Yeshua is the later contracted form of Yehoshua (Joshua), carrying the meaning 'YHWH saves' or 'he is salvation.' Though the full name famously designates Moses' successor, this shorter form appears 29 times in post-exilic literature referring to distinct individuals. The most prominent is Jeshua son of Jozadak, the high priest who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel and led the restoration of altar worship and temple rebuilding (Ezra 2:2; 3:2; Neh 7:7). Haggai and Zechariah know this same priest as Yehoshua. Other bearers include a priestly family head in David's time (1 Chr 24:11), a Levite distributor of tithes under Hezekiah (2 Chr 31:15), and several clan heads listed in the return census (Ezra 2:6, 36, 40). The Septuagint renders the name as Iesous — the identical Greek form later applied to Jesus of Nazareth, a connection noted already in Matthew 1:21.