"What's in a Name?" More than You might Think

What's In a Name? So asked a William Shakespeare character. Apparently a great deal. When we meet someone for the first time their name is one of most important bits of information about them we receive as it provides an identifier to the mental image of the person. In some cultures a name was also supposed to tell something of the person's character or even future life as in the case of Jesus and the name "Emanuel". God was now 'with' the nation or acting in a special way as evidenced by the presence of His messiah. Which brings us to the next point: A "name" can mean a person's reputation hence Ecclesiastes 7:1 says, "A name is better than oil". Having a good name or reputation at the end of one's days was better than fine oil. Even Almighty God is sensitive to what attaches to His name, Jehovah, and thus His reputation. Ezekiel 36:22, 23 tells us He will sanctify that name and reputation among the nations. Properly then Jesus said, "You must pray, then, this way: Our Father in the heavens, Let your name be sanctified." (Matt. 6:9) Centuries before Moses had made inquiry about how he was going to explain to the captive Israelites what sort of God Jehovah is who was now taking notice of their plight. (Ex. 2:25) Moses asks how he should reply to the Israelites question: "What is his name?" "What shall I say to them?"(Ex. 3:13) Since a personal name for the God they worshiped had been in use for centuries (see Gen. chap. 16 and Gen. 4:1) this was more an inquiry concerning the character of the one who was sending Moses as a leader. Moses is instructed: "EHYEH ASHER EHYEH" in Hebrew or in English, "I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE" and he added, "This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, 'I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to you.' " (NWT) Variations of the above are used to translate Ex. 3:14 but they too show much more than just existence. For example, the Concordant Hebrew English Sublinear (CHES) as found at the website "Scripture4all" reads: "I shall become who I am becoming....I shall become has sent me to you" It is this phrase that the LXX translates into Greek as 'ego eimi ho on' or as Brenton's translation of the LXX has it, "I am THE BEING.....THE BEING has sent me to you".

I'll return to this subject later as right now my water pipes are frozen and demand some attention.

Name and reputation is important. I just couldn't help but think of Johnny Cash:

Well, my daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze
Now, I don't blame him ‘cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Sue

Well, he must o’ thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a’ lots of folk
It seems I had to fight my whole life through
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy’d laugh and I'd bust his head
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean
My fist got hard and my wits got keen
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame
But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew
At an old saloon on a street of mud
There at a table, dealing stud
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn out picture that my mother had
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye
He was big and bent and gray and old
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said, “My name is Sue! How do you do?
Now you're gonna die”

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a’ gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile
I heard him laugh and then I heard him curse
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first
He stood there lookin’ at me and I saw him smile

And he said, “Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along
So I give you that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong”

He said, “Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do
But you ought to thank me, before I die
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
‘Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you Sue

What could I do? Yeah what could I do?
I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son
And I came away with a different point of view
And I think about him, now and then
Every time I try and every time I win
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George anything but Sue I still hate that name

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