What’s in a Name
In the Sacrament Prayers over the bread and water we hear the words, “We ask thee Oh God, The Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ.” The use of the word “name” here has many ancient meanings of use to us in our meditations. In Acts 4:12 we read, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” So there is something very sacred about the name of Jesus Christ which will be explored in other posts. For now, we will focus on the simple word “name”
In the scriptures God’s way of naming things and people is a marvel to behold. He always calls people by name. But he does so in a way to emphasize certain gospel principles that will help people come back into his presence at the last day. The names he gives people, animals and things recall their mission in life. The names in Hebrew are all functional. We’ve already talked about how Adam’s name shares one of the most meaningful letters of God’s powerful name a or “A” . This letter means the strong and mighty one. The next letter in Adam’s name d or “D” stands for door and represents the door through which we come into mortality, a door which only Adam could open after Eve took of the fruit. The last letter m or “M” stands for water or glue or binding together. At the end of time Adam and his righteous priesthood posterity will have made one family of all the nations of the earth. It will be so perfect which each family bound together in eternal temple covenants that it will be worthy to be turned over to Christ who will present the perfect whole back to God, the Father, to receive into the bosom of eternity to dwell with him forever. So the letters in Adam’s name describe his role or function in all three phases of our eternal lives. Before this life he was Michael, the archangel, who represented God, the Father, in the war against Satan and helped create the earth. This is only part of the full meaning of the first letter of his Hebrew name in the ancient paleographic Hebrew alphabet. He is the door to mortality as suggested by the second letter of his name. “Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). At the end of time he is the head of that great assembly at Adam-ondi-Ahman, at the head of all the unified families of earth as represented in the last Hebrew letter of his name. Eve is no less important in function or name that describes function. It is significant that in Genesis the word Eve is not mentioned until after she has fallen and been cast out of the garden of Eden. Before she is born she is called “an help meet” (Genesis 2:18). Then God created all the animals and brought them to Adam for him to name them. Then God put Adam asleep and took a rib and made a “woman”. Then she is called ”bone of my bones” and “flesh of my flesh.” Then she is called “wife”. When we first hear the name Eve, it is after the fall. From the point of her creation forward, she is called “woman” seven times and “wife” two times. In cursing the serpent, God himself is calling her “woman”. Adam was given the power to name all of God’s creatures, including Eve.
The Joseph Smith Translation is clearer on this naming power Adam had from God. It says:
JST Gen 2:25-26
25 And out of the ground, I the Lord God, formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and commanded that they should come unto Adam, to see what he would call them.
26 And they were also living souls; for I, God, breathed into them the breath of life, and commanded that whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that should be the name thereof.
So we see that this naming power was granted to Adam by God. Just like a small child names playtoys after their function, Adam named everything according to its function. He even explains why he named his wife “woman” according to the function of how she was created from his side. He says “she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”(Genesis 2:23) Immediately after the fall and the cursing of the serpent, the woman, and Adam, Adam gives his wife a new name. He has just heard from God’s cursing of his wife that she would have “conception” and “children”. So he names her according to this new function. Genesis 3:20 says “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” It would be interesting to analyze the Hebrew names of all the animals to see this same pattern of naming a function. Only in Hebrew does each animal name describe its function. All other languages have many Hebrew derived names for animals devoid of any meaning in that language. Examples of English animal names that have no functional meaning in English but when transliterated into Hebrew describe the function of the animal are as follows:
Giraffe Neck
Skunk Stink
Horse Plower
Gopher Digger
From Mozeson, Issac E. The Word: The Dictionary that reveals the Hebrew Source of English. 2000 SPI Books. New York, NY. 1st Edition
According to linguistic research by Mozeson and associates, functional Hebrew animal names can found in many if not all languages on the planet. Transliterated from Hebrew into the new tongue, the names lose their functional meaning.
We have already seen how Jesus’ name in Hebrew describes his function as our Savior. Moses in Egyptian means ‘the child”, “son” or “deliver”, Abraham means the “father of many” and Joseph means “he will add or increase.”
Beyond giving people names that describe the future mission of the person, God also uses the names intimately. He seems to respect his children wonderfully by calling them by their first names. Often the first name is used just before a profound teaching. So the following scriptures show this pattern.
JS-H 1:17,33
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other–This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
Hel 10:4-5
4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.
5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.
Enos 1:5
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
1 Ne 11:14
14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?
Mosiah 27:13
13 Nevertheless he cried again, saying: Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.
D&C 5:1,26
1 Behold, I say unto you, that as my servant Martin Harris has desired a witness at my hand, that you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., have got the plates of which you have testified and borne record that you have received of me;
26 And I the Lord command him, my servant Martin Harris, that he shall say no more unto them concerning these things, except he shall say: I have seen them, and they have been shown unto me by the power of God; and these are the words which he shall say.
Moses 1:6
6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.
D&C 8:1
1 OLIVER Cowdery, verily, verily, I say unto you, that assuredly as the Lord liveth, who is your God and your Redeemer, even so surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive a knowledge concerning the engravings of old records, which are ancient, which contain those parts of my scripture of which has been spoken by the manifestation of my Spirit.
D&C 15:1-3
1 Hearken, my servant John, and listen to the words of Jesus Christ, your Lord and your Redeemer.
2 For behold, I speak unto you with sharpness and with power, for mine arm is over all the earth.
3 And I will tell you that which no man knoweth save me and thee alone–
33 He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.
Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
In modern times the Lord shows us how careful he is to treat each of his children as part of his eternal family. In the ordinance of baptism he commands the priesthood holder to call the person being baptized by his name:
D&C 20:73 The person who is called of God and has authority from Jesus Christ to baptize, shall go down into the water with the person who has presented himself or herself for baptism, and shall say, calling him or her by name: Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
We would be missing so much in intimate powerful saving doctrine if the Lord had been more distant, aloof, and impersonal in his communications with his prophet-sons. The God of the Old and New Testaments is ever approachable, ever willing to embrace, with arms outstretched, and ever willing to wipe away the tears of those who have suffered for His sake.
KJV Matthew 11:29 Then spake Jesus, saying, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Thank God He revealed himself as a personal family friendly God by calling Joseph Smith by name in the sacred grove. The revelations to follow in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants would continue the pattern of familial intimacy and sacred naming followed by precious doctrines.