Journal

Renaming in scripture

Posted on May 26th, 2005, in the evening

I'm reading Numbers at the moment, and last night came across a fact I've never noticed before in chapter 13: Moses renames Joshua, who was originally called Hoshea!

It made me think of the other instances of renaming in scripture, wondering whether there might be a pattern. Here is the (almost certainly non-exhaustive) list I came up with off the top my head as I was trying to get to sleep (I've added references for the Bereans amongst us):

• God renames Abram "Abraham" - Gen 17:5
• God renames Sarai "Sarah" - Gen 17:15
• God renames Jacob "Israel" - Gen 32:28
• Moses renames Hoshea "Joshua" - Num 13:16
• Jesus renames Simon "Peter" - Mark 3:16, John 1:42
• The church(?) renames(?) Saul "Paul" - Acts 13:9
• Christ will rename the overcomers with a new name (specifically promised to those in Pergamum) - Rev 2:17

An initial observation is that they are all key 'entrusting' moments/relationships in salvation history: God chooses Abraham and his descendents to deal with the problem of sin; he specifically chooses Sarah's offspring; and finally chooses Israel; Moses hands the task of entering the promised land to Joshua; Jesus will continue his saving work through the disciples and particularly Peter (who later preaches at Pentecost - of note here is Jesus' emphasis of Peter's new name as the foundation on which he will build his church, e.g. in Matt 16:18); the church commissioned Paul to take the gospel to the gentiles; Christ's saving work is brought to fulfilment in those who overcome.

No doubt it's just an interesting trend, but I like that kind of thing.

Do contact me if you can think of any I've missed, or if you can see a flaw or a development.

Even as I've been typing I've thought of Daniel and his friends renamed in Babylon and Naomi renaming herself, but I'm not sure they're quite the same thing.

It might also be interesting to think about key "namings" and whether there is a difference in the kind of event. Jesus' and John the Baptist's names are very specifically given by angels; Moses is named by Pharaoh's daughter; Adam names Eve...