How many of you know the meaning of your name whether your parents told you what it means or you've looked it up somewhere. How many of you think that your name fits your personality? My name means warrior or spear so I'm not sure if that really fits my personality. As I write this I'm 35 and still single so I suppose my surname (Waite) fits.

In this article I'd like to share with you some interesting facts and trivia about names in the Bible. At the end of it I'd like to finish off by giving you two simple points that I hope that you can take away from this article.

Apart from God the very first name that we run across in the Bible is that of Adam, the first man. The Hebrew for red is Dam and Adam simply means red earth since God created him out of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). Adam got the honour to give his wife her name and he called her Eve meaning Life since she was the mother of all living and that's recorded for us in Genesis 3:20. For those of you who are husbands what would you call your wife if, like Adam, you had to give her a name? An interesting question.

Jewish tradition tells us that Adam and Eve had 69 sons and daughters. Only three of the sons are named for us in the Bible. In Genesis 4:1 we read that the firstborn was called Cain meaning gain or gotten. This also fits his personality as he ended up following the way of get and not God's way of give (Jude 11). The next son was called Abel which means meadow. I'm not sure if there's any real significance in that and the other son mentioned is that of Seth who wasn't necessarily the third born son since he was born soon after Cain killed Abel. His name means appointed and his line of descendants were the appointed line through which the great patriarchs and eventually the Messiah would eventually be born (Genesis 4:25). It's quite possible that the appointed line may have come through righteous Abel instead of Seth had Abel not been murdered by Cain.

In Genesis 5 we have the genealogy of the patriarchs from Adam and Seth through to Noah. When we replace the names of the patriarchs in their birth order with their meanings something quite interesting appears. The Bible Reading Program has this to say about them:

“When we examine the meaning of the roots of the names in the Genesis 5 genealogy, we find something interesting. Some of the roots are still debated by linguists, but most are settled…

“Putting all the names together and using the possible meanings that fit, we have, 'Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow, [but] the blessed God shall come down teaching, [and] his death shall bring [those] despairing rest.' While we should not place too much emphasis on this, especially since the root meanings are not certain, it is interesting nonetheless.”

In the time of Noah God sent the great Flood that destroyed all of mankind with the exception of Noah and his family. How were all the many different races and sub-races of mankind preserved through the Flood and the family of Noah? We have a big clue in the meaning of one of their sons – Ham. We know it was through Ham that the black race and their various sub-races were descended from. The meaning of Ham is black or burnt. If we take this at face value then Noah and his wife appear to have given birth to a black son.

We have speculated, based on Acts 17:26 where Paul says from one blood came all nations of men, that within Adam and Eve God placed genes that would produce every race and sub-race of mankind within the first few generations and then they would reproduce after their own kind after that. This appears to have been what also may have happened with Noah and his wife since a white man marrying a Negro will never produce a Polynesian or an Indian.

What I think is one of the more embarassing names in the Bible is one shared by Abraham's grandfather as well as by his brother. They were both called Nahor which means “snorer”. Abraham also had a couple of nephews with the funny sounding names of Huz and Buz. I also noticed the other day that there is actually a Ben Hur in the Bible as per the fictional character played by Charleton Heston of that movie set in the time of Christ. The real Ben Hur of the Bible was one of Solomon's governors (1 Kings 4:8).

One thing we often see in the Bible is where God changes someone's name from one name to another. The best example of this is in the life of Abraham. Let's have a look at it in Genesis 17:5. Abraham was originally called Abram meaning father of height suggesting that Abraham was quite tall. In Genesis 17:5 God says to him: “No longer shall you be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations.” This was before Isaac was even born. Commenting on this Paul writes in Romans 4:17-18 that God, who can bring anything to pass, often calls things which don't exist just yet as though they already do.

One other very notable change of name by God happened when he changed the name of Jacob to Israel. Jacob means supplanter and his new name Israel means “overcomer with God” (Genesis 32:28). Israel became the name of God's chosen people who were descended from his 12 sons. The church is called the Israel of God in Galatians 6:16 and we are to become spiritual Israelites – overcomers with God regardless of whether we are Israelite or Gentile by birth.

One of Jacob's sons was called Judah meaning “praised of God”. Judah was the father of the Jews. Just as the Bible draws a distinction between physical and spiritual Israel (Romans 9:3-8) it also draws a distinction between physical and spiritual Jews. We read of this in Romans 2:28-29. Paul writes: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Regardless of whether we are Israelite or Gentile by birth, we are to become spiritual Jews i.e. the way we live our lives must be worthy of God's praise.

One other famous name change is that of Peter. Originally Peter was known as Simon meaning hearing before Jesus changed it to Peter meaning “a stone” (John 1:42). He would later become one of the foundation stones of the spiritual temple of the church.

One of the oldest books in the Bible is the book of Job. When he lived has been the subject of much debate. The presence of Chaldeans in chapter one places it after the Flood. One of the sons of Isaachar was called Job (Genesis 46:13) but we don't whether this was the same Job. The name Job means “he that weeps” and that is quite appropriate considering the trials God allowed him to go through.

One of the proofs of the fact that the Israelites were in Egypt is the many Israelite names at the time of the Exodus that are Egyptian in origin. The most notable is that of Moses meaning “drawn from” since he was drawn from the Nile River by the pharaoh's daughter. SDA archaeologist David Down in his video series “Digging Up the Past” suggests that Pharoah's daughter may have originally called him Hapi-moses - drawn from the Nile god Hapi and that later the Hapi was dropped off by Moses himself when he was converted. The name Moses is an Egyptian name that is also seen in the names of the pharaohs such as Ra-moses (or Ramses – drawn from Ra) and Thutmoses (Drawn from Thoth).

When Moses asked God for His name let's look at how God answered the question in Exodus 3:14-15. “And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM (from the Hebrew word 'Hayah') has sent me to you.' Moreover God said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The Lord God (Yahweh Elohim in Hebrew) of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.”

In verse 14 He says Hayah (meaning I AM) has sent me to you and in verse 15 He says Yahweh Elohim, the Elohim of Abraham has sent me to you. Those of the Sacred Names movement insist that the ONLY personal name for God is the Hebrew Yahweh even though right here God gives at least two personal names - both Yahweh meaning Everlasting One and Hayah meaning I AM. It's interesting to note that all the names of God found in the Bible, even though very meaningful, are fairly generic as opposed to a specific one like Bruce Almighty.

David is known as the man after God's own heart. His name quite appropriately means “beloved”. The Eygptian equivalent of David is “Hotep” seen in the names of Imhotep, architect of the Step Pyramid and the pharoahs of the name Amenhotep. The names of each of the major and minor prophets are worth looking up if you study those books as they often give a theme of what each book was about.

The Jews anxiously waited for the Messiah and whether they accepted Him or not He came in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Yashuah or Joshua meaning Saviour while the name Christ means Annointed One. Jesus Christ means Saviour Annointed One.

In his book “Secrets of Golgotha” Ernest Martin mentions that some ancient New Testament manuscripts give us a first name for the criminal Barabbas and that he was called Jesus Barabbas. If this was so then we see some possible Day of Atonement symbolism in the choice between Jesus Christ and Jesus Barabbas. Barabbas means “Son of the Exalted Father” which can just as easily describe Jesus Christ. He had committed murder in a rebellion (Mark 15:7) and may have been a false Messiah. Just as the two goats on the Day of Atonement looked the same so did the names of Jesus Christ and Jesus Barabbas. The Jewish priests in the crowd chose Jesus Christ to die and the other one to be released, not that unlike what happened with the two goats.

In his book “The 144 000” author Art Braidic makes an interesting case that the 144 000 are spiritual Israelites and not physical Israelites. His first supporting proof of this is the fact that the order of tribes in Revelation 7 is utterly unique in the Bible. They are not in birth order or any other order you find elsewhere for the physical tribes of Israel, either in past history or the millennial prophecies of Ezekiel where the physical tribes are given their millennial inheritance.
 
His second supporting proof of this is in the names of the tribes. Art writes: "The Almighty God inspired the names of the tribes of Israel in such a way that they tell a wonderful story of every true christian's struggle and ultimate triumph. Notice how a paragraph placing the meaning of these names in their order might read: 
 
"I will praise the Lord (Judah) for He has looked on me (Reuben) and good fortune comes (Gad). Happy am I (Asher) because my wrestling (Naphtali) with God makes me forget (Manasseh) my trials. God hears me (Simeon) and has joined me (Levi) to Him. He has purchased me (Isaachar) and my Husband will dwell with me (Zebulon). God will add (Joseph) me to the Son of His right hand (Benjamin)."

If we take out Manasseh and put Dan, meaning judge, back in we can find a similar message by stringing together the meaning of the names of the 12 sons of Jacob in their order of birth. In birth order the message reads:

“Those who see the Son (Reuben), hear (Simeon) and obey Him and are joined with Him (Levi) will praise the Lord (Judah) who judges (Dan). For those who fight (Naphtali) and prevail, fortune (Gad) and happiness (Asher) is the reward of their hire (Isaachar) and He will dwell (Zebulon) with those whose reproach has been taken away and shall be added (Joseph) as sons along with the Son of His right hand (Benjamin)."

It is quite unique that a record has been kept about the circumstances of each birth and the reasons behind the naming of each of the 12 sons. We are told that the names of the tribes of Israel, whether spiritual or physical, will be on the gates of the New Jerusalem and will give such a message (Revelation 21:12). Revelation 3:12 implies that God may give us a new name in the Kingdom. We may get a unique personal name and possibly even a new spiritual tribal name, not Mojo Mojo or some other tribal name off Survivor but perhaps one of the spiritual tribes of Israel that best fits our character.

My friend Gary mentioned to me an interesting parallel between Benjamin and Jesus Christ. He was originally called Ben-Oni meaning son of my sorrow by his mother who went through great pain and died after his birth. After Rachel died Jacob changed his name to Benjamin meaning Son of the Right Hand (Genesis 35:18). Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows when He was on earth and after His death and resurrection He became the Son at right hand of the Father.

To conclude this article I'd like to leave you with two simple points that I hope that you can take away from it.

As we have seen there is a lot of extra information we learn from studying the meaning of names in the Bible since God calls things as they really are. My first simple point is take the time to look into the meaning of the names of people when you are reading your favourite Bible stories and doing your Bible study so you can learn more from those stories.

My second point is to live up to the name or names that God has given those of us in the church. We are known as the church of God, as christians or imitators of Christ, we are known as spiritual Jews – those who's life is worthy of God's praise and we are known as spiritual Israelites – overcomers with God. Do our lives and our conduct and how we treat each other live up to those mighty names that we are called by? Can God be seen through us by how we live or are we just pretenders in name only?

In the Bible the word name also implies one's reputation as well as one's authority as in praying in the name or authority of Jesus Christ. Proverbs 22:1 says: A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.” Let us all have a good name – a good reputation by having good conduct and living up to the mighty names that God has bestowed on us as His children as christians meaning true imitators of Jesus Christ.

The following table gives a list of all the major figures we read about in the Bible, including many who have become fathers of nations of the world. Most of the meanings of these names I have obtained from Meredith's Book of Bible Lists by J.L.Meredith.