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The Etymology of Jesus H. Christ
by Peter Kirby (May 11, 2003)
Question: What is the origin of the H. in the phrase, Jesus H. Christ?
There is no great mind which has not but come to rest on this important
question. It is a question which every man must consider in the course of
his education, and the answers discovered are as varied as the approaches
taken.
The child brought up in a home of prayer, on first hearing the expletive
from his father's lips, need only look to the words of the Our Father for
the explanation: "Our Father, Who Art in Heaven, Harold Be Thy Name."
A young man who has studied the principles of biology, in contemplating the
holy mystery of the Virgin Birth in the light of reason, will inevitably
conclude that the H. stands for none other than Haploid, a distinction
conferred only upon God's Son of all men, that He would not have the taint
of Original Sin.
The theologian will undoubtedly be familiar with "IHS," which stands for the
Latin phrase "Jesus Hominum Salvator," which means Jesus, Savior of Man.
Note that the J, as a separate character from the I, is only a few centuries
old. This trigraph is frequently found in medieval and Renaissance art.
An historian may be familiar with the tale that, before an important battle
in 312, the Emperor Constantine saw vision of the cross in the sky and heard
a voice saying that he would conquer "under this standard" or "in this
sign." The Latin words would be "in hoc signo," which abbreviates to IHS.
The Greek scholar will look to the Greek letters for Jesus: "iota eta sigma
omicron upsilon sigma," which is variously transliterated IHSOYS or IHCOYC,
the latter when converted to Latin letters using the common curved sigma
variant. If one takes the first three letters as initials, it is not
difficult to derive "Jesus H. Christ."
The Judaic scholar can supply the reason for taking the first three letters.
This is the practice of using standard abbreviations for sacred names, or
nomina sacra, accompanied by a horizontal line as a warning that the words
cannot be pronounced as written. The two most common forms are abbreviation
by suspension, which is to use the first two letters, and abbreviation by
contraction, which is to use the first and last letters.
A scholar of manuscripts noted that such abbreviations in early Christian
fragments take the form IS, IH, or IHS when writing the Greek name Jesus.
This would provide the basis for clever Latin writers later to make this
sacred abbreviation of the name Jesus into a three letter acronym, a sort of
pun, including "In Hoc Signo" and "Jesus Hominum Salvator."
The earliest writer to speculate on the initials of Jesus is the author of
the 2nd century "Epistle of Barnabas" (9:6-7). In Lightfoot's translation,
"Learn therefore, children of love, concerning all things abundantly, that
Abraham, who first appointed circumcision, looked forward in the spirit unto
Jesus, when he circumcised having received the ordinances of three letters.
For the scripture saith; And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen
males and three hundred. What then was the knowledge given unto him?
Understand ye that He saith the eighteen first, and then after an interval
three hundred. In the eighteen 'I' stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here thou
hast JESUS (IHSOYS). And because the cross in the 'T' was to have grace, He
saith also three hundred. So He revealeth Jesus in the two letters, and in
the remaining one the cross."
A man who has wondered about the origin of the sacred middle initial, who
has traced the etymological thread back to its ancient spool, and who has
detailed the findings of his serious inquiry, may take a moment to reflect
upon the nature of the question, a question that he has expended great
efforts to understand.
Jesus H. Christ!
Circumspectful meta-pondering produces ineffable epiphany. Now that we have
an answer, the question is, why did we ask the question? What is it that
makes a man concerned to know the details of a matter so trivial, so
irrelevant so as to seem beneath the briefest consideration? I am not sure
that I know the answer to this question. But at least now I know that I am
not the only one who suffers from acute curiosity, for, indeed, you have
read it all to the end.
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