What does IXOYE mean?

by Matt Slick

The word “ixoye” is an acronym comprised of the first letter of five Greek words:  Iesous Xristos Theou Yios Sotare which means Jesus, Christ, Son of, God, Savior.

• Iesous (Iasoos) is Jesus.  The first letter is ‘iota’, Ιησους.
• Xristos (Christos) is Christ.  The first letter is ‘chi’, Χριστóς.
• Theou (Theou) is God.  The first letter is ‘theta’, Θεοῦ.
• Yios (Huios) is Son.  The first letter is ‘upsilon’, Υἱός.
• Sotare (Sotare) is Savior.  The first letter is sigma’, Σωτήρ.

The word is also the Greek word for “fish," icthus, ἰχθύς which when spelled in capital letters in Greek is ΙΧΘΥΣ.  Remember, Jesus called the fishermen to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17).  Jesus used the metaphor to represent evangelism in the proclamation of the gospel by which people are saved from their sins.  Christians began using the fish as a symbol for Christianity in the first century.