Book 1 — Chapter 3 — The Names Yahushua and Anointed Known before the Incarnation
Eusebius next argues that the names and functions later joined in “Yahushua the Anointed” were already present among the prophets. “Yahushua,” understood as deliverance, was borne by Yehoshua son of Nun after Mosheh changed his earlier name, making him a prophetic figure of future deliverance. “Anointed” is connected with those consecrated by oil: kohenim, kings, and certain prophetic figures. Eusebius emphasizes that the great kohen and the king were set apart through anointing and thereby carried a title that anticipated a greater office. He reads prophetic passages about an Anointed ruler, priestly figure, and chosen servant as converging in Yahushua. The older institutions were therefore not unrelated to the later proclamation but patterns within a single divine economy. The argument is apologetic: Christianity is not, in Eusebius's presentation, a religion created in the recent Roman age. Its central names and categories are rooted in the ancient writings of Yisra'el, even though he interprets them through the theological claims of his own assembly.