv eh Tr]v 'EXXdJa yXwrrav fpfiij- V€v6fi£f0Vf ffWD^p* CFwrrip 5^, drd rod cCjffai rbv \abv avTou. To the same efl'ect is the statement of Eusebius (Dcyn. Ev. iv. 17, p. 199), who compares Christ with the high priest of the Return, and writes on their names, § 23, Ei'k6tus ovv ttj^ €Ik6vo^ kveKa Kal oirros Trjs tov o-coTTJpos irpoa-riyoplas tj^iouto . . . ^veidij o-wTiiptov Qiov eis rriv 'EXXdSa <pwvT]v t6 rou 'ItjffoO ixtTaXrjfpOtv 6vop.a ff-qp.a'i.vii.' Mcova iilv yip 'E^/)afo(S aojTTjpia, vlbs de Nat'jy Tapa roh auroTs Mwirov^
ovo^ai^erat' 'luaovk 34 i<j7iv 'law (XuiTtjpia^ tovt ^ari Beov (TojT-Qpiov. eUdTws et irov deov iTwrrjptov iv rois 'EXX7;i'i/iors dvTtypd(pOL^ wi/bixaarai, oi'5' dXXo n ij jbv 'lri<Tovv Kara t7)I' 'Efipalav (pwvriv iriweLao 5-q\o0<T0ai. ; cf. also Theodoret, ii. 385, on Is 61'", e;- tji 'Y.^paluiv (fiidVTJ TO ' lixdrt-ov awTtjpiou ' Ipidrtov Uo'arua Ketrat, tout l<TTi XpuTToO. La,ga,Tde (tibcrsirht, i\ 97) concludes from this that \JQ_a_>, the Syriac form of the name, had a double ^.
Already in the oldest MSS of the _Gr._Test. the name is written with abbreviations ic, lY, in; but occasionally in some MSS, and regularly in the Codex Bezce, ihy is found (in the Codex Sinaiticus IHY and lY in consecutive lines in Rev 22="-='). The Epistle of Barnabas seems to have known the abbreviation IH, because the number 318 (=tih) in Gn H" is explained there of the cross of Jesus ; and the same inference may be drawn for Irenseus from a comparison of the texts of Irenaius, Hippo- lytus, and Epiphanius on the Marcosians (see EappT xvii. [1905] pp. 44, 139).