☀️
← Back to Lexicon
H7769 · Hebrew · Old Testament
שׁוּעַ
Shua
Noun, masculine
Cry for help / Salvation cry

Definition

The Hebrew shua means a cry for help, a cry of distress, or alternatively a cry of salvation and deliverance. The root shava means to cry out, to call for help — it is the same root from which the name Yeshua (Jesus/Joshua) derives, meaning 'the LORD is salvation.'

Usage & Theological Significance

The name Yeshua — borne by Moses' successor Joshua and later by Jesus — is directly related to the root of shua. When the desperate soul cries out (shua), the answer to that cry is Yeshua — the One who saves. This etymological connection runs like a golden thread through both Testaments: every cry of distress in the Psalms anticipated the coming One whose very name is 'the LORD saves.' Matthew 1:21 makes this explicit: 'You are to give him the name Jesus (Yeshua), because he will save his people from their sins.' The human cry and the divine answer meet perfectly in the person and name of Christ.

Key Bible Verses

Job 30:24 Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
Psalm 5:2 Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
Psalm 28:2 Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
1 Chronicles 4:9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, 'I gave birth to him in pain.'
Job 36:19 Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts sustain you so you would not be in distress?

Related Words