What is the etymology of name 'Isa?

Question

I was doing some research on the name of Prophet Jesus p.b.u.h. The wikipedia mentions: "There is a major discrepancy between the Hebrew/Aramaic and Muslim Arabic forms of this name, since the Hebrew form of this name has the voiced pharyngeal ʿAyin ע‎ or ʿAyn ع consonant at the end of the name (as does Christian Arabic يسوع yasūʿ), while the Muslim Arabic form عيسى ʿīsā has the ʿAyn at the beginning of the name." And: "Scholars have been puzzled by the use of ʿĪsā in the Qur'an since Christians in Arabia used yasūʿ before and after Islam". Can anyone guide me on this issue. I'm having questions thatWhy quran used 'Isa if christians of Arabia used to call him as yasu' and why quranic version has ع in the beginning etc.

Answer 1

Converting a name from one language to another is largely a matter of discretion. There is no requirement that one be loyal to something.

Allah chose to make it Isa because He wanted to, and He is the best chooser.

Other people chose other conversions.

Answer 2

Both forms were already present in Aramaic. The plain writing ܝܫܘܥ is pretty the same in Western and Eastern Aramaic, but the pronounciation is different: the name is vocalised ܝܑܼܫܘܿܥ in the the Eastern Aramaic dialect (Iraq and parts of Syria) and pronounced ˀIshoˁ, whereas the Western Aramaic dialect (Palestine, Lebanon and parts of Syria) used a pronounciation closer to Hebrew, adds an e ܳ between ܝ and ܫ , and it is pronounced Ieshoˁ or Ieshoa (Western Aramaic vocalisation does not display properly here; that's why I could not write the entire word).

Aramaic was the language in which Christianity was introduced to Arabia, and in the Age of the Prophet ﷺ, Aramaic was still the language used in the Churches of Arabia.

The two dialects have quite obviously also led to the two forms in Arabic, where the form written in the Quran follows the Eastern Aramaic, the aramaic Hamza being converted into a major Ain. It was probably the most common pronounciation around Mekka.