John Stanko

I was reading and thinking about Sarah's name change in Genesis 17:15.  That got me thinking about others whose names were changed in the Bible.  Here are the ones I can think of.  Can you come up with any others?

1.  Abram to Abraham.

2.  Sarai to Sarah

3.  Jacob to Israel

4.  Jedidiah to Solomon (I'm not sure this one counts.)

5.  Simon to Peter

6.  Joseph to Barnabas

7.  Saul to Paul

Why would God change someone's name?  Why did some change their own names?  Here are the reasons I can think of:

1.  God was helping them make an affirmation of who He wanted them to become.

2.  The person was starting a new stage in life or work.

3.  It was a symbol that God was in control.

4.  It was indicative that God was doing a deep work in their life.

5.  God was their Father and fathers have the right and duty to name their children.

6.  God's view of who they were was more important than how anyone else saw them. 

Can you think of any other possible reasons? If you can, please write and add them to this post on the site where it can be found. 

Proverbs 22:1 states, "A good name is more desirable than great riches."  So what's in a name?  Obviously, there is a lot!  It may be interesting to find out, if you don't know already, what your name actually means in the language from which it was derived.  My name is John and that is Hebrew for God's gift.  So I should try to live up to my name, don't you think?  What's more, you should, too.