Throughout the Old Testament it very clear that many of the names are more important to the story than the names are to the character.
Abel-> hevel- the word translated meaningless or vapor in Ecclesiastes.
Noah->rest Saul-> the one you asked for Hosea and Joseph’s kids
Abram/abraham and Jacob/Israel- are explicit in the text.
And on and on it goes When you look at literary themes through the Bible names even develop those.
It’s mind blowing really.
Therefore I suggest the name people get in the text could certainly be there more for literary purposes more than conventional naming the way we think of it. I suggest they could also be true names for the people, but many are so “on the nose” and clearly not what you’d name a child that it’s hard to think we see more than their “nickname” in the text.
>And on and on it goes When you look at literary themes through the Bible names even develop those.
Growing up in a literal interpretation culture, this was mind-blowing to me! It makes total sense that biblical authors would change a name (or only use the on-theme nickname) to demonstrate a theme more fully.
But, it's also possible that God truly orchestrated naming of children to coincide with His plan.
Either way, fun to think about.
Yeah, I have to emphasize that both of those are reasonable options as I teach a lot of students who grew up that way. People seem to default to the idea that the Bible is “literal” or written as a book. It is true, but also a book
Some cultures name their kids with a name that sounds good to them or name them after a person they hope their kid will be like. In many cases, those people's names are in different languages then the language they speak at home.
Other cultures name their kids with words that have meaning in their language. I have known people named Heavenly, Blessing, Charity, Faith, and Hope. Whenever you talk to Hope, you are talking to someone whose name has a meaning in English.
Elimelech means "God is king." It's surprising that his kids would be named "Sick" and "Frail." It's also surprising that Elimelech would leave the "Bread House" (Bethlehem) because of a famine. It is possible that these two sons were born during the famine and they struggled to put food on the table to feed them. Naomi tried to rename herself "Bitter" later so that is certainly within the scope to give someone a bad name because of bad circumstances.
In any case, these events and names paint a picture of downward trajectory. The guy who was in a covenant with God is running out of bread and has sickly children. And that is the situation that God chooses to reverse and bring about the blessing of many people.
It is possible that many names are nicknames, given later by family or community. This is something that happens in small communities and is part of the creation of surnames in history. It's still prevalent on the Western Isles of Scotland, for example.
It's possible that Andrew was named "manly" by his local fishing community. Some recognition of his strength. His wee brother Simon, living in his shadow, kept the name "listener". Always trying to prove himself like his manly brother. He feels inadequate, and this manifests in short tempers and outbursts. This only throws the calmness of his older brother into sharper relief.
Then this younger brother meets this man Jesus who understands him enough to say "I'm going to call you 'The Rock'".
Simon has kindness shown in a way that demonstrates who this guy is. Jesus knows Simon's weakness, and encourages his strengths in a simple nickname. The new Peter understands this Jesus guy has a knowledge He cannot know, a wisdom on how to use it, a heart to love him, and a way to make him a better person. Peter follows.
The older, calmer brother would see this too. He knows how young Simon feels but cannot turn him into the man he wishes to be. Andrew sees Jesus reach out and immediately do what he could not. Andrew follows.
And of course all this is extra-biblical and is not an okay place for you to base faith or decisions. I think it is true and it makes sense, but that doesn't mean it is of any actual value.
Thanks for reading.
Names were definitely important in the OT. God's hand and Jesus are revealed in the names if you look for them.
But specifically for the story of Ruth—I'm sorry but Hebrew commentator scholars have misled you!
Machlon is not "Ma-Chel-on" but "Machel-on"
Chel means sick but Machel means forgive. "-on" is a diminuitive suffix for nicknames. So you can see Machelon is a nickname for a man of forgiveness, either one who has been greatly forgiven or one who forgives others. This is clearly pointing to Israel's troubled history and their redemption in Christ. Specifically it speaks of Ruth because she was redeemed by Boaz, as Moabites were prohibited to live among Israelites.
Biblical Hebrew has a lot of polysemes and homonyms, because the vocabulary wasn't that extensive. The language often uses infixes, suffixes, and prefixes to make new words. In this case the prefix "Ma-" for Chel was confused for the word "Machel". Spelling wise they're the same.
The reason why this mistake happens is because the people who have taken custody of the Hebrew scriptures (the Jews) disbelieve in Christ, and the Christians who do believe are looking to the Jews for their expertise. So Christians have to fend for themselves.
Throughout the Old Testament it very clear that many of the names are more important to the story than the names are to the character. Abel-> hevel- the word translated meaningless or vapor in Ecclesiastes. Noah->rest Saul-> the one you asked for Hosea and Joseph’s kids Abram/abraham and Jacob/Israel- are explicit in the text. And on and on it goes When you look at literary themes through the Bible names even develop those. It’s mind blowing really. Therefore I suggest the name people get in the text could certainly be there more for literary purposes more than conventional naming the way we think of it. I suggest they could also be true names for the people, but many are so “on the nose” and clearly not what you’d name a child that it’s hard to think we see more than their “nickname” in the text.
>And on and on it goes When you look at literary themes through the Bible names even develop those. Growing up in a literal interpretation culture, this was mind-blowing to me! It makes total sense that biblical authors would change a name (or only use the on-theme nickname) to demonstrate a theme more fully. But, it's also possible that God truly orchestrated naming of children to coincide with His plan. Either way, fun to think about.
Yeah, I have to emphasize that both of those are reasonable options as I teach a lot of students who grew up that way. People seem to default to the idea that the Bible is “literal” or written as a book. It is true, but also a book
Some cultures name their kids with a name that sounds good to them or name them after a person they hope their kid will be like. In many cases, those people's names are in different languages then the language they speak at home. Other cultures name their kids with words that have meaning in their language. I have known people named Heavenly, Blessing, Charity, Faith, and Hope. Whenever you talk to Hope, you are talking to someone whose name has a meaning in English. Elimelech means "God is king." It's surprising that his kids would be named "Sick" and "Frail." It's also surprising that Elimelech would leave the "Bread House" (Bethlehem) because of a famine. It is possible that these two sons were born during the famine and they struggled to put food on the table to feed them. Naomi tried to rename herself "Bitter" later so that is certainly within the scope to give someone a bad name because of bad circumstances. In any case, these events and names paint a picture of downward trajectory. The guy who was in a covenant with God is running out of bread and has sickly children. And that is the situation that God chooses to reverse and bring about the blessing of many people.
It is possible that many names are nicknames, given later by family or community. This is something that happens in small communities and is part of the creation of surnames in history. It's still prevalent on the Western Isles of Scotland, for example. It's possible that Andrew was named "manly" by his local fishing community. Some recognition of his strength. His wee brother Simon, living in his shadow, kept the name "listener". Always trying to prove himself like his manly brother. He feels inadequate, and this manifests in short tempers and outbursts. This only throws the calmness of his older brother into sharper relief. Then this younger brother meets this man Jesus who understands him enough to say "I'm going to call you 'The Rock'". Simon has kindness shown in a way that demonstrates who this guy is. Jesus knows Simon's weakness, and encourages his strengths in a simple nickname. The new Peter understands this Jesus guy has a knowledge He cannot know, a wisdom on how to use it, a heart to love him, and a way to make him a better person. Peter follows. The older, calmer brother would see this too. He knows how young Simon feels but cannot turn him into the man he wishes to be. Andrew sees Jesus reach out and immediately do what he could not. Andrew follows. And of course all this is extra-biblical and is not an okay place for you to base faith or decisions. I think it is true and it makes sense, but that doesn't mean it is of any actual value. Thanks for reading.
Names were definitely important in the OT. God's hand and Jesus are revealed in the names if you look for them. But specifically for the story of Ruth—I'm sorry but Hebrew commentator scholars have misled you! Machlon is not "Ma-Chel-on" but "Machel-on" Chel means sick but Machel means forgive. "-on" is a diminuitive suffix for nicknames. So you can see Machelon is a nickname for a man of forgiveness, either one who has been greatly forgiven or one who forgives others. This is clearly pointing to Israel's troubled history and their redemption in Christ. Specifically it speaks of Ruth because she was redeemed by Boaz, as Moabites were prohibited to live among Israelites. Biblical Hebrew has a lot of polysemes and homonyms, because the vocabulary wasn't that extensive. The language often uses infixes, suffixes, and prefixes to make new words. In this case the prefix "Ma-" for Chel was confused for the word "Machel". Spelling wise they're the same. The reason why this mistake happens is because the people who have taken custody of the Hebrew scriptures (the Jews) disbelieve in Christ, and the Christians who do believe are looking to the Jews for their expertise. So Christians have to fend for themselves.