An Attempt To Date
Jesus
June 9, 2014
G.D.O'Bradovich III
part the first
Frequent readers of our "Attempt To Date Series" know that we fail more often than we succeed at our quests to date the origin of words. We have finally found a word [Jesus] that can be dated to an exact year, but before the answer is revealed, we must provide some background on the usage of the word "Jesus" throughout the history of the English language.
Per the Oxford English Dictionary:
Per the Oxford English Dictionary:
Etymology:
< Latin Iēsūs,
< Greek Ἰησοῦς,
< late Hebrew or Aramaic yēshūăʿ, Jeshua, for the earlier y'hōshūăʿ, Jehoshua or Joshua (explained as ‘Jah (or Jahveh) is salvation’)...
In Old English [c. 450- c.1150] rendered by hǽlend ‘saviour’ ; but during the Middle English [c.1150 - c.1450] period regularly used in its Old French (objective) form Iesu (Jesu).
The (Latin nominative) form Iesus (Jesus) was rare in Middle English, but became the regular English form in 16th cent. Yet in Tyndale's New Testament, 1525–34, the form Iesu was generally used where the Greek has Ἰησοῦ, the Vulgate Iesu, in the vocative and oblique cases.
This was, as a rule, retained by Coverdale 1535, and in the Great Bible 1539, also, in the vocative instances, in the Bishops' Bible 1568; but in representing the Greek oblique cases, this has Iesus.
Iesu disappeared from the Geneva 1557 (except in one place), and from the Rhemish 1582, and the version of 1611.
In Middle English the name was rarely written in full, being usually represented by the abbreviations ihu, and ihc, ihs, ihus, or iħu, etc.: see IHS. These have been commonly expanded by modern editors as Ihesu, Ihesus, forms which occur occasionally in MSS. and in early 16th cent. printed books.
From the above statements, we learn [1] that Jesus was translated into the Old English word for "Savior" (haelend) because Jesus and Joshua means "Savior" in Hebrew, [2] in the Middle English period the word "Iesu" was rarely written in full and [3] "Jesus" was usually abbreviated by IHU, IHC, IHS or IHUS. These abbreviations were later erroneously expanded into IHESU and IHESUS.
It seems that the English editors in the early 16th century were not aware of the Greek origin of the abbreviations.
It seems that the English editors in the early 16th century were not aware of the Greek origin of the abbreviations.
part the second
The following is a chronological list of all examples found in the OED until the year 1800 for healend, Jesus and IHS abbreviations are in red.
600a ΕΙΠΕ ΔΕ Ο ΙΗ ΠΡΟ ΑΥΤΟΥ. (Latin text) dı xı t autemıh s ad eos.
950c Tunc uenit iħs a galilaea in iordanen.]
1000c Iesus is Ebreisc nama, þæt is on Leden ‘Saluator’, and on Englisc ‘Hælend’.
1000c Her is on cneorisse-boc hælendes cristes dauides suna.
1000c Se hælend þe is genemned crist.
1175a Ures hlafordes to-cyme þes helendes iesu [ed. ihesu] cristes.
1175c Þe helend nehlechede to-ward ierusalem.
1200?c Ȝuw iss borenn nu to daȝȝ Hælennde off ȝure sinness.
1225?c (▸?a1200) (1972) Þe luuewurðe lauerd. þe healende of heouene.
1240a Ihu, swete.
1240c Iesu soð god, soð mon, & soð meidenes bern.
1240c Þet mei iesu þis baldeliche seggen to þe.
1250c Cvm natus esset iħc in betleem iude.
1275c (▸?a1200) (1963) A child.. þat scolde beon ihaten Hælend ...
1377 Bi iħus with here ieweles ȝowre iustices she shendeth.
1377 Were þere a belle on here beiȝ, bi Iesu [ed. Ihesu], ...
1377 Iudas iangeled þere-aȝein ac Ihūs hym tolde.
1500a (▸?a1400) (1887) For Iesu love that died on Rood.
1526 What have I to do wyth the Iesus the sonne...
1526 Iesu master, have mercy on vs. ...
1526 , Iesus the sonne of David, have mercy on me....
1526 The boke off the generacion off Ihesus christ....
1526 , O Iesu the sonne off God. ...
1526 Even soo: come lorde Iesu ...
1526 The grace of oure lorde Iesus ...
1526 Wheroff I maye reioyse in Christ Iesu. ...
1526 For oure lorde Iesu ...
1540 (1851) ... Wardens of Ihc Masse ...
1544 Through thy Sone Ihesus Christe.
1552 ..., in Christe Iesu oure Lorde. [So in mod. Pr. Bk.]
1633 Jesu is in my heart, his sacred name Is deeply carved there.
1678 L. Chief Just., What Inscription was upon the Seal? .... Ι.Η.Σ. with a Cross, ...
1721 J. JHS is God with us [quoting a title of 1559...]
1740 C. Jesu, Lover of my Soul...
1779 ... When Jesus' name I hear.
Around the year 1000, it is mistakenly stated that "IESUS" is the Hebrew (Ebreisc) word for "Savior". This is the only discrepancy from what was stated in Part 1.
600a ΕΙΠΕ ΔΕ Ο ΙΗ ΠΡΟ ΑΥΤΟΥ. (Latin text) dı xı t autemıh s ad eos.
950c Tunc uenit iħs a galilaea in iordanen.]
1000c Iesus is Ebreisc nama, þæt is on Leden ‘Saluator’, and on Englisc ‘Hælend’.
1000c Her is on cneorisse-boc hælendes cristes dauides suna.
1000c Se hælend þe is genemned crist.
1175a Ures hlafordes to-cyme þes helendes iesu [ed. ihesu] cristes.
1175c Þe helend nehlechede to-ward ierusalem.
1200?c Ȝuw iss borenn nu to daȝȝ Hælennde off ȝure sinness.
1225?c (▸?a1200) (1972) Þe luuewurðe lauerd. þe healende of heouene.
1240a Ihu, swete.
1240c Iesu soð god, soð mon, & soð meidenes bern.
1240c Þet mei iesu þis baldeliche seggen to þe.
1250c Cvm natus esset iħc in betleem iude.
1275c (▸?a1200) (1963) A child.. þat scolde beon ihaten Hælend ...
1377 Bi iħus with here ieweles ȝowre iustices she shendeth.
1377 Were þere a belle on here beiȝ, bi Iesu [ed. Ihesu], ...
1377 Iudas iangeled þere-aȝein ac Ihūs hym tolde.
1500a (▸?a1400) (1887) For Iesu love that died on Rood.
1526 What have I to do wyth the Iesus the sonne...
1526 Iesu master, have mercy on vs. ...
1526 , Iesus the sonne of David, have mercy on me....
1526 The boke off the generacion off Ihesus christ....
1526 , O Iesu the sonne off God. ...
1526 Even soo: come lorde Iesu ...
1526 The grace of oure lorde Iesus ...
1526 Wheroff I maye reioyse in Christ Iesu. ...
1526 For oure lorde Iesu ...
1540 (1851) ... Wardens of Ihc Masse ...
1544 Through thy Sone Ihesus Christe.
1552 ..., in Christe Iesu oure Lorde. [So in mod. Pr. Bk.]
1633 Jesu is in my heart, his sacred name Is deeply carved there.
1678 L. Chief Just., What Inscription was upon the Seal? .... Ι.Η.Σ. with a Cross, ...
1721 J. JHS is God with us [quoting a title of 1559...]
1740 C. Jesu, Lover of my Soul...
1779 ... When Jesus' name I hear.
Around the year 1000, it is mistakenly stated that "IESUS" is the Hebrew (Ebreisc) word for "Savior". This is the only discrepancy from what was stated in Part 1.
part the third
With the full philological authority of the Oxford English Dictionary behind our research, we can confidently declare that the word "Jesus" dates from 1779. Before this time, the "I" was pronounced as a "Y" as in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Under the heading "J" from the OED:
Under the heading "J" from the OED:
But though the differentiation of I and J, in form and value, was thus completed before 1640, the feeling that they were... merely forms of the same letter continued for many generations..."
Therefore, it is only after 1640 that English writers distinguished between "J" and "I" and it took further generations for the "J" to be pronounced as we do today.
The article is internally consistent, while the only discrepancy from the OED has been mentioned. However, when we look to the Orthodox Church and their abbreviation, more accurately described as a contraction, of "Jesus", we find they do not use the first three letters, but the first and last letters. This use of the first and last letters is also followed when abbreviating "Christ" [XC].
The usage of first and last letters is not limited to the name Jesus. The icon below is of the Theotokos [Greek: Μήτηρ του Θεού, English: Mother of God] and the contraction is shown in the top right and top left corners of the icon [Μήτηρ του Θεού].
The usage of first and last letters is not limited to the name Jesus. The icon below is of the Theotokos [Greek: Μήτηρ του Θεού, English: Mother of God] and the contraction is shown in the top right and top left corners of the icon [Μήτηρ του Θεού].
However, those reading or hearing the English phrase Mother of God as a translation of a Greek text cannot — unless they know the Greek text in question, or obtain additional information — know whether the phrase is a literal translation of Μήτηρ Θεού or an imprecise rendering of Θεοτόκος or one its Latin equivalents or equivalents in other languages.
As evidenced by contractions found on Orthodox icons, we must wonder where and when the English scribes decided to use an abbreviation that would not be found in an actual Greek manuscript that originated in eastern Europe.
We are expected to believe that when the scribes who are either unfamiliar with the Greek language or the iconic convention to contract and not abbreviate, found the contraction "IC" and proceeded to abbreviate it as "IHS".
Later editors, who must also be ignorant of the Greek language and iconic convention, expanded "IHS" to "IHESUS". We infer that the editors thought the "H" was somehow integral to the name or they would have translated it using the simpler Latin spelling of "IESUS".
We conclude the scribe had read the Greek "Ἰησοῦς" [with the letter eta, η, capitalized as "H"] and inexplicably contracted it, ἸHσοῦς, into ἸHς and then, using the Latin alphabet, into "IHS".
Gentle Reader, we are left in an unenviable and uncomfortable position. On one hand, we readily acknowledge the exceptional scholarship of the Oxford English Dictionary, yet, on the other hand, we must reluctantly admit that discrepancies exist when we look beyond English shores.
We are expected to believe that when the scribes who are either unfamiliar with the Greek language or the iconic convention to contract and not abbreviate, found the contraction "IC" and proceeded to abbreviate it as "IHS".
Later editors, who must also be ignorant of the Greek language and iconic convention, expanded "IHS" to "IHESUS". We infer that the editors thought the "H" was somehow integral to the name or they would have translated it using the simpler Latin spelling of "IESUS".
We conclude the scribe had read the Greek "Ἰησοῦς" [with the letter eta, η, capitalized as "H"] and inexplicably contracted it, ἸHσοῦς, into ἸHς and then, using the Latin alphabet, into "IHS".
Gentle Reader, we are left in an unenviable and uncomfortable position. On one hand, we readily acknowledge the exceptional scholarship of the Oxford English Dictionary, yet, on the other hand, we must reluctantly admit that discrepancies exist when we look beyond English shores.