Greek word · G919
Βαριησοῦς
bariēsous
Bar-Jesus
A Greek spelling of an Aramaic name: bar ('son of') + Yeshua (Jesus/Joshua, 'the LORD saves'). Yeshua was one of the most common Jewish male names of the period, so the name itself is ordinary.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A Greek spelling of an Aramaic name: bar ('son of') + Yeshua (Jesus/Joshua, 'the LORD saves'). Yeshua was one of the most common Jewish male names of the period, so the name itself is ordinary.
- Against the English
Versions write 'Bar-Jesus' or 'Bar Jesus'. Older English Bibles spell the Old Testament figure 'Joshua' and the New Testament one 'Jesus', so English readers may not realize that the name is simply 'son of Joshua' and need not refer to Jesus of Nazareth.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Names formed with Bar- appear across the New Testament (Bar-Jonah, Barnabas, Bartholomew, Barabbas, Barsabbas) and in Jewish inscriptions and ossuaries of the period. Yeshua/Jesus as a personal name appears in Josephus and in Colossians 4:11 ('Jesus who is called Justus').
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 13:6 Βαριησοῦ, of Bar-Jesus,
They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
Here: Aramaic for 'son of Yeshua' (Jesus/Joshua, a common Jewish name). It sets up an irony: a 'son of Jesus' who opposes the messengers of Jesus.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.