📖 Biblical Definition
Yeshuah (יְשׁוּעָה) is the Hebrew word for salvation — concrete and active deliverance from real enemies, real disease, real captivity, and ultimately from sin. The name Joshua (Hebrew Yehoshua, "YHWH saves") and the name Jesus (Greek Iēsous, contracted from Yeshua) are both built on this root. The angel told Joseph: "thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). The Psalmist sings: "The LORD is my light and my salvation [yeshuah]; whom shall I fear?" (Psalm 27:1); "He only is my rock and my salvation" (Psalm 62:2, 6). Salvation in Scripture is not abstract; it is the LORD acting to save.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Hebrew "salvation" — concrete deliverance; the root of Jesus' name.
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The Hebrew word for salvation. Concrete and active — deliverance from enemies, from disease, from captivity, from sin. The masculine form of the same root, Yeshua, is the proper name Jesus — YHWH saves. Every utterance of "Jesus" is the gospel-promise that YHWH delivers His people.
📖 Key Scripture
Exodus 15:2 — "The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation."
Psalm 27:1 — "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
Matthew 1:21 — "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Spiritualized away from concrete deliverance; the OT salvation is real-enemy-real-rescue, prefiguring Christ's comprehensive saving.
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Modern Christianity often spiritualizes salvation entirely — soul-only, future-only. OT yeshuah is concrete: rescue from Pharaoh, from Goliath, from disease, from captivity. The same God who delivered then delivers now — ultimately from sin in Christ, but also in real circumstances day by day.
Recover the concreteness: Yeshua means YHWH saves — from enemies, from disease, from despair, from sin. All of it is yeshuah.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew yeshuah, yasha; Greek Iēsous.
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['Hebrew', 'H3444', 'yeshuah', 'salvation, deliverance']
['Hebrew', 'H3467', 'yasha', 'to save, deliver']
['Hebrew', 'H3091', 'Yeshua', 'Jesus, YHWH saves']
Usage
"Yeshuah is concrete deliverance."
"Yeshua / Jesus is the name that names the verb."
"YHWH saves — from sin and from circumstance."