The Letter J

History reveals that the letter “J” did not exist about 500 years ago. One of the most asked questions of the century. How can the Messiah’s Name be Jesus if the letter “J” did not exist 500 years ago? When did the letter “J” come into existent and is it accurate to say the Messiah’s Name is indeed Jesus? The Messiah walked on earth about 2,000 years ago. If the letter and sound of “J” did not exist when the Messiah walked on this earth, what was His Name and when did the letter and sound of “J” come into existence?

In the English Alphabet, the letter “J” was originally used for the letter “I”. The first to distinguish the difference between the letter “J” and the letter “I” was in Gian Giorgio’s 1524 “Trissino’s Epistola del Trissino de le lettere nuwvamente aggiunte ne la lingua ialiana” (Trissino’s epistle about the letters recently added in the Italian language) “I” and “J” were originally the same letter but different shapes both equally the same letter. However, poets began to use it developing new sounds for “I” and “J”. According to the history of the English Alphabet, the official and original sound of the letter “J” was the sound of “Y” in “yet” or “yellow”. However, the very first English-language book to make clear distinction between the sound of “I” and the sound of “J” was not written until 1634. It wasn’t until then, after the 1611 Bible was published, that the English language officially accepted the shape and sound of the letter “J” as “jay” and no longer the “yuh” “Y” sound.

There is not now nor was there ever an equivalent letter “J” in all the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Nor is there any Hebrew letter that carries even an approximate sound of the consonant letter “J”. Neither is there a letter “J” in the Greek alphabet.

When you sing and praise, do you not speak Hallelujah? How do you pronounce it? Did you know, Wycliffe’s bible, does not have it spelled Hallelujah, but rather “Alleluia” but it is pronounced Ha-le-loo-Yah. The reason we write it as “HalleluYah”. It means in Hebrew, Praise be to YAH!

We received an email informing us that the letter “J” is found in Wycliffe’s Bible dating to the late 1300s. Wycliffe’s bible was ONLY a translation of the New Testament AND was not from the original Hebrew and Aramaic, but of the Latin Vulgate. The 1611 KJV Bible was the original most known and accepted translation of the bible. And this bible has absolutely no letter “J” in it. The name Jesus is simply a combination of the Latin and Greek IESOUS. Please note the similarity between the Greek IESOUS and pagan deity of Zeus. In fact, the pagan deity of Zeus is not pronounced in its original tongue as we read it. As we have discussed, there isn’t even a letter or sound of “J” in the Greek Alphabet. While the historical references are foggy about when the initial and exact time the letter “J” sound came into existence in the English language, the window is sometime between the 1500-1600s. This current modern translation of what the world uses… Jesus, did not exist until give or take, 500 years ago.

If the letter “J”, it’s shape and sound is only about 500 years old, what was the Messiah’s Name? How could He have been called Jesus if this version of His Name did not even exist two thousand years ago? What was and still is His Name?

To be honest with you. The Messiah did not speak English and neither did He speak Greek. Of course, we can tell you whatever language we want to say He spoke. Throughout history one can figure out the language spoken about 2,000 years ago in the land of Israel. This could be a beneficial way to figure out the language te Messiah spoke. However, that wouldn’t tell us what language the Messiah actually spoke. Thankfully, the book of Acts give us a clear answer to what language the Messiah spoke. When He stopped Sha’ul (Paul) on the road to Damascus.

“And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying, in the Hebrew language, “Sha’ul, Sha’ul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the prods.” And I said, “Who are you, Master?” And He said, “I am Yahushua, whom you persecute.” Acts, 26: 14-15 (ISR)

The Messiah spoke Hebrew. In fact, the Messiah was indeed Hebrew. Was raised in a Jewish home and was a Yahudim (Jewish). He even tells the Samaritan woman at the well that He is a Yahudim (Jew) in Yohanan (John) 4:22.

Doesn’t it make you wonder who is this man everyone calls Jesus? How did he end up in the picture and why was the Messiah’s true Name forgotten? Remember, The Father’s Name is in the Son’s Name. If they hated the Father’s Name, they hated the Son’s Name also. The story doesn’t end here. For further studies on the Father and Son’s Name, we beseech you watch our movie The Great Conspiracy, along with They Have Despised My Name. To learn about the Father’s Name, read our book, HaShem (The Name), watch our short four minute video called HaShem (The Name). To learn about the Messiah’s Name, read The Name Above All Names.