What's in a Name? (Genesis 11:10)
My name means Scott, or a person from Scotland. It could also mean "tattoo" which Scottish highlanders were know for. I've even read that Scott means traveler or wanderer, which fits the Scottish Highlander nomadic lifestyle. Closer to home however is my knowledge of why I was named Scott. My cousin Mark has Scott as a middle name. I was named after him... kind of. There isn't much meaning to my name for me personally, but names have meaning and sometimes the names in the Bible can be quite illuminating.
Shem was one of the sons of Noah, through whom Abraham was born. Abraham followed a call from God to Canaan. God told Abraham, "Go to the place I will show you" and Abraham went. God rewarded Abraham's obedience by promising to make him into a great nation and the father of nations. Abraham is the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The name Shem means "name, fame or glory". The people living in what is today known as Iraq decided to build a city with a tower to the heavens to make a name for themselves. They wished to be known for their city with the heaven reaching tower. Their fame would keep them together, not scattered across the land like nomadic peoples. But God decided to confuse their language so that they could not understand each other. The building project was left incomplete.
In Iraq there are a couple sites that claim to be the historical tower of Babel. Others claim these sites only point to the inspiration for the story. The story of the fabled tower of Babe, as it is presented in the Bible, is told after the great flood with Noah and his family. Shem is blessed by Noah as the one who will receive the Lord's blessing among his sons. Ham, because of his sexual indiscretion with his father Noah who was incapacitated with wine, is cursed. Actually Noah curses Ham's son Canaan.
Let's consider the names for a moment. Noah means consolation or comfort or rest. Things go back to normal after the great flood and the world is repopulated through Noah's sons and wives. Ham's son Cush was the father of Nimrod, the progenitor of the Ethiopians. Cush means black. From Cush comes peoples who will be the enemies of Israel, including the Assyrians and Babylonians. Both of these nations will destroy Israel. The northern tribes were decimated by Assyria. It's capital city, Nineveh, was built by Nimrod, the son of Cush, the son of Ham. Babel, the capital city for Babylonia was also built by Nimrod, the mighty hunter and warrior. Nimrod means rebel. He lead the peoples in arrogant agendas to ex alt themselves with the gods. Traditionally speaking, Nimrod started paganism and the worship of idols. Canaan was the father of many of the peoples that God would drive out of the Promised Land as His enemies. Canaan means lowland.
I may be making too much from it, but it seems that the name Canaan might also be heard as scum, lowlife, since he is accursed to be a slave to Shem's descendants. I don't think of these stories as having much historical accuracy, but rather the Tower of Babel story, placed after the genealogies of Ham, Shem and Japheth and before the call of Abraham, the father of nations, is an origin story to the future enemies of Israel. The story depicts the Babylonians as coming from Ham, Noah's son. Ham behaved despicably and took sexual advantage of his father in a vulnerable state. Ham bragged about to his brothers. This implies that Israel's enemies are brutes with no honor or sense of decency. They rape, murder, defile and arrogantly boast of their conquests and domination. They are lowlife scum. At least that is how Israel thinks of their enemies and depicts them in such stories.
On the other hand, Shem is the progenitor of the father of three major religions which today represents the majority of the human race. According to a 2012 count, Abraham is revered by over 4.3 billion people or 57.3% or the world's population.
Christianity 2.4 billion 33%
Islam 1.8 billion 24.1%
Agnostic/Atheist 1.2 billion 16%
Hinduism 1.15 billion 15%
Buddhism 521 million 7%
Chinese traditional 394 million 5.50%
Ethnic religions 300 million 4.19%
African traditional 100 million 1.40%
Sikhism 30 million 0.32%
Spiritism 15 million 0.21%
Judaism 14.5 million 0.20%
Abraham means exalted father. His name was indeed made great and people all over the globe know Abraham for his faith and trust in the call of God.
What do I make of this? Only that the call of God on my life is the path to blessing and glory. But it's not my glory I seek, but God's glory which God happily shares with the who love and serve God. My name is recorded, I do hope, in the Lamb's Book of Life, because I trust in the name above all names, Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, the Savior of the world.
Shem was one of the sons of Noah, through whom Abraham was born. Abraham followed a call from God to Canaan. God told Abraham, "Go to the place I will show you" and Abraham went. God rewarded Abraham's obedience by promising to make him into a great nation and the father of nations. Abraham is the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The name Shem means "name, fame or glory". The people living in what is today known as Iraq decided to build a city with a tower to the heavens to make a name for themselves. They wished to be known for their city with the heaven reaching tower. Their fame would keep them together, not scattered across the land like nomadic peoples. But God decided to confuse their language so that they could not understand each other. The building project was left incomplete.
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| Birs Nimrud at Borsippa, Iraq |
Let's consider the names for a moment. Noah means consolation or comfort or rest. Things go back to normal after the great flood and the world is repopulated through Noah's sons and wives. Ham's son Cush was the father of Nimrod, the progenitor of the Ethiopians. Cush means black. From Cush comes peoples who will be the enemies of Israel, including the Assyrians and Babylonians. Both of these nations will destroy Israel. The northern tribes were decimated by Assyria. It's capital city, Nineveh, was built by Nimrod, the son of Cush, the son of Ham. Babel, the capital city for Babylonia was also built by Nimrod, the mighty hunter and warrior. Nimrod means rebel. He lead the peoples in arrogant agendas to ex alt themselves with the gods. Traditionally speaking, Nimrod started paganism and the worship of idols. Canaan was the father of many of the peoples that God would drive out of the Promised Land as His enemies. Canaan means lowland.
I may be making too much from it, but it seems that the name Canaan might also be heard as scum, lowlife, since he is accursed to be a slave to Shem's descendants. I don't think of these stories as having much historical accuracy, but rather the Tower of Babel story, placed after the genealogies of Ham, Shem and Japheth and before the call of Abraham, the father of nations, is an origin story to the future enemies of Israel. The story depicts the Babylonians as coming from Ham, Noah's son. Ham behaved despicably and took sexual advantage of his father in a vulnerable state. Ham bragged about to his brothers. This implies that Israel's enemies are brutes with no honor or sense of decency. They rape, murder, defile and arrogantly boast of their conquests and domination. They are lowlife scum. At least that is how Israel thinks of their enemies and depicts them in such stories.
On the other hand, Shem is the progenitor of the father of three major religions which today represents the majority of the human race. According to a 2012 count, Abraham is revered by over 4.3 billion people or 57.3% or the world's population.
Christianity 2.4 billion 33%
Islam 1.8 billion 24.1%
Agnostic/Atheist 1.2 billion 16%
Hinduism 1.15 billion 15%
Buddhism 521 million 7%
Chinese traditional 394 million 5.50%
Ethnic religions 300 million 4.19%
African traditional 100 million 1.40%
Sikhism 30 million 0.32%
Spiritism 15 million 0.21%
Judaism 14.5 million 0.20%
Abraham means exalted father. His name was indeed made great and people all over the globe know Abraham for his faith and trust in the call of God.
What do I make of this? Only that the call of God on my life is the path to blessing and glory. But it's not my glory I seek, but God's glory which God happily shares with the who love and serve God. My name is recorded, I do hope, in the Lamb's Book of Life, because I trust in the name above all names, Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, the Savior of the world.
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