Aad -
Quote:
As far as I know the following can be stated as historical truths:
1. 'Yoshua' was a common name there and then, like 'John' in our days.

This is not necessarily a "historical truth". In the first place, the name is claimed to be "Yeshua", not "Yoshua". Secondly, in searching the sources at my disposal, and which are closest in time to the era in question, such as the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds in which there are hundreds of names mentioned for various Sages and other persons. In these two mega-works, which comprise several dozen volumes, the Babylonian Talmud shown no individual by that name, other than references to biblical personalities. The Jerusalem Talmud has ONE (1), a single, instance of someone named "Yeshua" who is not a biblical figure.

So, unless you can provide supporting information to your #1, it must be regarded as a FALSE assumption, which puts into question your conclusions.

UriYosef