Bible Synapse
What is Jesus’ real name?
Hard question · The life of Jesus · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate
See the passages joined in the interactive mapThe passages
The angel to Joseph: “thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins”.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
“they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us”.
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
“his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The rider on the white horse is “called Faithful and True”; he has “a name written, that no man knew, but he himself”; “his name is called The Word of God”; and on his robe is written “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
The objection
The angel tells Joseph to call the child Jesus, yet two verses later Matthew says he will be called Emmanuel. Isaiah gives him a string of other names, Revelation gives him several more, and then says he has a name that no one knows but himself. What is his real name?
The answer
His personal name is Jesus. The angel gave it (Matthew 1:21), Joseph gave it (1:25), and it was given at his circumcision: “his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel” (Luke 2:21). It is the name used all through the Gospels. The Greek Iēsous is the Hebrew Yeshua or Joshua, ‘the LORD saves’, and the angel explains it: “for he shall save his people from their sins”.
The other names are titles that describe who he is. In Hebrew, ‘his name shall be called’ often means ‘this is what he will be, and be known to be’. Jeremiah says of the coming king, “this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:6), and Isaiah says that Jerusalem “shalt be called, The city of righteousness” (Isaiah 1:26). Neither was a name for everyday use. Matthew shows that he reads ‘Emmanuel’ this way: he translates it, “God with us”, and never uses it as a name. In one paragraph he records both the name Jesus and the title Emmanuel (1:21, 23, 25), so he plainly saw no conflict. Isaiah 9:6 likewise gathers titles that describe the child’s nature and reign; Gill says the point is not that men would commonly call him by them, but that he would be what they say.
Revelation calls him “the Lion of the tribe of Juda” (5:5) and “the bright and morning star” (22:16), and chapter 19 gives several names in a few verses: “Faithful and True” (19:11), “The Word of God” (19:13), and “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (19:16). In the middle it says that he had a name “that no man knew, but he himself” (19:12). John clearly does not mean that the other names are false. In the Bible a name stands for the person and his nature, and the hidden name says that there is more in Christ than any creature can fully grasp. Jesus said the same: “no man knoweth the Son, but the Father” (Matthew 11:27). Barnes puts it that no one but he could fully understand the meaning of his name. One person, many names: each true, none exhausting him.
Still open
Scripture does not say what the unknown name of Revelation 19:12 is. Gill suggests that it is ‘the Son of God’, or ‘Immanuel’ in its full mystery; others connect it with the “new name” Christ promises to write on those who overcome (Revelation 3:12), to be made known only at his coming.
From the classic commentators
his name shall be called Wonderful: not that he should be commonly called among men by this name, nor by any of the following; but that he should appear to be, or to have that in him, or to do what would sufficiently answer to this name, and to the restJohn Gill, Exposition of the Bible, on Isaiah 9:6 (1746–1763)