NAME. The Name of God. See JEHOVAH before. The Name without any other Addition, signifies the Name of the Lord, which was not pronounced out of Respect. For Example, And the Israelitish Levit. xxiv. 11.Woman’s Son blasphemed the Name. If any one blasphemed the sacred Name, he was taken out of the Camp, and all those that had heard him put their Hands upon his Head, and the whole People stoned him. Thus was expiated the Blasphemy of the Name.
The Name of God often stands for God himself, his Power, or Majesty. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini. Our Assistance, or Strength and Hope is in the Name of God, in his Goodness, Power, &c. His Name only is more effectual than a whole Army. The Hebrews believe that Moses, that Jesus Christ, and the Prophets, performed their Miracles by pronouncing the Name of God, the true Pronunciation of which being known to them, though at this Day (they say) it is intirely forgot.
To invoke the almighty Name of God, to serve in the Name of God, to bless in the Name of the Lord, to build an House in the Name of the Lord; in all these Expressions the Name is put for the Lord himself.
Exod. xx. 7.To take the Name of God in vain, is to swear falsly, or without Occasion, and to mingle the Name of God in our Discourses, or our Oaths, either falsly or rashly, or wantonly, or unnecessarily, or presumptuously. God forbids to make Mention of the Exod. xxiii. 13.Names of other Gods. He would not so much as have them named, or their Names pronounced. ‘Tis doing them too much Honour to swear by their Names, and to take them as Witnesses to what we say or affirm, as if they were really something. The Gods of the Heathen are nothing at all, therefore the Israelites were to shew nothing but Contempt for them. The Hebrews hardly ever pronounced the Name Baal; they disfigured it for Example, by saying Mephibosheth or Meribosheth, instead of Mephibaal or Meribaal; where Bosheth signifies something shameful or contemptible. Instead of saying Elohim, they said Elilim, Gods of Filthiness.
To give a Name is a Token of Command and Authority. The Father gives Names to his Children, to his Slaves, to his Gen. ii. 20.brute Creatures. It is said in Genesis, that Adam gave a Name to his Wife, and to all the Animals, and that the Name he gave them became their true Name. God changed the Name of Abram, Jacob, and Sarai. All which expresses his absolute Dominion over all Men, and his particular Benevolence towards those, whom he receives more especially into the Number of his own. Hence it was that he gave a Name, even before their Birth, to some Persons whom he appointed, and who belonged to him in a particular Manner. So he gave a Name to Jedediah, or Solomon Son of David, to the Messiah, to John the Baptist, &c.
God speaking to Moses, promises he will send his Angel before him, to introduce him into the Land of Promise; and says, that he has put his Name in this Angel: For Exod. xxiii. 21.my Name is in him. He shall act, he shall speak, he shall punish in my Name; he shall bear my Name, he shall be my Ambassador, he shall receive the same Honours as belong to me. And in Effect, the Angel that spoke to Moses, that appeared to him in the Bush, that gave him the Law upon Mount Sinai, speaks and acts always as God himself; and Moses always gives him the Name of God. Thus says the Lord, and the Lord spake to Moses, saying.
Exod. xxxiii. 12.To know any one by his Name, I know thee by Name, expresses a Distinction, a Friendship, a particular Familiarity. The Kings of the East had very little Communication with their Subjects; they saw them but seldom, and hardly ever appeared in publick. So that when they knew any one of their Servants by Name, that they vouchsafed to speak to them, to call them, and to admit them into their Presence, it was esteem’d as a very great mark of Favour. None but such Officers as saw the King Face to Face, had this great Privilege conferr’d upon them.
Numb. xvi. 2.Those that in the Assemblies were call’d by their Names, per Nomina vocabantur, were the principal of the People, the Heads of Tribes, or of the great Families; or or who had some great Imployment or particular Dignity.
Isai. xlii. 1. xlv. 4.On these Occasions they called thus; for Example, Aaron and his Posterity, Hus and his Family, Caleb and those under him, and so of others. They call’d by their Name only the first and chief of the People. I have called thee by thy Name, may also signify, I have appointed thee by Name to this Office; I have changed your Name, to shew that I took you into my Service; as Nebuchadnezzar gave new Names to Daniel and his Companions, when he took them into his Service. God speaking of the fixed Place where his Tabernacle should be set up, or of the Place where his Temple was to be built, calls it The Place which the Lord shall choose to place his Name there. That Deut. xiv. 23. xvi. 2.there his Name should be called upon, and that that Place should be called the House or Temple of the Lord. That this place should have the Honour of bearing the Name of the Lord, of being consecrated to his Service, and dedicated to his Worship. All these Expressions shew the utmost Veneration which the Hebrews had for whatever in any wise belong’d to God.
Josh. vi. 27.Name is often put for Renown or Reputation. The Name of Joshua became famous over all the Country. And God said 2 Sam. vii. 9.to David, when he reproached him with the Crime he had committed with Bathsheba, I have made thee a great Name, like unto the Name of the great Men that are in the Earth. I have given you Ho nour and Reputation, equal to that of the greatest of Monarchs.
Psal. ix. 5. Ruth iv. 5, 10, &c.To raise up the Name of the Dead, is said of the Brother of a Man departed this Life without Children, when this Brother marries the Widow of the deceased, and revives his Name in Israel, by the Means of the Children which he may beget. These are deemed to be the Children of the Deceased, and make his memory alive again. In a contrary Sense to this, to blot out the Name of any one, is to exterminate his Memory; to extirpate his Race, his Children, Works or Houses, and in general whatever may cause his Name to live up on the Earth. Thou hast destroy’d the wicked, thou hast put out their Name for ever and ever. That their Names may be blotted out of the Book of Life, that they may be no more mentioned, no more than those that are dead and buried. The Name of the Wicked shall rot. It shall stink, Prov. x. 7.and if it be at all remembered, it shall be only with Abhorrence and Detestation.
Jerem. xiv. 14, 15. xxvii. 15, &c. Isai. iv. 1. Ezek. xvi. 15. Matth. vii. 22.When Isaiah describes a Time of Calamity and Disgrace in Israel, wherein men should become very scarce, he says; In that Day seven Women shall take hold of one Man, saying, we will eat our own Bread, and wear our own Apparel; only let us be called by thy Name, to take away our Reproach. Be pleased to take us for Wives, and let us be called your Spouses. Invocetur nomen tuum super nos. The Lord complains in Ezekiel, that his Spouses (Judah and Israel) are become Prostitutes, tho’ they bore his Name; that they have defil’d his holy Name, which they bore as his Spouses, by those Abominations, and by that Idolatry, to which they had abandon’d themselves. Fornicata est in nomine meo.
God often complains that the false Prophets prophesy’d in his Name. Jesus Christ says in the Gospel, that in the Day of Judgment many shall come and say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesy’d in thy Name, and in thy Name have cast out Devils, and in thy Name done many wonderful Works? Mark ix. 40.Elsewhere he says, whosoever shall give a Cup of cold Water in his Name, shall not lose his Reward; and he that receives a Prophet or a just Man, in the Name of a Prophet or just Man, shall receive a Recompence in Proportion to his good Intention. In Matth. x. 41.all these Instances the Word Name is put for the Person, for his Service, his Sake, his Authority.
So many Names of Men is sometimes put Rev. iii. 4. Rev. xi. 13. Vulg.for so many Heads or Persons. For Example Thou hast a few Names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their Garments. And elsewhere, Occisi sunt in terræ motu nomina hominum septem millia. Seven thousand Men perished in the Earthquake.