Salvation and Truth Family - Did You Know That JESUS Had Many Namesakes on Earth?

November 15, 2025: Healing School Live Healing Services '25

Did You Know That JESUS Had Many Namesakes on Earth?

It might interest you to know that there were many people bearing the name JESUS in His time; the name was common in first-century Israel. What’s more? Our Lord wasn't even the first to bear the name. So many people had borne the name in decades and centuries before our Lord walked the shores of Israel.

First thing to note is that Jesus is the English form of the original Hebrew name Joshua, which means Yahweh is salvation (God saves), commonly Romanized as Yeshua. “Jesus” is the final product of a process of translation and linguistic evolution from the original Hebrew form into Greek, Latin, and finally English.

Many Jewish households were proud to name their children after one of the greatest prophets in Israel’s history, who took over from Moses and led them into the Promised Land.

But the name had a deep meaning, which many probably did not realize, and God chose this name for His Son who was bringing salvation to the nation, and by extension, the whole world—the salvation the prophets had prophesied generation after generation.

Matthew 1:21(NKJV)

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."

John 1:29(NKJV)

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

So it's interesting to find that, historically, the name JESUS was the sixth most popular male Jewish name in first-century Palestine. I shared on this during Believers’ Bible Conference ’22 [What’s So Great About Christianity? (2): A Spiritual and Historical Faith] regarding the Jesus Family Tomb Conspiracy of skeptics against the resurrection of Jesus.

Approximately 3.8% of Jewish males in the first century bore the name Jesus—that would be well over a hundred thousand Jesuses at a time.

The most common female name was Mary (21.3%).

Now, even the Bible records other people who were named Jesus (including those named Joshua in the Old Testament writings).

Colossians 4:10–11(NKJV)

10 - Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),

11 - and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me.

Another one.

Let's do a small quick study. Shall we?

Matthew 16:16–17(NKJV)

16 - Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

17 - Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Bar in Hebrew means “son of,” just like bin or ibn in Arabic.

So Bar-Jonah simply means son of Jonah. It means Jonah was the name of Simon Peter’s father.

Hence, we see the Lord put it this way in another instance:

John 21:15–17(NKJV)

15 - So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs."

16 - He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My sheep."

17 - He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.

Now you can learn the meaning of the following names:

Barabbas – Son of Abba

Barnabas – Son of Nabas

Barsabas – Son of Sabas

Bartholomew – Son of Tolmai

Bartimaeus – Son of Timaeus

Mark 10:46(NKJV)

Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.

This explanation is basically because of a certain character Paul met during his first missionary journey—a sorcerer named Bar-Jesus.

Acts 13:5–6(NKJV)

5 - And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.

6 - Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus.

We see that the name of the father of this sorcerer was Jesus, in the first century as well.

So, like I taught in Healing School 2024 (Healing the Sick in Jesus’ Name), when we pray in the name of Jesus, it is not about the literal letters.

His Name is Not J-E-S-U-S (1)

His Name is Not J-E-S-U-S (2)

Relevant Source(s)

Timothy Paul Jones’ Conspiracies and the Cross

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