The great British Bible scholar N.T.Wright says that the more we want to read and understand the Bible, the more we need to become ‘at home’ in it. But sometimes, when we read certain parts of the Bible it feels like they are speaking a different language (and indeed they were!), so how do we become ‘at home’ in that? Sometimes, the Bible becomes a little less foreign to us with just a little insight into the languages and/or cultures of the Bible.  It is my (AndyD) aim over this year to provide little thoughts that can help us all in becoming more at home in the Bible.

NAMES

In the Bible, the Psalmists (among many others) had a fascination with God’s name.
The following are just a few of the verses in Psalms about God’s name:

Psalm 8:1 – Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 9:2 – I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High

Psalm 22:22 – I will declare your name to my people

Psalm 52:9 – And I will hope in your name, for your name is good

We ourselves often sing ‘beautiful is your name, beautiful is your name, Yahweh.’ So why this fascination with God’s name?  It’s just a name…isn’t it?

In biblical times, someone’s name was not simply a label to help in differentiating them from someone else. The name was thought to reveal something of that person and so names were carefully chosen. Knowing someone’s name implied relationship with them. It is fair to say that someone’s name and their person were considered inseparable:

“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.”

In the Psalms, then, the Psalmists are fascinated with God’s name because they are fascinated with God and who he is. For them, saying “I put my hope in your name” is a poetic way of saying “I put my hope in you”.

And when God told Moses his name was Yahweh in Exodus 3:14 (translated as “I am who I am” in most English versions…and then as LORD on many other occasions), he was doing more than telling Moses his name – the name Yahweh was God’s self-revelation to Moses, which, among other things, particularly stressed his faithfulness.

So indeed we should sing, ‘beautiful is your name, beautiful is your name, Yahweh.’

Tags: At Home in the Bible

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