The name change to Jesus/Joshua.
Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2019 6:51 am
I still think, in agreement with Paul-Louis Couchoud, that the most natural candidate for the "name above all names" in the Jesus Hymn in the epistle to the Philippians is (in a way) the name "Jesus" itself:
The "name above all names," of course, really ought to be Yahweh, or YHWH (= the Tetragrammaton), the very pronunciation of which came to be forbidden. But the name "Jesus," or "Joshua" (same name in Greek and in Hebrew), is theophoric of Yahweh. Essentially, it is the name Hoshea/Hosea with the theophoric Yah element prefixed:
Now, Hosea/Hoshea was the original name of the Ephraimite hero Joshua/Jesus, and it is this name change, wrought by Moses, that I believe may stand behind the Jesus Hymn:
Joshua/Hoshea went from a nontheophoric name meaning "salvation" to a theophoric name meaning "Yahweh is salvation." To his original name, in other words, was added the "name above all names," and upon the man himself, therefore, was the "name above all names" literally bestowed. The Jesus Hymn looks to me to be suggesting something similar with respect to Jesus Christ. It does not give us an original name for Jesus, but it suggests, on what to me is its most natural reading, that his original name was neither theophoric in general nor "Jesus" in particular; rather, he inherited the "name above all names" at his exaltation, which may even run parallel to an observation made by Origen about Joshua's name change:
The Pentateuch does not tell us that this is the exact moment when Moses changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua, but the bare mention of the name change in Numbers 13.1-16, the list of the names of the spies, is not enough to let the attentive reader assume that Moses changed his name at the time of the spying, either, since (A) this figure is called by his new name, Joshua, already in Exodus 17.8-9, (B) he is still called by his old name, Hoshea, in Deuteronomy 32.44, and (C) lists of names are just good repositories for information about name changes; they do not necessarily mark the occasion of the name change itself.
At any rate, I think that the example of how Joshua received his name from Moses may furnish a template for how his namesake Jesus received his name from God.
YMMV.
Ben.
ETA:
Philippians 2.5-11: 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name [ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα], 10 so that at the name of Jesus [ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ] every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Hebrews 1.1-4: 1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they [ὅσῳ διαφορώτερον παρ᾽ αὐτοὺς κεκληρονόμηκεν ὄνομα].
Origen, Homilies on Joshua 1: 1 God gave the name that is above every name to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For this name that is above every name is Jesus. ....
Hebrews 1.1-4: 1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they [ὅσῳ διαφορώτερον παρ᾽ αὐτοὺς κεκληρονόμηκεν ὄνομα].
Origen, Homilies on Joshua 1: 1 God gave the name that is above every name to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For this name that is above every name is Jesus. ....
The "name above all names," of course, really ought to be Yahweh, or YHWH (= the Tetragrammaton), the very pronunciation of which came to be forbidden. But the name "Jesus," or "Joshua" (same name in Greek and in Hebrew), is theophoric of Yahweh. Essentially, it is the name Hoshea/Hosea with the theophoric Yah element prefixed:
הוֹשֵׁעַ = Hoshea = "salvation" = Αὐσή/Ὡσηέ = Hosea.
יְהוֹשׁוּעַ = Yehoshua/Joshua = "Yahweh is salvation" = Ἰησοῦς = Jesus.
יְהוֹשׁוּעַ = Yehoshua/Joshua = "Yahweh is salvation" = Ἰησοῦς = Jesus.
Now, Hosea/Hoshea was the original name of the Ephraimite hero Joshua/Jesus, and it is this name change, wrought by Moses, that I believe may stand behind the Jesus Hymn:
Numbers 13.1-16: 1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 2 “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the utterance of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. 4 These then were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun [הֹושֵׁעַ בִּן־נוּן, Αυση υἱὸν Ναυη] Joshua [יְהֹושֻׁעַ, Ἰησοῦν].
Deuteronomy 32.44: 44 Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Hoshea [הוֹשֵׁעַ] the son of Nun.
Wisdom of Sirach 46.1: 1 Jesus [Ἰησοῦς] the son of Nave was valiant in the wars, and was the successor of Moses in prophecies, who according to his name was made great for the saving [ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ] of the elect of God, and taking vengeance of the enemies that rose up against them, that he might set Israel in their inheritance.
Philo, On the Change of Names 21.121-122: 121 Thus much we have thought fit to say on this subject. But, moreover, Moses also changes the name of Hosea into that of Jesus; displaying by his new name the distinctive qualities of his character; 122 for the name Hosea is interpreted, “What sort of a person is this?” but Jesus means “the salvation of the Lord” [Ἰησοῦς δὲ σωτηρία κυρίου], being the name of the most excellent possible character [ἕξεως ὄνομα τῆς ἀριστης]; for the habits are better with respect to those persons who are of such and such qualities from being influenced by them: as, for instance, music is better in a musician, physic in a physician, and each art of a distinctive quality in each artist, regarded both in its perpetuity, and in its power, and in its unerring perfection with regard to the objects of its speculation. For a habit is something everlasting, energizing, and perfect; but a man of such and such a quality is mortal, the object of action, and imperfect. And what is imperishable is superior to what is mortal, the efficient cause is better than that which is the object of action; and what is perfect is preferable to what is imperfect.
Matthew 1.21: 21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
Justin Martyr, Dialogue 106.3: 3 And when it says that he changed the name of one of the apostles to Peter, and it is written in his memoirs that this also happened, with the nicknaming of others as well, two brothers, who were the sons of Zebedee, with the name of Boanerges, that is sons of thunder, this was a sign that it was that very same man through whom also the nickname of Jacob was given to be called Israel, and Hoshea was called Joshua by name, through whose name also the people who remained from those who had come out of Egypt went into the land promised to the patriarchs. / 3 καὶ τὸ εἰπεῖν μετωνομακέναι αὐτὸν Πέτρον ἕνα τῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ γεγράφθαι ἐν τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασιν αὐτοῦ γεγενημένον καὶ τοῦτο, μετὰ τοῦ καὶ ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς, υἱοὺς Ζεβεδαίου ὄντας, ἐπωνομακέναι ὀνόματι τοῦ Βοανεργές, ὅ ἐστιν υἱοὶ βροντῆς, σημαντικὸν ἦν τοῦ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον εἶναι, δι' οὗ καὶ τὸ ἐπώνυμον Ἰακὼβ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπικληθέντι ἐδόθη καὶ τῷ Αὐσῇ ὄνομα Ἰησοῦς ἐπεκλήθη, δι' οὗ ὀνόματος καὶ εἰσήχθη εἰς τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην τοῖς πατριάρχαις γῆν ὁ περιλειφθεὶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἐξελθόντων λαός. [Refer also to Dialogue 75.1-2; 89.1-2; 113.1-4.]
Deuteronomy 32.44: 44 Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Hoshea [הוֹשֵׁעַ] the son of Nun.
Wisdom of Sirach 46.1: 1 Jesus [Ἰησοῦς] the son of Nave was valiant in the wars, and was the successor of Moses in prophecies, who according to his name was made great for the saving [ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ] of the elect of God, and taking vengeance of the enemies that rose up against them, that he might set Israel in their inheritance.
Philo, On the Change of Names 21.121-122: 121 Thus much we have thought fit to say on this subject. But, moreover, Moses also changes the name of Hosea into that of Jesus; displaying by his new name the distinctive qualities of his character; 122 for the name Hosea is interpreted, “What sort of a person is this?” but Jesus means “the salvation of the Lord” [Ἰησοῦς δὲ σωτηρία κυρίου], being the name of the most excellent possible character [ἕξεως ὄνομα τῆς ἀριστης]; for the habits are better with respect to those persons who are of such and such qualities from being influenced by them: as, for instance, music is better in a musician, physic in a physician, and each art of a distinctive quality in each artist, regarded both in its perpetuity, and in its power, and in its unerring perfection with regard to the objects of its speculation. For a habit is something everlasting, energizing, and perfect; but a man of such and such a quality is mortal, the object of action, and imperfect. And what is imperishable is superior to what is mortal, the efficient cause is better than that which is the object of action; and what is perfect is preferable to what is imperfect.
Matthew 1.21: 21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
Justin Martyr, Dialogue 106.3: 3 And when it says that he changed the name of one of the apostles to Peter, and it is written in his memoirs that this also happened, with the nicknaming of others as well, two brothers, who were the sons of Zebedee, with the name of Boanerges, that is sons of thunder, this was a sign that it was that very same man through whom also the nickname of Jacob was given to be called Israel, and Hoshea was called Joshua by name, through whose name also the people who remained from those who had come out of Egypt went into the land promised to the patriarchs. / 3 καὶ τὸ εἰπεῖν μετωνομακέναι αὐτὸν Πέτρον ἕνα τῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ γεγράφθαι ἐν τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασιν αὐτοῦ γεγενημένον καὶ τοῦτο, μετὰ τοῦ καὶ ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς, υἱοὺς Ζεβεδαίου ὄντας, ἐπωνομακέναι ὀνόματι τοῦ Βοανεργές, ὅ ἐστιν υἱοὶ βροντῆς, σημαντικὸν ἦν τοῦ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον εἶναι, δι' οὗ καὶ τὸ ἐπώνυμον Ἰακὼβ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπικληθέντι ἐδόθη καὶ τῷ Αὐσῇ ὄνομα Ἰησοῦς ἐπεκλήθη, δι' οὗ ὀνόματος καὶ εἰσήχθη εἰς τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην τοῖς πατριάρχαις γῆν ὁ περιλειφθεὶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἐξελθόντων λαός. [Refer also to Dialogue 75.1-2; 89.1-2; 113.1-4.]
Joshua/Hoshea went from a nontheophoric name meaning "salvation" to a theophoric name meaning "Yahweh is salvation." To his original name, in other words, was added the "name above all names," and upon the man himself, therefore, was the "name above all names" literally bestowed. The Jesus Hymn looks to me to be suggesting something similar with respect to Jesus Christ. It does not give us an original name for Jesus, but it suggests, on what to me is its most natural reading, that his original name was neither theophoric in general nor "Jesus" in particular; rather, he inherited the "name above all names" at his exaltation, which may even run parallel to an observation made by Origen about Joshua's name change:
Origen, Homilies on Joshua 1: .... But in the book of Exodus I find the name Jesus for the first time, and I want to consider closely when it was first given. Scripture says, “Amalek came and was fighting against Israel, and Moses spoke to Jesus in Raphidim” (= Exodus 17.8). This is the first mention of the name Jesus. Moses said, “Choose mighty men for yourself from among all the sons of Israel, and go out and fight tomorrow with Amalek” (= Exodus 17.9). Moses acknowledges that he cannot lead the army; he acknowledges that he cannot even gather it, although he led the people out of the land of Egypt. Therefore he called Jesus and said, “Choose men for yourself and go out.” You see whom he allowed to carry on the war against Amalek. Thus we first become acquainted with the name Jesus when we see him as the leader of the army; not as one with whom Moses joined his leadership, but the one to whom Moses granted primacy. Moses was not able to choose mighty men. “You,” he says, “choose mighty men for yourself from among the sons of Israel.” Therefore, when I become acquainted with the name Jesus for the first time, I also immediately see the symbol of a mystery. Indeed, Jesus leads the army.
The Pentateuch does not tell us that this is the exact moment when Moses changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua, but the bare mention of the name change in Numbers 13.1-16, the list of the names of the spies, is not enough to let the attentive reader assume that Moses changed his name at the time of the spying, either, since (A) this figure is called by his new name, Joshua, already in Exodus 17.8-9, (B) he is still called by his old name, Hoshea, in Deuteronomy 32.44, and (C) lists of names are just good repositories for information about name changes; they do not necessarily mark the occasion of the name change itself.
At any rate, I think that the example of how Joshua received his name from Moses may furnish a template for how his namesake Jesus received his name from God.
YMMV.
Ben.
ETA:
John 17.11: 11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”
Odes of Solomon 39.8: 8 Therefore, put on the name of the Most High and know him, and you shall cross without danger, because the rivers shall be obedient to you.
Philip 11, Nag Hammadi codex 2, lines 6-10: 6-10 One single name is not uttered in the world, the name which the Father gave to the Son; it is the name above all things, the name of the Father. For the Son would not become Father unless he wore the name of the Father. Those who have this name know it, but they do not speak it. But those who do not have it do not know it. But truth brought names into existence in the world for our sakes, because it is not possible to learn it without these names.
Apocalypse of Abraham 10a: 10a And it came to pass, when I heard the voice of Him who spoke such words to me, I looked hither and thither and lo, there was no breath of a man, and my spirit was affrighted and my soul fled from me, and I became like a stone and fell down upon the earth, for I had no more strength to stand on the earth. And, while I was still lying with my face upon the earth, I heard the voice of the Holy One speaking: “Go, Jaoel (= Yahoel), and by means of my ineffable Name raise me yonder man, and strengthen him from his trembling.” And the angel came, whom He had sent to me, in the likeness of a man, and grasped me by my right hand and set me up upon my feet, and said to me, “Stand up, Abraham, Friend of God who loves you; let not the trembling of man seize you! For, lo! I have been sent to you to strengthen you and bless you in the name of God — who loves you — the Creator of the celestial and terrestrial. Be fearless and hasten to Him. I am called Jaoel by Him who moves that which exists with me on the seventh expanse upon the firmament (= Ascension of Isaiah 6.13; 7.27), a power in virtue of the ineffable Name that is dwelling in me (= Exodus 23.21).”
Clement of Alexandria, Excerpts from Theodotus 22.1-: 1 And when the Apostle said, “Else what shall they do who are baptised for the dead?” .... For, he says, the angels of whom we are portions were baptised for us. 2 But we are dead, who are deadened by this existence, but the males are alive who did not participate in this existence. 3 “If the dead rise not why, then, are we baptised?” Therefore we are raised up “equal to angels,” and restored to unity with the males, member for member. 4 Now they say “those who are baptised for us, the dead,” are the angels who are baptised for us, in order that when we, too, have the Name [τὸ ὄνομα], we may not be hindered and kept back by the Limit and the Cross from entering the Pleroma. 5 Wherefore, at the laying on of hands they say at the end, “for the angelic redemption” that is, for the one which the angels also have, in order that the person who has received the redemption may, be baptised in the same Name [τῷ αὐτῷ ὀνόματι] in which his angel had been baptised before him. 6 Now the angels were baptised in the beginning, in the redemption of the Name which descended upon Jesus in the dove and redeemed him [ἐν λυτρώσει τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐν τῇ περιστερᾷ κατελθόντος καὶ λυτρωσαμένου αὐτόν]. 7 And redemption was necessary even for Jesus, in order that, approaching through Wisdom, he might not be detained by the Notion of the Deficiency in which he was inserted, as Theodotus says. [Link.]
Odes of Solomon 39.8: 8 Therefore, put on the name of the Most High and know him, and you shall cross without danger, because the rivers shall be obedient to you.
Philip 11, Nag Hammadi codex 2, lines 6-10: 6-10 One single name is not uttered in the world, the name which the Father gave to the Son; it is the name above all things, the name of the Father. For the Son would not become Father unless he wore the name of the Father. Those who have this name know it, but they do not speak it. But those who do not have it do not know it. But truth brought names into existence in the world for our sakes, because it is not possible to learn it without these names.
Apocalypse of Abraham 10a: 10a And it came to pass, when I heard the voice of Him who spoke such words to me, I looked hither and thither and lo, there was no breath of a man, and my spirit was affrighted and my soul fled from me, and I became like a stone and fell down upon the earth, for I had no more strength to stand on the earth. And, while I was still lying with my face upon the earth, I heard the voice of the Holy One speaking: “Go, Jaoel (= Yahoel), and by means of my ineffable Name raise me yonder man, and strengthen him from his trembling.” And the angel came, whom He had sent to me, in the likeness of a man, and grasped me by my right hand and set me up upon my feet, and said to me, “Stand up, Abraham, Friend of God who loves you; let not the trembling of man seize you! For, lo! I have been sent to you to strengthen you and bless you in the name of God — who loves you — the Creator of the celestial and terrestrial. Be fearless and hasten to Him. I am called Jaoel by Him who moves that which exists with me on the seventh expanse upon the firmament (= Ascension of Isaiah 6.13; 7.27), a power in virtue of the ineffable Name that is dwelling in me (= Exodus 23.21).”
Clement of Alexandria, Excerpts from Theodotus 22.1-: 1 And when the Apostle said, “Else what shall they do who are baptised for the dead?” .... For, he says, the angels of whom we are portions were baptised for us. 2 But we are dead, who are deadened by this existence, but the males are alive who did not participate in this existence. 3 “If the dead rise not why, then, are we baptised?” Therefore we are raised up “equal to angels,” and restored to unity with the males, member for member. 4 Now they say “those who are baptised for us, the dead,” are the angels who are baptised for us, in order that when we, too, have the Name [τὸ ὄνομα], we may not be hindered and kept back by the Limit and the Cross from entering the Pleroma. 5 Wherefore, at the laying on of hands they say at the end, “for the angelic redemption” that is, for the one which the angels also have, in order that the person who has received the redemption may, be baptised in the same Name [τῷ αὐτῷ ὀνόματι] in which his angel had been baptised before him. 6 Now the angels were baptised in the beginning, in the redemption of the Name which descended upon Jesus in the dove and redeemed him [ἐν λυτρώσει τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐν τῇ περιστερᾷ κατελθόντος καὶ λυτρωσαμένου αὐτόν]. 7 And redemption was necessary even for Jesus, in order that, approaching through Wisdom, he might not be detained by the Notion of the Deficiency in which he was inserted, as Theodotus says. [Link.]