What Is In A Name

Abraham’s Great Name

In the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, there is a character called Jack Dawkins. Jack was a thief and a pickpocket, the leader of a gang of child criminals who was better known as the “Artful Dodger“. Hebraically, he could have been named “the son of Dodger” because his dodging was how he behaved which came from the original “Artful Dodger” Adam who blamed Eve and God for his sin. In Hebrew culture a person’s breath or spirit was their life, and the expression of this breath was a person’s character or personality. A person’s character was an expression of the inspiration (from the Latin “inspirare”, in-breathe) of their spirit or breath displayed by what they did (their words). Their words collectively were called their “ways” and their ways were an expression of their “name“. A man of “name” or substance was a great achiever. A great achiever had a great character or strength of spirit and did great things (achieved great words) and as a result they had and developed a great “name” which resulted in fame or renown. God promised to make Abraham’s name great – he would do great things (do great words) and his name (the breath of his character) and his family or house or descendants which were part of his name would become great. Genesis 12:1-3 says “And Yehovah saith unto Abram, ‘Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee. And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground.’” Someone’s name is who they really are and it is expressed or known by what they do. Someone who never does anything cannot have a great name. A name is not an identifier or appellation or label but it is something real. It was said of Moses that God knew him by name – meaning that God was in a personal relationship with him and knew in practice who he really was. In Genesis, Eve named her firstborn son Cain which means “acquired, got” as she probably imagined that Cain would crush the head of the serpent and get her back into Eden. His brother she named Abel which means “emptiness, vanity, nothingness“. For her, Cain had a purpose and a name, but Abel was pointless and so that is what she called him. In 2 Samuel 18, Ahimaaz (brother of uprightness) the son of Zadok (uprightness, righteousness) was seen running with a message for King David. So it says in 2 Samuel 18:27 “And the watchman saith, ‘I see the running of the first as the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.’ And the king saith, ‘This is a good man, and with good tidings he comes.’” The Hebrews saw things in totality and for them a good name, good character, right behaviour and bringer of good news went together. Jesus himself was good news, and when Jesus turned up and was received in a town or village there was great rejoicing because his name is “Yehovah is my salvation” and he showed them the love of his Father by saving them practically from everything that was distressing them. The same is true of all of the true sons of God.

People’s Names

In ancient Hebrew culture, children were usually named on the basis of their function or hoped-for purpose. The first child that was born in Genesis was Cain and the word means “got“. Eve said that she had got a man by Yehovah and she called him “Got” (Cain). Then she bore Abel, she said nothing about him because she had no idea why he was born. Abel means empty nothingness. Cain murdered Abel, and Eve bore another son to put in the place of Abel and he was called “Placed” (Seth). The parents of Noah (meaning comfort) were hoping that “Comfort” (Noah) would bring comfort and that is what they called him. Peleg (divided by water) was named “Divided” because in his day the nations were divided by rising sea levels and his name commemorated that significant event. The name Jacob means “tripper” and when he was born he grabbed his brother’s heel. This was seen as significant and his first act could have set a pattern for his life. God however changed his name from “Tripper” to Israel (Prince of God) because he behaved differently and had power with God and men and prevailed as a powerful prince. Hosea 12:3-4 states “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince with God, Yes, he is a prince unto the Messenger, And he overcomes by weeping, And he makes supplication to Him, At Bethel he doth find him, And there he doth speak with us.” Jacob’s sons were named by his wives Leah and Rachael as they bickered amongst themselves for their husband’s love. Each son was to function as a help and strength in the battle between the sisters. Leah said of Reuben “See a son (Reuben), my husband will love me now“. His function was to bring his mother his father’s love. When Benjamin was born, Rachael died and she named him Benoni (son of my sorrow), however Jacob changed his name to Benjamin (son of my right hand). Saul’s son Ish-Baal (man of possession) was renamed by the people Ish-Bosheth (man of shame) when his father was defeated and killed by the Philistines. King David and his men protected Nabal’s flocks and asked for some food in return. Nabal refused and accused David of breaking away from Saul in rebellion. Nabal’s wife Abigail spoke to David to pacify his anger. In 1 Sam 25:25-26 she said “‘Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness [Belial], on Nabal [stupid, wicked, foolish], for as his name is so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send; and now, my lord, Yehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Yehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee – now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord.”

Named After God

People also included the name of God in their children’s names in the hope that they would bring something of God into their lives. There were over 150 different names of God given to people in the Old Testament. In the Northern Kingdom of Israel the people tended to use the name of God “El” in their names. So Eleazor (Lazarus) means, God is my helper. Elisha means God is my treasure. Abiel means fathered by God. Uriel means flame of God. In the Southern Kingdom of Judah the people tended to use Yah. Yah was actually better because it was more specific. There were many so called gods (El) but only one Yehovah. Eliyah (Elijah) means my God is Yah. Obadyah means Yah is my worship. Neryah means Yah is my light. The expression and character or nature of God that is revealed in these names is all-encompassing. Their names declared that Yah or “He Who Is” is my – ornament, protector, giver, deliverer, redeemer, king, possessor, comforter, lifter, rock, gatherer, ransomer, friend, healer, light, eye-opener, hope, mercy-shower, defender, bosom-carrier, helper, creator, builder, blesser, strengthener, hearer, sustainer, establisher, enlightener, greatness, lover the list goes on and on. It was the blessing of Abraham or the anointing of Kings that enabled these “labels” that identified individual people to become actual “names” that expressed a change of character, behaviour and destiny. The name Jezebel (queen of King Ahab) in Hebrew means literally “where is Baal?” because Baal was often seen as a dying and rising god and this name was called in worship ceremonies to resurrect him from the darkness of the underworld.

If you would like to understand more about the ancient Hebrew culture of the people of the Bible, then click, here.