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Bible Dictionaries
Name
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Name. Genesis 2:19. This sometimes has a peculiar signification, as in Proverbs 18:10, where the term denotes God himself. See, also, Psalms 20:1; Psalms 20:5; Psalms 20:7. In the New Testament it usually means the character, faith, or doctrine of Christ. Acts 5:41; Acts 8:12; Acts 9:15; Acts 26:9. The names of God are expressive of some element of his character—are the symbol of some revealed attribute of his nature. We name him only because we know him, and we know him only because he has made himself known. Names among the Jews usually had a meaning and a relation of some peculiar circumstances in the character, birth, or destiny of the person. Exodus 2:10; Exodus 18:3-4; Matthew 1:21. The same person often had two names. Names were changed, and are still, in Eastern countries, for slight reasons. A change of office or station often occasioned a change of name. "And upon his thigh a name written." Revelation 19:16. This alludes to an ancient custom among Eastern nations of adorning the images of their gods and the persons of princes and heroes with inscriptions expressive of their character, titles, etc. They were made on the garment, or on one of the thighs, and several ancient statues have been discovered, with inscriptions of one or two lines, written sometimes horizontally and sometimes perpendicularly, both on the inside and outside of the thigh, and sometimes upon both thighs. Men surname themselves by the name of Israel, when, having been before Gentiles and sinners, they join themselves to Jesus and his church. Isaiah 44:5.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Name'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/n/name.html. 1893.
