Matthew 1:21

Tέξεται δὲ υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν.

And she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

Matt 1:21 [Textus Receptus (Elzevir) (1624)]
Τέξεται δὲ υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ΙʹΗΣΟΥ^~Ν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν.

MSS: B, C, D, E, K, M (f22rc2), S (f19rc1-2), Δ, Σ, Ω, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 (f8v), 11, 12 (p44), 18 (f4r), 27, 33, 34 (f13v-14r), 35 (f1v), 36 (f14v), 43, 44, 46, 57, 65, 72, 83, 109, 113, 116, 127, 182, 198, 200, 201, 230 (f17rc1), 272, 276, 439, 449, 476, 478, 490, 491, 500, 504, 505, 543, 556, 560, 652, 688, 699, 700 (f14v-15r), 892, 901 (f9v), 1203, 1424, 1582 (f6v-7r), 2561, 2603, 2835 (f1rc1), 3000 (f6v|25), ℓ1086 (f287rc1)

Matt 1:21 [Peshitta]
ܬ݁ܺܐܠܰܕ݂ ܕ݁ܶܝܢ ܒ݁ܪܳܐ ܘܬ݂ܶܩܪܶܐ ܫܡܶܗ ܝܶܫܽܘܥ ܗܽܘ ܓ݁ܶܝܪ ܢܰܚܶܝܘܗ݈ܝ ܠܥܰܡܶܗ ܡܶܢ ܚܛܳܗܰܝܗܽܘܢ܂

Matt 1:21 [Old Syriac Curetonian (Codex Curetonianus Syriacus sy^c)]
ܬܐܠܕ ܠܟ ܕܝܢ ܒܪܐ܂ ܘܢܬܩܪܐ ܫܡܗ ܝܫܘܥ܂ ܗܘ ܓܝܪ ܢܚܝܘܗܝ ܠܥܠܡܐ ܡܢ ܚ̈ܛܗܘܗܝ܂

Matt 1:21 [Old Syriac Sinaitic (Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus sy^s)]
ܬܐܠܕ ܠܟ ܕܝܢ ܒܪܐ ܘܬܩܪܐ ܫܡܗ ܝܫܘܥ ܗܘ ܓܝܪ ܢܚܝܘܗܝ ܠܥܡܗ ܡܢ ܚܛܗܘ̈ܗܝ܂

Matt 1:21 [Old Latin (Codex Vercellensis)]
….et au… ….um … nom… Iesum …sal… p…… a pe……

Matt 1:21 [Vulgate]
pariet autem filium et vocabis nomen eius Iesum ipse enim salvum faciet populum suum a peccatis eorum

Critical Apparatus :

(1) τεξεται : א, B, C, D, E, K, M, S, W, Δ, Σ, Ω, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 27, 33, 34, 35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 57, 65, 72, 83, 109, 113, 116, 127, 157, 182, 198, 200, 201, 230, 272, 276, 438, 439, 449, 476, 478, 490, 491, 500, 501, 504, 505, 543, 556, 560, 652, 688, 699, 700, 892, 901, 1203, 1424, 1582, 2561, 2603, 2835, 3000, ℓ1086, Majority, Eusebius of Caesarea
(2) τεξετε : L, Z

(3) καλεσεις : א, B, C, D, E, K, L¹, M, S, Z, Δ, Σ, Ω, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 27, 33, 34, 35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 57, 65, 72, 83, 109, 113, 116, 127, 157, 182, 198, 200, 201, 230, 272, 276, 438, 439, 449, 476, 478, 490, 491, 500, 504, 505, 543, 556, 560, 652, 688, 699, 700, 892, 901, 1203, 1424, 1582, 2561, 2603, 2835, 3000, ℓ1086, Majority, Eusebius of Caesarea
(4) καλεσις : W
(5) καλεσης : 501
(6) καλεσει : L*

(6) σωσει : B, C, D, E, K, L, M, S, W, Z, Δ, Σ, Ω, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 27, 33, 34, 35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 57, 65, 72, 83, 109, 113, 116, 127, 157, 182, 198, 200, 201, 230, 272, 276, 438, 439, 449, 476, 478, 490, 491, 500, 501, 504, 505, 543, 556, 560, 652, 688, 699, 700, 892, 901, 1203, 1424, 1582, 2561, 2603, 2835, 3000, ℓ1086, Majority, Eusebius of Caesarea
(7) σωσι : א

(8) αυτων : א, B, C, D, E, K, L, M, S, W, Z, Δ, Σ, Ω, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 27, 33, 34, 35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 57, 65, 72, 83, 109, 113, 116, 127, 182, 198, 200, 201, 230, 272, 276, 438, 439, 449, 476, 478, 490, 491, 500, 501, 504, 505, 543, 556, 560, 652, 688, 699, 700, 892, 901, 1203, 1424, 1582, 2561, 2603, 2835, 3000, ℓ1086, Majority,
(9) αυτου : 157

Tischendorf Mt 1:21

Early Church Fathers

(1) Eusebius of Caesarea (Demonstratio Evangelica, p308, 15, Eusebius Werke, Ivar A. Heikel)
τέξεται δὲ υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν.

A Textual Commentary On Matthew 1:21

(a) Τέξεται δὲ υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν – The style is an echo of Gen 17:19 in LXX:

εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Aβρααμ ναί ἰδοὺ σαρρα ἡ γυνή σου τέξεταί σοι υἱόν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Iσαακ καὶ στήσω τὴν διαθήκην μου πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰς διαθήκην αἰώνιον καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτόν

Four were named before they were born. They are: Isaac, Ishmael, Josiah and Solomon. Isaac: “And you shall call his name Isaac” (Gen. 17:19). Ishmael: “And you shall call his name Ishmael” (Gen. 16:11). Josiah: “Behold a son is to be born to the House of David. Josiah is his name” (1 Kings 13:2). Solomon: “Solomon shall be his name” (1 Chron. 22:9). This is the case regarding the righteous people. -PT. Berakot 1:6

(b) τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν, αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ –  Word play in the original Hebrew text of Matthew can be seen here “And she will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Yeshua (ישׁוע), for He shall save (יושיע) His people from their sins.”

The five cases of the name Jesus in the Greek manuscripts:

Nominative: Ἰησοῦς (IC)
Genitive: Ἰησοῦ (IY)
Dative: Ἰησοῦ (IY)
Accusative: Ἰησοῦν (IN)
Vocative: Ἰησοῦ (IY)

The name יֵשוּעַ (Yeshua), which occurs in Neh 8:17, is the same as יְהוּשׁוּעַ or יֵהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshua, commonly spelled Joshua); both of which are rendered Ἰησοῦς (Iesus) by the LXX. The angel interprets the name αὐτὸς σώσει (He shall save), where αὐτὸς (He) corresponds with the Divine Name. Jesus is English transliteration of Latin Iesvs, which in turn is a Latin transliteration of Greek Ἰησοῦς. The original 1611 King James Version has Iesus.

And she shall bring forth a sonne, and thou shalt call his Name Iesus: for hee shall saue his people from their sinnes.

There were no letters J, U, W in Latin. It was not till the sixteenth century, that in the northern countries of Europe, the letter J was evolved from the black letter form of  I and the letter V split into U and V.  The letter W (originally a ligature of two Vs) was needed by Germanic people and it was added to the Latin alphabet to represent sounds which did not exist in medieval Latin, and only recently did the convention of treating I and U as vowels, and J and V as consonants, become established.

Hallelujah is written with the letter J but pronounced as hal·le·lu·yah (praise be to Yah). Also cf. Παῦλος, the Roman name for Saul, which is a Latin proper name, Paulus. If Ἰησοῦς should be transliterated as Iesus, then we should expect Παῦλος to be transliterated as either Paulus or Paulo. But early English translators preferred Paul. Σαῦλος, the Greek translation of the Hebrew name of Paul is translated as Saul instead of Saulos. Μάρκος should be transliterated as Markos, but Mark is preferred. So likewise, Ἰησοῦς should be translated as Iesu (pronounced Yesu as the Latin I functioned as a consonant with the sound of Y) instead of Jesus. The consonantal I regularly appears in English derivatives as a J (a letter added to the alphabet in the Middle Ages); hence Iesus = Jesus, maior = major, Iulius = Julius.

So in English, the Savior’s name should be pronounced as Iesu as in Latin or Yeshu’ (ישוע) as in Aramaic, and NOT Gee Sus or Gee Zus. The Jews generally write the name ישֵו. The letter ע in ישוע is silent ʿ in the first century AD; and not pronounced as a as in Yeshua (which is a modern transliteration of the Hebrew name). In the Arabic Diatessaron (ms. A), ישוע is translated as ايسوع (Yesua). The mispronunciation in English is partly due to inconsistency in English transliteration of Hebrew names from the Greek form of the Hebrew names. In the manner now indicated, it is proven that the origin of the name Jesus has nothing whatsoever to do with Zeus (Ζεύς), as some conspiracy theorists have claimed.

Also see Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a where Yeshu (ישו) is said to have five disciples, Mattai, Nakai, Netzer, Buni and Todah.

ת”ר חמשה תלמידים היו לו לישו מתאי נקאי נצר ובוני ותודה אתיוהו למתי אמר להו מתי יהרג הכתיב (תהלים מב, ג) מתי אבוא ואראה פני אלהים אמרו לו אין מתי יהרג דכתיב (שם מא, ו) מתי ימות ואבד שמו

“Our Rabbis taught: Yeshu (ישו) had five disciples—Mattai, Nakai, Netzer, Buni, and Todah. They brought Mattai before the judges. They said to him, ‘Shall Mattai be executed?’ He said to them, ‘Is it not written: “When (Mattai) shall I come and appear before God?”‘ (Psalms 42:3). They said to him, ‘Yes, but Mattai shall be executed, as it is written: “When (Mattai) shall he die, and his name perish?”‘ (Psalms 41:6).”

Some scholars suggest that the Talmudic usage of Yeshu might be an intentional variation, possibly as a polemical or derogatory reference. One interpretation is that ישו might be an acronym for the phrase “ימח שמו וזכרו” (Yimach Shemo V’Zichro), which means “May his name and memory be erased.” This phrase has been historically used as a curse. However, this interpretation is debated among scholars, and it’s not definitive.

(c) Ἰησοῦν, αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ – The name Jesus, in Greek Σωτὴρ, qui salutem reddit in Latin, because there is no single word to express it, is derived from the Hebrew, and neither from ἰάσω, sanabo, nor, according to Epiphanius, from אסא, sanavit, in Syriac. See Philo’s De Mutatione Nominum. i. 597 where Philo Judaeus explains Ἰησοῦς to mean σωτηρία κυρίου.