What's in a Name?

by robhic 15 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  robhic

  In reading a post above, this thought hit me:

  I know Nimrod's name in Hebrew means "Let's rebel".

  I've seen this same type statement numerous times. "So-and-so's name, which means XXXXX ..." And amazingly the person's name means or describes what they just did (see quote above). Co-incidence? Hmmm...

  Did this person already have this name and just started doing what his name implies, or did the goat farmers that wrote the bible happen to make the name of the person they were writing about just mean the same? (Did that make sense?)

  Like what came first -- the chicken (aka "She whom layeth the eggs") or the egg?

  Inquiring minds want to know!
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  Narkissos

  The vast majority of such "name meanings" are just puns. There are not etymologically accurate, it's only a way of highlighting a story, sometimes providing a (fanciful) etiology for a person or a place name.

  Most often such puns are explicit ("he was called X because;" "for this reason the place was called Y"). This is not the case of Nimrod in Genesis, so the author's intention is dubious. In any case, remember it would be at most a Hebrew pun on a name of non-Hebrew origin (as is the case of "Babel," which in Akkadian was interpreted as "gate of the god" and in Genesis 11 as "confusion" -- the name being most likely of non-semitic origin).

  Last but not least, a personal name is normally not supposed to mean something but to point to somebody. Even if it is also a noun, its substantival meaning is obliterated when it is used as a name. When you say "Rose just called" the flower doesn't come to mind. But you can make a pun on Rose's name once in a while. Iow, the so-called "name meanings" are always the exception in the text. Isaac's name is explained by "laughter" in definite contexts, but you don't think of "laughter" every time you read "Isaac" -- even in Hebrew.
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  peacefulpete

  Great minds think alike, check out my old thread with same title:what's in a name?
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  free2beme

  My thought was always, how did we know these names were not just the words they were meant to convery a lesson. Much like modern English, where we say, "this crazy woman did this" and in 1000 years the langauge changes and soon the word crazy is now thought to me the name of the woman, and some bright person says that this name meant crazy in the land. Oh well, if that all makes sense, maybe were crazy.
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  Leolaia

  Think also of Jesus' name...."Yahweh saves" or (with the reduction of the theophoric element in Yeshua`) "He saves" or "salvation" (i.e. y'shu`ah).

  Puns are found not just in names but in the language of narratives as well. The Garden of Eden story in Genesis is a beautiful example of this artistry at work, and similarly one cannot read the Flood narrative in Hebrew without seeing Noah's name or words echoing it all over the place.

  Isaac's name is explained by "laughter" in definite contexts, but you don't think of "laughter" every time you read "Isaac" -- even in Hebrew.

  I wonder whether its is a case of onomatopoeia; Yitzaak sounds a lot like sounds of laughter to me. Of course, the consonantal root may well be phonologically very different in Proto-Afro-Asiatic, so this could well just be my own perception.
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  gumby

  Think also of Jesus' name...."Yahweh saves" or (with the reduction of the theophoric element in Yeshua`) "He saves".

  Shit...and I thought his name was to be Emmanuel.

  Gumcortez
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  peacefulpete

  About the name Jesus: Jesus, name or title?
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  Mary

  The vast majority of such "name meanings" are just puns. There are not etymologically accurate, it's only a way of highlighting a story

  What are you tryin' ta tell me that my name doesn't mean Queen of Heaven?
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  Narkissos

  Mary,

  To be "Queen of heaven" in Antiquity you'd better have been named Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodites or Venus -- but "Mary" would do in a Catholic context I guess...

  The case of "Mary" is quite interesting. In Greek Maria is an alternate spelling for Mariam which transliterates the Hebrew Miryam. This in turn is usually traced back to the Egyptian mry, meaning "love".

  But the interpretations of it go in all directions: in Hebrew it can be related to the roots r'h (to see) or 'wr (light, to shine), characterising her as a "seer" or prophetess (Exodus 15:20, cf. Moriya in Genesis 22) -- or, alternately, to mrh meaning "bitter" or "rebel" (in the negative stories about Miryam). Jerome interprets mar yam as "sea drop" (stilla maris) which in Latin easily becomes "sea star" (stella maris). In Aramaic it was evocative of mara, Lady, feminine of mar, "Lord" (cf. marana tha). Every language plays with names according to its own rules, regardless of the actual etymology which is often lost.
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  Mary

  Narkissis said: To be "Queen of heaven" in Antiquity you'd better have been named Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodites or Venus

  Lies! Damn Lies!

  ***Mary strikes Narkissis with a bolt of lightening for his impertinence and lack of faith***