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II. The Names and Natures of Christ
A. THE NAMES OF CHRIST.
There are especially five names that call for a brief discussion at this point. They are partly
descriptive of His natures, partly of His official position, and partly of the work for which He
came into the world.
1. THE NAME JESUS.
The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Jehoshua, Joshua, Josh.
1:1; Zech. 3:1, or Jeshua (regular form in the post exilic historical books), Ezra 2:2. The
derivation of this common name of the Saviour is veiled in obscurity. The generally accepted
opinion is that it is derived from the root yasha’, hiph., hoshia’, to save, but it is not easy to
explain how Jehoshua’ became Jeshua’. Probably Hoshea’, derived from the infinitive, was the
original form (cf. Num. 13:8,16; Deut. 32:44), expressing merely the idea of redemption. The
yod, which is the sign of the imperfect, may have been added to express the certainty of
redemption. This would best agree with the interpretation of the name given in Matt. 1:21. For
another derivation from Jeho (Jehovah) and shua, that is help (Gotthilf) cf. Kuyper, Dict.
Dogm.[De Christo, I, pp. 56 f.] The name was borne by two well known types of Jesus in the Old
Testament.
2. THE NAME CHRIST.
If Jesus is the personal, Christ is the official, name of the Messiah. It is the
equivalent of the Old Testament Mashiach (from mashach, to anoint), and thus means “the
anointed one.” Kings and priests were regularly anointed during the old dispensation, Ex. 29:7;
Lev. 4:3; Judg. 9:8; I Sam. 9:16; 10:1; II Sam. 19:10. The King was called “the anointed of
Jehovah,” I Sam. 24:10. Only a single instance of the anointing of a prophet is recorded, I Kings
19:16, but there are probably references to it in Ps. 105:15 and Isa. 61:1. The oil used in
anointing these officers symbolized the Spirit of God, Isa. 61:1; Zech. 4:1-6, and the anointing
represented the transfer of the Spirit to the consecrated person, I Sam. 10:1,6,10; 16:13,14. The
anointing was a visible sign of (a) an appointment to office; (b) the establishment of a sacred
relationship and the consequent sacrosanctness of the person anointed, I Sam. 24:6; 26:9; II
Sam. 1:14; and (c) a communication of the Spirit to the anointed one, I Sam. 16:13, cf. also II
Cor. 1:21,22. The Old Testament refers to the anointing of the Lord in Ps. 2:2; 45:7, and the
New Testament, in Acts 4:27 and 10:38. Formerly references to it were also found in Ps. 2:6 and
Prov. 8:23, but to-day Hebraists assert that the word nasak, used in these passages, means “to
set up” rather than “to anoint.” But even cf. also Isa. 11:2; 42:1. Christ was set up or appointed
to His offices from so the word points to the reality of the first thing symbolized in the
anointing, eternity, but historically His anointing took place when He was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, Luke 1:35, and when he received the Holy Spirit, especially at the time of His baptism,
Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32; 3:34. It served to qualify Him for His great task.