How Bible Names Relate to Their Characters
Study of Biblical Perople's Lives and Significance
Feb 10, 2009
There are some interesting characters found in Scripture. Their names relate specifically to the story of their lives also.
Adam the First Man
Adam in Hebrew means 'man, red earth, clay, or dust’ because that was what he was created from. Similarly Eve means 'Mother of living' and she also gave birth to Cain and Abel. Seth was their next son meaning 'appointed, compensation or substitute,' who was literally compensation for Abel who was killed by Cain. The name of the tenth patriarch Moses means 'rest or comfort'Amazingly the names of the first ten patriarchs reveal the gospel story
1)Man is 2) appointed 3) mortal 4) sorrow but the 5) Blessed God 6) shall come down 7) teaching that 8) His death shall bring the 9) despairing 10) rest.
God changed Abram's name ‘lofty father’ to Abraham meaning ‘father of a multitude.’ Abraham would have numerous descendants and his son’s name Isaac means ‘laughter’ . Sarah considered it incredulous that she would bear a child at her ripe old age, a little short of a century!
Isaac's son Jacob means ‘trickster, supplanter or deceiver’. He was true to his name as he tricked Esau out of obtaining his birthright. It was only when Jacob wrestled with God in Genesis 32 that Jacob’s name was changed. Jacob's new name was Israel meaning ‘straightened by Elohim/God.’ Evidently his character as well as His name changed!!
Each of Jacob's sons had names with special significance. To mention a few Dan, short for Daniel means ‘Elohim is my judge’, Judah means ‘praise’ and Levi means ‘attached.’ Levi was the priestly tribe attached with all the priestly functions. A great study is a comparison of the names contained in Genesis 30 and with those from Jacob's blessing on his sons in Genesis 49!
A Friend Like Ruth
How many Christians would like to have a friend like Ruth? The derivation for her name is ‘friend or companion’. Ruth was faithful saying to Naomi 'wherever you go, I shall go.' As Ruth means 'friend or companion,'someone or somebody who is ruthless contains none of the attributes that any person would want used to describe a friend of theirs!
Samuel and Eli
Samuel means ‘heard or asked of Elohim/God’ . Before Hannah dedicated Samuel to God she was barren and asked Him to provide her with a child. Samuel was 'asked or heard of God' when he heard someone calling him, four times in fact. He thought it was Eli but it was Elohim (God) that was calling him. Eli means ‘my God’ so Samuel was listening to a man, Eli rather than the actual Elohim.
A similar confusion arose in Matthew 27v46 whereby Jesus called out 'Eli, Eli, Lama sabachtani' meaning 'My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?' The onlookers thought Jesus was calling for Elijah, ‘Elohim is my Yahweh’ whilst He was communicating with His heavenly Father. They failed to recognise that God was in flesh and dwelt among them and allowed Himself to be crucified for their sins whilst they thought he was just a man!
The name Jesus means ‘Saviour’, as He provided the way of salvation. Other names in scripture have the same root. Moses changed Joshua's name ‘saviour or salvation’ to ‘Yahweh is salvation’. Hosea and Isaiah also have names with the root meaning salvation.
Though not in every case, it has been demonstrated that Biblical characters were given names that reflected their personal qualities. Furthermore other individuals had charcteristics that foreshadowed the coming Messiah. This indicates that the Bible can be read as a living book as opposed to merely a historical record of events.
References
The Holy Bible New King James Version Thomas Nashville Publishers Nashville 1982
Strong, J. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible World Bible Publishers Iowa 1986
Young, R. Analytical Concordance to the Bible eighth edition the Religous Tract Society London 1971
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