Name

A name in scripture is rarely a bare label. It carries reputation, conveys character, anchors covenant, and — in the case of Yahweh and of Christ — communicates the bearer himself. The wisdom writers measure a name against riches and oil; the prophets watch Yahweh sanctify, profane, or cut off names; the patriarchs receive new names at moments of covenant; and the apostolic writings concentrate the whole motif on the name above every name.

The Weight of a Good Name

The wisdom tradition treats a good name as a possession to be guarded above wealth. "A [good] name is rather to be chosen than great riches, [And] loving favor rather than silver and gold" (Pr 22:1). The Preacher pairs it with the costliest commodity of his world: "A [good] name is better than precious oil; and the day of death, than the day of one's birth" (Ec 7:1). Ben Sira intensifies the comparison and pushes it past death: "Be in fear for your name, for that abides longer for you Than thousands of precious treasures" (Sir 41:12), and "Life's goods [last] for limited days, But the reward of a name for days without number" (Sir 41:13). Wisdom itself is the path to a name that endures: "He who is wise [to his] people gains honor, And his name will live forever" (Sir 37:26), and the man who finds wisdom finds "joy and gladness; And she will give him an everlasting name to inherit" (Sir 15:6).

A name can also be ruined. A daughter wrongly watched can "make you a name that stinks, The talk of the city, and accursed of the people, And shame you in the gathering at the gate" (Sir 42:11). The honor of a name is fragile and inherited.

Reputation accrues through deeds. David's success against the Philistines made his name "much set by" (1Sa 18:30). The brothers of Demetrius and the unnamed companion Paul commends carry their reputations into the apostolic mission: "the brother whose praise in the good news [is spread] through all the churches" (2Co 8:18); "Demetrius has the witness of all [men], and of the truth itself" (3Jn 1:12).

Among the Maccabees, a name is something both rightly and wrongly sought. Apollonius boasts, "I will get myself a name, and will be glorified in the kingdom" (1Ma 3:14), and a faction of Judas's officers reasons, "Let's also get ourselves a name, and let's go fight against the nations that are round about us" (1Ma 5:57) — an ambition that ends in defeat. By contrast Eleazar "exposed himself to deliver his people and to get himself an everlasting name" (1Ma 6:44), and Judas himself, with his brothers, was "magnified exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and of all the nations where their name was heard" (1Ma 5:63). A name worth keeping is built by self-giving service, not by self-promotion.

The Holy Name of Yahweh

Yahweh's own name is treated as a separable holy thing — capable of being hallowed or profaned. The priests are to "separate themselves from the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they hallow to me, and that they don't profane my holy name: I am Yahweh" (Le 22:2). The covenant law warns Israel to "fear this glorious and awesome name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD" (De 28:58). Through Ezekiel, Yahweh announces the restoration of the name's honor: "And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you⁺ have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations will know that I am Yahweh, says the Sovereign Yahweh, when I will be sanctified in you⁺ before their eyes" (Eze 36:23). Isaiah promises a coming day when restored Israel "will sanctify my name; yes, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel" (Is 29:23). Yahweh himself describes his name in absolute terms: "the high and lofty One who stays eternally, whose name is Holy" (Is 57:15).

Daniel's response to revelation is to bless that name as everlasting: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his" (Da 2:20).

The Name as Refuge

The name of Yahweh functions as a place to flee for safety. "The name of Yahweh is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it, and is safe" (Pr 18:10). Isaiah counsels the same posture for one who walks in darkness: "let him trust in the name of Yahweh, and rely on his God" (Is 50:10). Nahum describes the same shelter under threat: "Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in [his Speech]" (Nah 1:7). Conversely, Yahweh can erase the name of his enemies — "no more of your name will be sown" (Nah 1:14) — making a hostile name disappear.

The Name Praised Among the Nations

The praise of Yahweh's name is geographically and temporally unbounded. "From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same Yahweh's name is to be praised" (Ps 113:3), and through Malachi the same line is taken up with universal scope: "For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name [will be] great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense [will be] offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name [will be] great among the Gentiles, says Yahweh of hosts" (Mal 1:11). The post-exilic Levites lead the people in the same blessing: "let them bless your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise" (Ne 9:5). Ben Sira's prayer of thanksgiving makes it personal: "I will thank you, Yahweh, O King, I will praise you, O God of my salvation; I will declare your name, You are the strength of my life" (Sir 51:1), continuing, "I will praise your name continually, And will remember you in prayer" (Sir 51:11). Judas Maccabeus's prayer at the rededication of the temple invokes the same logic: "You, O Lord, have chosen this house for your name to be called on in it, that it might be a house of prayer and supplication for your people" (1Ma 7:37). Even in battle, the call goes out: "Cast them down with the sword of those who love you: And let all who know your name, praise you with hymns" (1Ma 4:33).

Compound Names of Yahweh

At decisive moments in Israel's story Yahweh is given an additional name fixed to a place or to a quality of his action. Abraham, after the substitute ram is provided on Moriah, "called the name of that place Yahweh-jireh. As it is said to this day, On the mount of Yahweh it will be provided" (Ge 22:14). Moses, after the defeat of Amalek, "built an altar, and called the name of it Yahweh-nissi" (Ex 17:15). Gideon, after his audience with the angel of Yahweh, "built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it Yahweh-shalom: to this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites" (Jg 6:24). Through Jeremiah, the messianic king of Judah is announced under a name of his own: "this is his name by which he will be called: Yahweh our righteousness" (Je 23:6), with the parallel applied to restored Jerusalem — "this is what she will be called: Yahweh our righteousness" (Je 33:16). Ezekiel ends his temple vision by naming the eschatological city: "the name of the city from that day will be, Yahweh is there" (Eze 48:35). Each compound binds an attribute — provision, banner, peace, righteousness, presence — directly to the divine name.

Names Changed by God

Renaming marks a covenantal turning point. To Abram: "Neither will your name anymore be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations I have made you" (Ge 17:5). To Sarai, in the same scene: "you will not call her name Sarai, but Sarah will be her name" (Ge 17:15). At the Jabbok, Jacob is renamed: "Your name will not be Jacob anymore, but Israel: for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Ge 32:28). Solomon receives a second name through the prophet Nathan — "he named him Jedidiah, for Yahweh's sake" (2Sa 12:25) — and Gideon becomes Jerubbaal after his iconoclasm: "Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar" (Jg 6:32).

Renaming can also mark assimilation or elevation under foreign rulers. Pharaoh "called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him as wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On" (Ge 41:45). Mattathias's five sons each receive a surname that will define a generation — "John who was surnamed Gaddis: And Simon, who was surnamed Thasi: And Judas, who was called Maccabeus: And Eleazar, who was surnamed Abaron: and Jonathan, who was surnamed Apphus" (1Ma 2:2-5) — and the boy-king of Antioch is set on the throne under a chosen name: "he called his name Eupator" (1Ma 6:17).

A New Name, and Symbolic Names

Through Isaiah, the renaming pattern is extended to a redeemed people: "the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, which by his [Speech] Yahweh will name" (Isa 62:2).

In Hosea the names assigned to the prophet's children become a running prophecy. The first son: "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease" (Hos 1:4). The daughter: "Call her name Lo-ruhamah; for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any wise pardon them" (Hos 1:6). The second son: "Call his name Lo-ammi; for you⁺ are not my people, and [my Speech] will not be [with] you⁺" (Hos 1:9). The reversal follows in the very next chapter: "Say⁺ to your⁺ brothers, Ammi; and to your⁺ sisters, Ruhamah" (Hos 2:1) — "not my people" becomes "my people," "not pitied" becomes "pitied." Names carry the indictment and then carry the restoration.

The Name Above Every Name

The messianic child of Isaiah's prophecy is identified by an accumulating name: "his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Is 9:6). Hebrews extends the comparison to the angels: "having become by so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they" (Heb 1:4). Paul gathers the entire pattern into the Christ-hymn: "Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [those] in heaven and [those] on earth and [those] under the earth, and that every tongue should confess, The Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father" (Php 2:9-11). The Apocalypse adds two further names borne by the rider: "he has a name written which no one knows but he himself," and "on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (Rev 19:12-16).

The disciples are taught to act and pray in this name. "And whatever you⁺ will ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (Jn 14:13). "That whatever you⁺ will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you⁺" (Jn 15:16). "In that day you⁺ will ask in my name: and I don't say to you⁺, that I will pray the Father for you⁺" (Jn 16:26). Thanksgiving takes the same form: "giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father" (Eph 5:20). The same name that bows every knee is the name in which the church now prays.