Bible Lexicons

As showing that the name Ἰησοῦς, the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, was widely spread amongst the Jews both before and after the beginning of the Christian era, we may cite such passages as P Oxy IV. 816, the fragment of an account written before the end of i/B.C., where ]ς Ἰσιδώρου καὶ Ἰησοῦς occurs; P Lond 1119a.2 (a census-return—A.D. 105) (= III. p. 25) τῆς Ἰησοῦτος μητ (ρὸς) Τ ̣α ̣[ ; and an ostrakon of A.D. 103–4 registering the poll-tax of a Jew described as Σαμβαθίω (ν) ὁ καὶ Ἰησοῦς Παπίου (Archiv vi. p. 220 : cf. Meyer Ostr. p. 150 with Deissmann’s note). In the magical P Par 574.1233 (iii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 113) ᾽Ιησοῦς πι Χριστὸς πι ἅγιος ν πνεῦμα, ";Jesus the Christ, the holy one, the spirit,"; is invoked to drive the demon out of a man; and later in the same papyrus, .3019 f., an exorcism begins—ὁρκίζω σε κατὰ τοῦ θυ ̄ τῶν Ἑβραίων Ἰησοῦ · Ιαβα · Ιαη · Αβραωθ, where Deissmann thinks that the name jesu can hardly be part of the original formula. ";It was probably inserted by some pagan : no Christian, still less a Jew, would have called Jesus ‘the god of the Hebrews’"; (LAE p. 256, n..4). On the declension of Ἰησοῦς, see Moulton Proleg, p. 49, and on the use of the art. before. Ἰησοῦς, see von Soden Schriften des NT I. 2, p. 1406 f. The omission by so many scribes of the name Ἰησοῦν before Βαραββᾶν in Matthew 27:16 f. can doubtless be explained on the ground brought forward by Origen, ";ut ne nomen Jesu conveniat alicui iniquorum."; And the same reason probably lies at the root of the variants for Βαριησοῦς in Acts 13:6 (see Wendt in Meyer’s Kommentar.8 ad l. as cited by Deissmann Urgeschichte, p. 24). On the possibility that in Acts 17:18 the Athenians thought that Paul was proclaiming a new god of healing, Ἰησοῦς, see an interesting note by Mr. A. B. Cook in Chase Credibility of the Acts, p. 205, where it is suggested that there may have been some confusion with Isis, whose name was later derived from Hebr. iasa = ";salvavit"; (Roscher, Lex. d. Mythologie, II. i. 522. 42). ";She bore the title σώτειρα (ibid. 46), and was credited with the discovery of the drug ἀθανασία (Diod. i. 25)."; It should be noted, however, that the explanatory clause in Acts 17:18 is omitted by D : cf. Ramsay Paul, p. 242. On the contractions IC, IHC, in MSS., as a sign of sanctity, see Traube Nomina. Sacra, p. 113 ff., and on the Lat. forms Hiesus-Ihesus, see a note by Nestle in ZNTW ix. (1908), p. 248 ff. Reference may also be made to Deissmann’s monograph Die neutesta-mentliche Formel ";in Christo jesu,"; Marburg, 1892.