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"And Pilatus also wrote a sign and placed it above his cross. Now this is what he wrote; Yëshuå Nätzräya King of the Yähudäya. And many of the Yähudäya read this sign, because the place where Yëshuå was crucified was near to the city, and it was written in Åbrait (Hebrew) and in Ionait (Ionian/Greek) and in Rhomait (Roman/Latin)." - Luqa 23:38
| IHΣOYΣ O NAZΩRAIOΣ
O ΒΑΣΙΛEYΣ ΤΩΝ ΪΟΥΔΑΙΩN IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDAEORUM ישוע הנצרי מלך היהדים |
Some people have said that the reason certain Jews took offense at this sign was because the first letter of each word formed the acronym יהוה, the Name of God. If it did, then that could be construed as a coded form of blasphemy. To demonstrate this some suppose that the statement based on Yuħänän (John) 19:19 might have been written in Hebrew as ישוע הנצרי ומלך היהודים (Yëshuå the Nätzäri and King of the Yähudim). However there is no manuscript or textual support for this wording. This theoretical version introduces the conjunction "and" which has no counterpart in Greek, Latin, or Aramaic nor in any other version.
The conjunction (and) divides the sentence into two judgments for his death. The sign served two purposes, to identify the criminal and to notify the public for what crime he was put to death. It is ridiculous to think that one could be put to death for simply being from the village of Nätzrät. There was only one charge, and that was for claiming to be the king of the Jews, implying that he was an insurrectionist. "And" was added to supply the letter ו (waw) for יהוה.
The scriptures say that the sign was written in Hebrew, however Aramaic was often described as being Hebrew in appearance, because both languages were written with exactly the same characters. So there is a small possibility that it was originally written in Aramaic, but described as "Hebrew". Even if this statement were presented in Hebrew, it still could not produce the tetragram (four-letter) יהוה acronym.
Instead of guessing, we can examine both the Aramaic and Hebrew versions of these
passages.
| We are looking for an acronym based upon the words upon the sign that would produce the tetragram (right). | יהוה |
| Mätäy 27:37 "הנו ישוע מלכא דיהדיא" (This is Yëshuå King of the Yähudäya.) | הימד |
| Markos 15:26 "הנו הו מלכא דיהדיא" (This is the King of the Yähudäya.) | ההמד |
| Luqa 23:38 "הנו מלכא דיהדיא" (This is the King of the Yähudäya.) | המד |
| Yuħänän 19:19 " ישוע נצריא מלכא דיהודיא" (Yëshuå Nätzräya King of the Yähudäya.) | ינמד |
| We are looking for an acronym based upon the words upon the sign that would produce the tetragram (right). | יהוה |
| Mätäy 27:37 "זהו ישוע מלך היהדים" (This is Yëshuå King of the Yähudim.) | זימה |
| Markos 15:26 "זהו מלך היהדים" (This is the King of the Yähudim.) | זמה |
| Luqa 23:38 "זה הנא מלך היהדים" (This is the King of the Yähudim.) | זהמה |
| Yuħänän 19:19 "ישוע הנצרי מלך היהדים" (Yëshuå the Nätzäri King of the Yähudim.) | יהמה |
After an exhaustive search under every rock, we could not find any possibility that the crucifixion sign that Pilatus had made offered an acronym forming the tetragrammaton (יהוה). This belief, that the sign somehow contained an acronym for YHWH, turns out to be a modern urban myth. It is often repeated by those who believe that Yëshuå was covertly and ontologically YHWH in the flesh. If the original sign was written as they claim, there would surely be some evidence for it somewhere, in some language, but there isn't.
"And the rabbi priests said to Pilatus, Do not write that he is the King of the Yähudäya, but rather, He said, I am King of the Yähudäya. Pilatus said, I have written what I have written." - Yuħänän 19:20-22
The objection expressed by some of the Jews at Yëshuå's
crucifixion is much more obvious than a coded form of blasphemy. These
protesters took issue directly with the recognition of his kingship.
They did not recognize Yëshuå as their king, and such a
title given to a shamed criminal was a mockery to the Jewish people at large.
Interestingly some churches have eliminated "Jews" from these passages altogether, because of their strong aversion to Judaism. They just can not accept the implication that to have Yëshuå as your "Jewish" king, you likewise would become Jewish, just as the Nazarenes. Yähudäya (Jews) are also synonymous with all Israel, and at the time was used to refer to all the tribes, and was interchangeable with term Israel. Not so with Christianity or the Church. For this reason certain Orthodox denominations substitute the offensive "King of the Jews" with "The King of Glory" or "The King of the World". The Roman Catholic church however maintains Jews in their Latin acronym I.N.R.I. (IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM) while other Orthodox churches maintain it in their Greek acronym I.N.B.K. (Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ Bασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων).