Bamidbar 13:16 –  These are the names of the men that Moshe sent to spy out the land and Moshe called Hoshea’s name Yehoshua.

Gemora – Sotah 34b: Moshe called Hoshea’s name Yehoshua as a form of prayer meaning “may God save you (yehosheacha) from the evil report of the spies”.

Torah Temimah Colloquial Translation of Comment #6:

Apparently, according to the simple meaning of the gmora, Moseh prayed using these exact words. The meaning being that Joshua (Hoshea) should not join in with the intention of the [other] spies to bring a negative [evil] report regarding the Lan of Israel. But if this is the meaning, then two difficulties arise:

1. If Moshe knew about the intent of the spies to bring a negative report, why did he go ahead and send them?
2. Why didn’t Moshe also pray for the other men that they should not bring back and evil report?

Therefore, it appears that in actuality Moshe did not know about the intent and plan of the spies. Rather, Moshe only prayed regarding Joshua because Moshe was specifically worried about him. Since descendants have a tendency to continue the traits of their ancestors and since Joshua descended from Joseph who had brought a negative report regarding his brothers – Moshe was worried that this trait also existed in Joshua. That is why Moshe prayed only regarding him.

If you should ask why Moshe didn’t similarly pray regarding Gadi ben Susi, who is also descended from Joseph, perhaps it was because Joshua was a special student of him and so Moshe was more endeared to Josshua than to Gadi ben Susi. Additionally, since Joshua was being prepared for bringing the Jewish people into the land of Israel, Moshe was perhaps more concerned about him, lest he stumble. These factors did not pertain to Gadi ben Susi. In all events, perhaps Moshe thought that his concerns were far-fetched and not likely to occur.

Regarding the exact phraseology “God should save you from the evil report of the spies”, it appears that this is not the exact phrase that Moshe used. Rather Moshe merely just said “God should save you from bringing back an evil report.” It was the sages of the gemora who used the exact phrase noted above based on their knowledge of what actually ended up occurring.

Editor’s Note: I have left out translating the second half of this note concerning the practical halachic ramifications of the name Hoshea being essentially equivalent Yehoshua. The first part of the note appealed to me due to the Torah Temimah’s human explanation of why Moshe only prayed for Joshua – attributing it, basically, to the fact that Moshe had a special relationship with Joshua and was therefore, naturally, more concerned about him.