Bearing God's Name

by Carmen Joy Imes

  6.For renaming as a sign of redemption, see Isaiah 58:12 (“Repairer of Broken Walls”); 60:14 (“City of Yahweh”); 61:3 (“oaks of righteousness”); 61:6 (“priests of Yahweh”); 62:4 (“Hephzibah” and “Beulah”); 62:12 (“Holy People,” “Redeemed,” and “Sought After”). For reversion to old names, see Isaiah 47:1, 5; 48:8.

  7.The Hebrew word tov describes Israel’s responsibility to do that which is good in the eyes of Yahweh as well as Yahweh’s blessing in response (“for your good”). For a longer catalog of covenant language from Deuteronomy, see Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School, 335, 343, 345, 346.

  8.The words “not,” “not,” and “oh” make a loʾ, loʾ, luʾ sequence, while the pairs “called” and “split” (niqraʾ and qaraʿta) and “name” and “heavens” (shimka and shamayim) both share two consonants. The overall effect in Hebrew is striking: loʾ niqraʾ shimka ʿaleyhem // luʾ qaraʿta shamayim. In Hebrew the chapter break comes later.

  9.Author’s translation. English translations are split over how to render 63:19. The NIV and a few others read it as a contrast between Israel and the nations: “We are yours from of old; but you have not ruled over them, they have not been called by your name.” However, if Israel’s elect status (“called by your name”) has not been lost (63:19), then the plea for a return to Sinai in 64:1 makes little sense.

  10.The New Testament book of Hebrews confirms this assessment. It reads, “If there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people” (Hebrews 8:7-8, emphasis added). The problem with the covenant is the people’s failure to keep it.

  11.2 Corinthians 3:6-10 is also a challenge. It says that the ministry of the old covenant brought death. But in what sense? Paul elsewhere affirms that “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” (Romans 7:12) so the deficiency is not with the law itself. Scott Hafemann explains, “Moses’ ministry brought about death to those who received the law (v. 7) because it declared and effected God’s sentence of condemnation on those who broke the covenant (v. 9a).” 2 Corinthians, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 150. The Sinai covenant is called “transitory” because of its constant need for renewal. The problem is not with Moses and his covenant, but with those whose hearts have not yet been transformed (2 Corinthians 3:14-16).

  8 JUST GIVE ME JESUS

  1.For discussion, see R. Kendall Soulen, The Divine Name(s) and the Holy Trinity: Distinguishing the Voices (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011).

  2.I owe this insight to Daniel Block, through personal conversation.

  3.Moises Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 2:527-29.

  4.R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 53.

  5.Raymond Brown recognizes the connection with the wider biblical theme of name-bearing when he suggests that since Jesus replaced the temple, he is now the “place where God has put His name” (cf. Deut 12:5). Brown, The Gospel According to John (XIII-XXI), Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970), 754.

  6.For a full defense of this view, see Daniel I. Block, “A Prophet Like Moses: Another Look at Deuteronomy 18:9-22,” in The Triumph of Grace: Literary and Theological Studies in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic Themes (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017), 349-73.

  7.You can read the whole story in 1 Samuel 21.

  8.The word could be translated either personally or impersonally.

  9.France, Matthew, 648.

  10.France, Matthew, 648. See Malachi 4:5 and Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

  11.France, Matthew, 644.

  12.France, Matthew, 645.

  13.Michael Harrison Kibbe, “Our Future in the Face of Jesus,” Christianity Today, July/August 2017, 68

  9 BLOB TAG

  1.See Darrell Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 118; Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 1:920-23.

  2.For an illuminating discussion, see Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 41-45. Paul also quotes Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13 with similar results. See Daniel I. Block, “Who Do Commentators Say ‘The Lord’ Is? The Scandalous Rock of Romans 10:13,” in On the Writing of New Testament Commentaries: Festschrift for Grant R. Osborne on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, ed. Stanley Porter and Eckhard J. Schnabel, Text and Editions for New Testament Study 8 (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 173-92.

  3.See Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 221-26.

  4.See Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalms 60–150, trans. Hilton C. Oswald, Continental Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), 287.

  5.It is not certain what makes the name secret. It’s possible that the idea of secrecy arose from centuries of refusal to say the name Yahweh aloud. Greg Beale insists that “secret” does not imply that the name has not yet been revealed to the elect. That is, it is not necessarily a name other than Yahweh. G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 257-58.

  6.“Jesus Prays for Himself (John 17),” sermon at Mt. Olive Evangelical Free Church, Three Hills, Alberta, March 11, 2018.

  7.We usually call him Paul, but that name is only used when he is in Greek-speaking contexts. Saul is his Jewish name. If you read Acts carefully, you’ll see that his name is not changed in this story, as is so often taught. See Stephen B. Chapman, “Saul/Paul: Onomastics, Typology, and Christian Scripture,” in The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and Theology in Honor of Richard B. Hays, ed. J. Ross Wagner, C. Kavin Rowe, and A. Katherine Greib (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 214-43.

  8.The NIV reads “proclaim my name,” but this translation obscures the connection with the theme of bearing Yahweh’s name. The word is bastazo, which means “to bear” or “to carry.”

  9.For further discussion of this phrase, see Imes, Bearing YHWH’s Name at Sinai, 49-61.

  10.Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016), 145.

  11.Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, 145.

  12.See Karen Jobes, 1 Peter, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 287.

  13.From the hymn by Thomas Chisholm, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” penned in 1923.

  14.Daniel I. Block, “Reading Galatians with Moses: Paul as a Second and Seconding Moses,” in The Triumph of Grace: Literary and Theological Studies in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic Themes (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017), 375.

  15.See Block, “Reading Galatians with Moses,” 387-90.

  16.Details regarding the seismic and eruptive activity of the volcano may be accessed in The 1980 Eruptions of Mt. Saint Helens, Washington, US Geological Survey, 1981 this US Geological Survey, https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1250/report.pdf. On Harry R. Truman, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_R._Truman and www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/05/17/mount-st-helens-people-stayed/27311467.

  17.Michael Harrison Kibbe, Godly Fear or Ungodly Failure? Hebrews 12 and the Sinai Theophanies, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 216 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2016), 215.

  18.Kibbe, Godly Fear or Ungodly Failure?, 214.

  19.For a fuller discussion, see Ryan S. Peterson, The Imago Dei as Human Identity: A Theological Interpretation, Journal of Theological Interpretation Supplement 14 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2016); Catherine L. McDowell, The Image of God in the Garden of Eden: The Creation of Humankind in Genesis 2:5–3:24 in Light of mīs pî pīt pî and wpt-r Rituals of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, Siphrut 15 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015).

  2
0.John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009).

  21.Suzanne McDonald conflates creational and covenantal election, but on the whole her theology of election is refreshing and helpful. See her Re-Imaging Election: Divine Election as Representing God to Others and Others to God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010).

  10 WHO LET YOU IN?

  1.See Exodus 19:5 for an example of this contrast.

  2.For further discussion, see C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, 2 vols., International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998), 2:724; F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, rev. ed., New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 293; Richard Bauckham, “James and the Gentiles (Acts 15:13-21),” in History, Literature, and Society in the Book of Acts, ed. Ben Witherington (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 154-84.

  3.The Hebrew reads, “that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations upon whom my Name will be invoked” (author’s translation). This could imply military domination. The Greek Septuagint reads, “that the remnant of humankind, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, may earnestly seek me.” Rather than military domination, the Greek translation suggests global conversion. Still, both versions refer to the Gentiles as those “over whom my Name is invoked,” which is the principal point on which James depends. In Hebrew, “Edom” and “humankind” are almost identical, as are “possess” and “seek,” which partly explains the Greek translation.

  4.Bauckham, “James and the Gentiles,” 169. Zechariah 2:11 is another potential example: “Many nations will join themselves to Yahweh on that day and they will be my people” (author’s translation). However, to “join themselves to Yahweh” may imply conversion to Judaism

  5.Richard Hays contends that this chapter contains the teaching of Romans in a nutshell. Hays points out that not only is Israel’s “lack of faith” in view in Deuteronomy, but also God’s plan to include the Gentiles, the very message Paul is trying to proclaim. See Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 164.

  6.Hays offers a chapter outline which is essentially the same as mine here, except he excludes verses 3-5, which I see as foundational to what follows. Hays, Echoes, 163-64.

  7.He does not use the word faith here, but in both contexts the primary sin is forsaking the worship of God and turning to idols.

  8.Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, ed. Frederick William Danker, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 945. Even if Paul’s “marks” in Galatians 6:17 are physical scars of his persecution, he knew that his sufferings were “for the sake of the name” which he “bore” (Acts 9:15-16).

  9.Moisés Silva, ed. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, rev. ed. 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 4:375-77.

  10.In English translations, it is unclear whether the angel is sealed or carries the seal. In Greek, the angel is “holding” it.

  11.I read this as a single name, that is, the divine “name above all names” bestowed on Jesus and celebrated in the confession, “Jesus is kyrios” (i.e., he is Yahweh; Philippians 2:9-11). Ephesians 1:3 provides an example of a similar grammatical structure: “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” clearly refers to one person, even though two titles are joined by “and.” For other examples, see Nigel Turner, Syntax, vol. 3 of Grammar of New Testament Greek (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1963), 335.

  12.For more on Israelite architecture, see Philip J. King and Lawrence E. Stager, Life in Biblical Israel. Library of Ancient Israel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001) 28-35.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  1.Andrew T. Le Peau and Linda Doll, Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength: An Anecdotal History of InterVarsity Press, 1947–2007 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 195.

  SIDEBAR NOTES

  5 HOW MANY HEBREWS?

  a.Colin J. Humphreys, “The Number of the People in the Exodus from Egypt: Decoding Mathematically the Very Large Numbers in Numbers I and XXVI,” Vetus Testamentum 48 (1998): 197.

  b.Terence E. Fretheim, Exodus, Interpretation (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010), 144.

  c.Humphreys, “The Number of the People in the Exodus,” 202–4, citing J. A. Knudtzon, Die El-Amama Tafeln (Leipzig, 1915), 108.66f., 133.16f.

  d.See also Colin J. Humphreys, The Miracles of Exodus: A Scientist’s Discovery of the Extraordinary Natural Causes of the Biblical Stories (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003), chapter 8. Retranslating eleph in Exodus doesn’t answer all of our questions. Humphreys is forced to conclude that later scribes misunderstood the numbers in Numbers, so that while the (hypothetical) original read that the total number of Israelites was “598 [eleph= troops] and 5 [eleph= thousands] and 550 men, and the original readers understood that there were 598 troops containing 5550 men. At a later date, when the original meaning was lost, a scribe conflated the numbers and ran together the two [eleph] figures (598 + 5), to yield 603 thousand, not realising that two different [eleph] meanings were intended.” See Humphreys, “The Number of the People in the Exodus,” 207. We have no manuscript evidence for such a misreading, but it remains a possibility. The Old Testament was translated into Greek before New Testament times, and that translation reflects these conflated numbers, so the scribal misreading would have at least coincided with the Greek translation, if not predated it.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Barrett, C. K. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. 2 vols. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998.

  Bauckham, Richard. “James and the Gentiles (Acts 15:13-21).” In History, Literature, and Society in the Book of Acts, edited by Ben Witherington, 154-84. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

  ———. Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.

  Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature. Edited by Frederick William Danker. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

  Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Commentary on the Greek Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.

  Block, Daniel I. Beyond the River Chebar: Studies in Kingship and Eschatology in Ezekiel. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2013.

  ———. Deuteronomy. NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

  ———. How I Love Your Torah, O LORD!: Studies in the Book of Deuteronomy. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2011.

  ———. “A Prophet Like Moses: Another Look at Deuteronomy 18:9-22.” Pages 349-73 in The Triumph of Grace: Literary and Theological Studies in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic Themes. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017.

  ———. The Triumph of Grace: Literary and Theological Studies in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic Themes. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017.

  ———. “Who Do Commentators Say ‘The Lord’ Is? The Scandalous Rock of Romans 10:13.” In On the Writing of New Testament Commentaries: Festschrift for Grant R. Osborne on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Stanley Porter and Eckhard J. Schnabel, 173-92. Texts and Editions for New Testament Study 8. Leiden: Brill, 2013.

  Bock, Darrell. Acts. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.

  Boling, Robert G. Joshua: A New Translation with Notes and Commentary. Anchor Bible 6. New York: Doubleday, 1982.

  Bradshaw, Paul, and John Melloh, eds. Foundations in Ritual Studies: A Reader for Students of Christian Worship. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.

  Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel According to John (XIII-XXI). Anchor Bible 29A. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.

  Bruce, F. F. The Book of the Acts. Rev. ed. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1988.

  Chapman, Stephen B. “Saul/Paul: Onomastics, Typology, and Christian Scripture.” In The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and Theology in Honor of Richard B. Hays, edited by J. Ross Wagner, C. Kavin Rowe, and A. Katherine Greib, 214-43. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.

  Clines, David J. A., ed. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. 8 vols. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1993.

  Cohn, Robert L. The Shape of Sacred Space: Four Biblical Studies. AAR Studies in Religion 23. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981.

  Cross, Frank Moore. Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973.

  Dandamaev, Muhammad A. Slavery in Babylonia: From Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626–331 B.C.). Edited by M. A. Powell and D. B. Weisberg. Translated by V. A. Powell. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 1984.

  Enns, Peter. Exodus. NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.