FAQ: Yeshua Codes
Author: Keith York
This article is property of the author and may not be reprinted or distributed without permission.
Last modified: January 14, 2001
The most controversial individual who has been the subject of Bible Code arrays is Jesus of Nazareth. This is because of the fundamental disagreement between Christians and Jews concerning who Jesus was. Christianity claims that Jesus was the Messiah, as well as being God in human form, while Judaism rejects both beliefs. Some have attempted to use the Bible codes to provide evidence that the Christian view of Jesus is correct. However, many of these "findings" have been statistically insignificant and have been shown to be so both by those who disagree with the Deity and Messianic identity of Jesus and those who agree with that belief.
There are a number of issues to be dealt with concerning possible codes about Jesus. They are as follows.
1. Is Yeshua the proper Hebrew name of Jesus?
2. How significant is finding Yeshua as an ELS?
3. What should be the proper characteristics of valid Yeshua codes?
4. What about "negative" Yeshua codes?
5. What are some recommended websites dealing with Yeshua codes?
6. What are some recommended books concerning answering Jewish objections to
Jesus?
1. Is Yeshua the proper Hebrew name of Jesus?
Christians and messianic Jews claim that the proper Hebrew name of Jesus is 'Yeshua' (yod-shin-vav-ayin). Many Jews, on the other hand, claim that Jesus' proper Hebrew name is 'Yeshu' (yod-shin-vav). Why is this important? There are two reasons. First of all, in the Bible the meanings of names are often very important. Yeshua means 'salvation'. Since the Jews do not believe that salvation comes through Jesus, they believe that His name should be 'Yeshu' instead of 'Yeshua'. Since Christians and messianic Jews do believe that salvation comes through Jesus, we believe that 'Yeshua' is indeed the proper name. Secondly, the name chosen affects the spellings of the ELS's that one searches for. A concise explanation that Yeshua, and not Yeshu, is the proper Hebrew name of Jesus, can be found at http://www.yfiles.com/yehoshua.html
2. How significant is finding Yeshua as an ELS?
As noted above Yeshua is a four-letter ELS. Such a short ELS can be found all over the place, not only in the Hebrew Scriptures, but in any Hebrew text. Therefore, finding 'Yeshua' as an ELS has no significance whatsoever. Some authors claim that finding 'Yeshua' at particular skip distances which is equal to the numerical value of a particular Hebrew word or phrase is significant. However, since 'Yeshua' occurs so often it is easy to find an occurrence to fit a desired skip distance.
3. What should be the proper characteristics of valid Yeshua codes?
Since 'Yeshua' by itself has no significance, the first characteristic of a valid code is that 'Yeshua' should be part of a longer ELS of recognizable significance. Some examples would be 'Yeshua is My name', 'I am Yeshua', or 'Yeshua is My anointed'. These phrases should not be ambiguous as to their meaning. Secondly, such an ELS should be found either (1) in a passage that is highly relevant to Christian teachings about Jesus, or (2) with other ELS's that are strongly and definitely related to Jesus. An example of the first can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/ky/yeshuashmi/. An example of the second can be found at Yeshua (Jesus), Who Arose From Death, an article posted at this website.
4. What about "negative" Yeshua codes?
There exist "negative" codes about Yeshua. How can these be explained? First of all, it should be noted that there also exist "negative" codes about God, such as 'Jehovah is a liar', 'There is no Jehovah', and 'There is no God'. Neither "negative" codes about Yeshua nor ones about God can be considered significant. The mere appearance of a word or phrase as an ELS is not significant unless it is found either (1) in a highly relevant passage of Scripture, or (2) with other strongly and definitely related ELS's that reinforce it.
5. What are some recommended websites dealing with Yeshua codes?
As noted above, http://www.yfiles.com/yehoshua.html is a concise summary by Dr. James D. Price as to what the proper Hebrew name of Jesus is.
My first paper ever posted to the Web in 1998 dealt with some Yeshua code findings (see http://www.angelfire.com/ky/yeshuashmi/ ). It describes how the four shortest skip distance occurrences of 'Yeshua is My name' are found in passages with text that is relevant to either Christ's death or Deity.
My article, Yeshua (Jesus), Who Arose From Death , is found at this site. It contains the following ELS's: (1) 'Who am I? Yeshua is My name.'; (2) 'divine'; (3) 'man and God'; (4) 'who arose from death'.
My latest article, “Who Is My Anointed?": A Long Yeshua Code In The Torah , contains the 7-letter ELS "Who is My Anointed?" at 2 skip distance, with the 14-letter ELS "His name is Yeshua. Recognize thus!" going vertically through this phrase.
Another article I have written, The Deity of Jesus Christ , does not deal with the Bible codes. Rather it shows from Scripture that Jesus is God rather than a god, as some cults believe.
Ed Sherman at http://www.biblecodedigest.com has performed mathematical analyses on many Yeshua code findings in and around Isaiah 53. Included among these is a 22-letter ELS about Jesus found by Nathan Jacobi (itself an extension of a longer ELS first found by Yacov Rambsel). Many of these are discussed in the monthly Bible Code Digest, which can be ordered for a small annual fee.
http://www.mayimhayim.org , a messianic Jewish site, contains a large amount of information. Two particularly recommended articles that are linked from there are: (1) "Yeshua in Bible Code" by Arimasa Kubo at http://www.ask.ne.jp/~remnant/biblecod.htm ; and (2) "Isaiah 53" by Fred Klett at http://www.mayimhayim.org/Poetry/Isaiah 53.htm. This second article is not about the Bible codes. Rather it quotes ancient rabbinic sources showing that they understood Isaiah 53 to be a messianic prophecy.
6. What are some recommended books concerning answering Jewish objections to Jesus?
Michael L. Brown, a Messianic Jew, is author of a three-volume series entitled "Answering Jewish Objections To Jesus". The first two volumes came out in 2000 and the third volume will be coming out in 2001. Volume one considers general and historical objections. Volume two considers theological objections. Volume three will consider the messianic prophecies. In dealing with the objections, Brown quotes extensively from various Jewish sources including the Talmud and rabbinic writings.