Meaning of the Biblical Name Jason
If you're looking for a biblical baby boy name that starts with J but want to avoid patently biblical names, consider Jason. It has a solid New Testament pedigree, yet it doesn't sound overly religious. As a bonus, Jason comes with an appealing meaning, which is not always the case with biblical names.
For devout Christian parents, Scripture remains an important source of baby name inspiration, and many of today's most popular baby names, especially baby boy names, trace their origins to the Bible. If you further analyze the top performing biblical baby boy names, you'll notice that quite a few of them start with the letter J. Examples of popular biblical boy names that start with J include James, Jacob, John and Joseph—all names with famous biblical bearers.
But there are also plenty of J-names that don't scream biblical but that are still very much rooted in the Bible. Take the name Jason, for example.
The name Jason is introduced to us in the Acts of the Apostles as a resident of Thessalonica who hosted Paul and Silas during their missionary journey. When a group of hostile Jews could not find Paul and Silas, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city authorities, accusing them of harboring people who were defying Caesar's decrees by proclaiming Jesus as king. Jason was fined, but he and the others were eventually released. (Acts 17:5-9)
The name Jason is also mentioned in verse 16:21 of the Pauline Letter to the Romans, where a man called Jason sends his greetings to the recipients of the letter. This suggests he was with Paul at the time of writing. It is not clear if this man is the same Jason as the one mentioned in Acts.
Regardless of whether the Bible verses talking about a man called Jason refer to a single person or two individuals, the name undoubtedly carries positive connotations for Christians. So, even though the name Jason appears only a handful of times in the Bible, its pious biblical bearer or bearers definitely make it a worthy choice for Christian parents looking for a biblical J-name for a son. What's more, Jason of Thessalonica is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, which might make Jason a particularly good choice for those looking for Catholic boy names.
Aside from an appealing biblical namesake, Jason also boasts a compelling meaning: healer. In many cases, the meanings of biblical names are disputed, but in the case of Jason, biblical scholars have shown remarkable consistency in their analyses of the meaning of Jason. Understandably, the exact wording varies from source to source, with suggestions ranging from healer[1] to he that cures[2] to he that gives medicine[3], but there's little disagreement over the core meaning of Jason.
The reason why the meaning of Jason hasn't sparked much debate among scholars probably has to do with the name's history which predates the life of the biblical character. Turns out, ancient Greek mythology features a hero called Jason, or more correctly Iason (Ἰάσων). As the story goes, the name Jason wasn't actually the hero's original name but was given to him as an epithet when he learned the art of healing. Etymologically, the Greek version of Jason is derived from the ancient Greek word ἰάομαι, meaning "to heal" or "to cure" [4].
The Greek goddess name Iaso (Ἰασώ), borne by the goddess of recovery, shares the same etymology [5].
References
- Moody, S (1863). What is your name? A popular account of the meanings and derivations of Christian names. Oxford University.
- Hitchcock, R. D. (1869). Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible: Or, The Whole of the Old and New Testaments Arranged According to Subjects in Twenty-Seven Books. A.J. Johnson.
- Cruden, A., Eadie, J., ed. (1869) Cruden's Concordance to the Holy Scriptures. A. J. Johnson. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
- Ἰάσων. (2023). Wiktionary. Retrieved 10:51, July 22, 2024.
- Smith, W. (1880) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology: Earinus-Nyx. J. Murray.
