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In biblical tradition the task of naming a child generally fell to the mother (Gen 29:31; 30:24; 1 Sam 1:20) but could be performed by the father (Gen 16:15; Exod 2:22) and in exceptional cases by someone other than a parent (Exod 2:10; Ruth 4:17). The last son of Jacob and Rachel received a name from each parent, Jacob altering the name Rachel gave (Gen 35:18). Naming could even be attributed to God, originating through a divine birth announcement (Gen 17:19; Luke 1:13). Naming took place near birth in the OT and on the eighth day accompanying circumcision in NT narratives (Luke 1:59; 2:21).
The biblical concept of naming was rooted in the ancient world’s understanding that a name expressed essence. To know the name of a person was to know that person’s total character and nature. Revealing character and destiny, personal names might express hopes for the child’s future, changing of name could occur at divine or human initiative, revealing a transformation in character or destiny (Gen 17:5, 15; 32:28 Matt 16:17-18).
The knowing of a name implied a relationship between parties in which power to do harm or good was in force. That God knew Moses by name occasioned the granting of Moses’ request for divine presence (Exod 33:12,17). The act of naming implied the power of the namer over the named, evidenced in the naming of the animals in Gen 2:19-20) or by Pharaoh’s renaming Joseph (Gen 41:45; cp Dan 1:6-7; 2 Kings 24:17).
Proper names consisting of one or more terms consciously chosen by the namer conveyed a readily understandable meaning within the biblical world. Reflecting circumstances of birth, Rachel called the child of her death, Ben-oni, “son of my sorrow” (Gen 35:18). Jacob was named “the supplanter,” for he was “grasping Esau’s heel” at birth (Gen 25:26). Moses, the “stranger in a strange land,” named his son Gershom (Exod 2:22). END OF PART 1
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