Surname
Surname
It seems probable, as indicated in the article Name, that originally a name was the designation of a stock or tribe-like the Grants or Howards-applied by outsiders to a group and subsequently adopted by it. When the stock increased, personal names seem to have been introduced to distinguish the different members. When the number of persons still further increased and intercourse became easier and more common, certain designations derived from some peculiarity were used to distinguish or designate different individuals. All varieties of these may be classed under the general designation surnames.
An indication of something similar to this in the naming of deities is to be found in the Roman religion.1 [Note: ERE vii. 413.] Royal personages use only their baptismal name, or the first of these when there are more than one. In Europe surnames became common in the Middle Ages, first of all among the land-owning nobles.2 [Note: Hallam, View of the Stale of Europe during the Middle Ages8, London, 1841, pp. 112, 138; Thomas Carlyle, Frederick the Great, 10 vols., do., 1872-73, i. 67.] Surnames are of rare occurrence in the OT. In the NT when a person is referred to by only one name, especially if that be a common one, identification is difficult if not impossible. Thus of John mentioned in Act 4:6 we know nothing. At least five persons are called Alexander; and of these the Alexanders referred to in Act 4:6; Act 19:33, 1Ti 1:20 are names and nothing more.
1. Surnames are to be distinguished from
(a) New names.-Apion, an Egyptian of the 2nd cent. a.d., on entering the Egyptian army, changed his name to Antonis Maximus.3 [Note: A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, Eng. tr., London, 1911, pp. 169, 170.] Similar changes are recorded of Abram, Joseph, Jacob, Solomon, Daniel, Pashhur, Tophet, and even of Jahweh Himself.4 [Note: Gen 17:5; Gen 17:15; Gen 41:45; Gen 32:28; Genesis 32 :2Sa 12:25, Dan 1:7, Jer 7:32; Jer 20:3, Hos 2:16.]
(b) Explanatory descriptions to designate anyone more clearly, derived from
(1) Trade.-In Nazareth Joseph was known as ,5 [Note: Mat 13:55.] and Jesus by the same appellation.6 [Note: Mar 6:3.] Alexander, as ,7 [Note: 2Ti 4:14.] occupied a similar position in the town in which he lived, while Simons designation, ,8 [Note: Act 9:43; Act 10:6; Act 10:32.] indicates that he was one of many who followed the occupation of a tanner.
(2) Business.-Manaen is designated as ,9 [Note: Act 13:1; for meaning see G. A. Deissmann, Bible Studies, Eng. tr., Edinburgh, 1901, p. 310, and Ramsays criticism in Exp, 7th ser., vii. [1909] 364.] Matthew as ,10 [Note: Mat 10:3.] Chuza as .11 [Note: 1 Luk 8:3; Exp, 5th ser., ix. [1899] 118.]
(3) A physical peculiarity.-A certain Simon is differentiated as ,12 [Note: Mat 26:8, Mar 14:3.] another as ,13 [Note: Act 13:1.] while a third the Church has named ,14 [Note: Act 8:9; Justin, Apol. i. 26, 56, ii. 15, Dial. 120.] though that surname is not given him either in the Acts or in Justin Martyr.
(4) Some outstanding feature in a mans life, as John ,15 [Note: Mat 3:1.] Thomas ,16 [Note: Joh 11:16; Joh 20:24; Joh 21:2.] Simon who was, but is not surnamed, .17 [Note: Luk 7:40; Luk 7:43-44.]
(5) Names of places.-Cases in which there is annexed to the name a phrase, compounded of with the name of a place, forming a designation given to a person from another town or district to distinguish him from those of the same name in the town, much as we speak of Robertson of Brighton. Examples of this are: Jesus ,18 [Note: Mat 21:11.] Joseph ,19 [Note: Mat 27:57, Mar 15:43, Luk 23:51, Joh 19:38. May Arimathaea have been the name not of a town but of an estate or even a farm?] Philip ,20 [Note: Joh 1:45; Joh 12:21.] Lazarus ,21 [Note: Joh 11:1.] Nathanael .22 [Note: Joh 21:2.]
(6) Names of relatives.-Cases in which one with a common name has annexed the name of another person with whom he is closely connected, as ,1 [Note: Mat 10:3.] ,2 [Note: Mat 10:2.] ,3 [Note: Luk 6:16, Act 1:3 (Joh 14:23, Jud 1:1).] .4 [Note: Joh 19:25.] This, however, may, in some cases, be a mere explanatory note, more akin to those in which a relationship is actually stated, as James the brother of John , 5 [Note: Act 12:2.] Mark ,6 [Note: Col 4:10.] Mary the mother of James and Joses,7 [Note: Mat 27:56, Mar 15:40; Mar 15:47; Mar 16:1.] Mary the sister of Lazarus,8 [Note: Joh 11:1.] Mary the mother of Mark , 9 [Note: Act 12:12.] Mary the mother of Jesus.10 [Note: Act 1:14. It is noticeable that neither as a title nor as a surname is the word ever applied to her. Another Mary is mentioned in Rom 16:6.]
(c) Names compounded with .-Closely akin to the foregoing is a group of names whose first component is the Aramaic word , meaning son. These are divisible into three classes:
(1) Those in which only one name is given, represented by , that is, the son of Timaeus-a word whose meaning and derivation are both uncertain.11 [Note: Mar 10:46; HDB i. 248.]
(2) Those in which the name may be a surname.-If Nathanael, mentioned only in the Fourth Gospel,12 [Note: Joh 1:45; Joh 21:2.] is the Bartholomew mentioned only by the Synoptists,13 [Note: Mat 10:3, Mar 3:18, Luk 6:14, Act 1:13.] then Nathanael bore the surname son of Talmai. Matthias the successor of Jud 1:14 [Note: Act 1:23; Act 1:26.] is called by Aphraates , and in the Syriac translation of the Church History of Eusebius this is everywhere substituted for Matthias. Nestle therefore suggested that there were two Bartholomews, one known as Nathanael, and the other as Matthias.15 [Note: ExpT ix. [1897-98] 566; see also Ramsay, Exp, 6th ser., vi. [1902] 291.] But Burkitt16 [Note: 6 F. C. Burkitt, The Syriac Forms of NT Proper Names, London, 1912, p. 23.] holds that the substitution of for Matthias is no mere palaeographical error, but that the Old Syriac Version of the Acts must have had also. This name occurs as in Josephus (Ant. XX. i.), and is, of course, the second part of the name Bartholomew. An obscure name does occur in Judges and Samuel, but is nothing more than Ptolemy in a Semitic disguise. Why the Old Syriac of Acts should have represented Matthias by this name cannot now be ascertained. Considerable interest attaches to the name Bar Jesus, a name variously spelt in the Western texts. In the Peshita there is given as an equivalent , Barshuma. This is an old family name in Edessa, but its meaning is quite unknown. The magician is also called , for so is his name translated.17 [Note: Act 13:6; Act 13:8.] Elymas may be a Greek form of alm, an Aramaic word meaning strong, or of alim, an Arabic word meaning wise,18 [Note: See E. Renan, Saint Paul, Eng. tr., New York, 1869, p. 54.] but it cannot be a translation of Bar-Jesus. Codex D reads, instead of Elymas, , meaning son of the ready, a reading adopted by Ramsay and Blass. Elymas is somewhat akin to , the reading of the Ambrosianmanuscript A in a well known passage of Josephus.19 [Note: 9 Burkitt, p. 22; HDB i. 247a; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, London, 1895, p. 73; J. Rendel Harris, Exp, 6th ser., v. [1902] 192; Jos. Ant. xx. vii. 2.]
(3) The third class carries us into-
2. Genuine surnames
Among these are (a) patronymics, as those in which there is added to the name another name compounded with . Joseph the Cyprian Levite is by the apostles, that is, son of Nebo.20 [Note: 0 Act 4:36; Deissmann, Bible Studies, pp. 187 ff., 307 ff.; ExpT x. [1898-99] 233.] It has been suggested that this surname was given to distinguish him from Joseph , a name meaning most probably Saturdays child. He had also, according to a common custom, adopted the Roman name of Justus.1 [Note: Act 1:23; HDB i. 247; Exp, 6th ser., v. 414, n. 3; Burkitt, p. 6.] He may have been a brother of Judas .2 [Note: Act 15:22; Act 15:33; NABCDEL read , but HP .] In this connexion the name Barabbas deserves notice. The Sinaitic (and Palestinian) Syriac version, some good minuscules, and Manuscripts known to Origen read: Whom will ye that I release unto you? Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?3 [Note: Mat 27:16-17; HDB i. 245. This reading, which is supported by v. 22, is adopted by R. C. Trench, Studies in the Gospels4, London, 1878, p. 306; E. Renan, Life of Jesus, Eng. tr., do., 1873, p. 279 (who thinks that the correct reading is Bar-Abba, or Bar-Rabban); and J. Moffatt, The NT: A New Translation3, do., 1914. Note the use made of this by J. M. Robertson, Christianity and Mythology2, do., 1910, p. 367, and the reply of C. Clemen, Primitive Christianity and its Non-Jewish Sources, Edinburgh, 1912, p. 185, and J. G. Frazer, GB3, pt. vi., The Scapegoat, London, 1913, p. 419.]
(b) Additional names.-From the want of surnames arises the difficulty of identifying different individuals having the same name, as the various Symeons and Simons mentioned in the NT. is translated in the Septuagint 4 [Note: Gen 29:35.] and the NT by . There was a genuine Greek name closely resembling it, , and this was often substituted for .5 [Note: Sir 50:1.] It was one of the commonest names among the Jews, twelve being mentioned in the NT. Of these, we know nothing of Symeon of Luk 3:30, of Simon the brother of our Lord,6 [Note: Mat 13:55, Mar 6:3.] or, except one incident, of Symeon of Jerusalem,7 [Note: Luk 2:25.] Simon the Cyrenian,8 [Note: Mat 27:32, Mar 15:21, Luk 23:26.] or Simon the Pharisee.9 [Note: Luk 7:36; Luk 7:40.] We have already noticed Simon the tanner, and Simon Magus, but by far the most outstanding bearer of the name was the Apostle. His father was called or .10 [Note: 0 Mat 16:17, Joh 1:42; Joh 21:15-17.] The former may have been a contraction of the latter, or he may have borne a double name, -. The Apostle himself would seem originally to have borne the common Jewish name as transliterated into Greek . This is the reading of Act 15:14; and 2Pe 1:1 opens with the words , which is the reading of AKLP, being found in B5. The name of Simon Magus is spelt (Smn) in Syriac, as distinguished from Simon Peter and Simon the Tanner, who are given the same name as Simeon (, Shimn) the Patriarch,11 [Note: 1 Burkitt, p. 6.] but owing to Greek influence there is little doubt that would be frequently, if not commonly, used. He seems to have been distinguished from other Simons by the name ,12 [Note: Joh 1:43.] or, more shortly, .13 [Note: Joh 21:15-17.] In Mat 16:17 he is called . This form may be either a contraction of the former or an instance of a double name, the Apostles father, in accordance with the custom of the time, having added the Greek name , as being similar to his own proper name .14 [Note: HDB ii. 676.] According to the Fourth Gospel, Jesus on His first meeting with Simeon said to him: Your name is to be , the Evangelist adding .15 [Note: Joh 1:43(42)] The Hebrew , Chald. , is in Greek , but neither of these names is borne by any other person in the NT save the Apostle. The Syriac is not a transliteration at all, but the Syriac for stone: the translator, or possibly Syriac Church custom, recognized that S. Peters name was Simon Stone, and they called him, where necessary, by this appellative.16 [Note: Burkitt, p. 5.] The name is not used in the Gospels or the Acts. It is used alone by St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians,1 [Note: 1Co 1:12; 1Co 3:22; 1Co 9:5; 1Co 15:5.] and in Galatians 2 [Note: Gal 1:18, but DEFGKLP read ; 2:9, but DEFG read ; 2:11, but DEFGKL read ; 2:14, but DEFGKLP read .] Hort was of opinion that was a form of , but that is not the case.3 [Note: ExpT x. 185.] In the list of the Twelve the Apostle is called ,4 [Note: Mat 10:2.] ,5 [Note: Mar 3:15.] .6 [Note: Luk 6:14.] We find, then, six distinct appellations-Simon,7 [Note: Mat 17:25.] Simeon,8 [Note: Act 15:14.] Simon Barjona,9 [Note: Mat 16:17.] Peter,10 [Note: 0 Mat 8:14.] Simon called Peter,11 [Note: Mat 4:18.] Simon Peter.12 [Note: Mat 16:16.]
(c) Adjectival names.-These may be still further divided into
(1) Those derived from the name of a place.-In the NT seven persons bear the name of , the Greek equivalent of . Among these are an ancestor of Jesus,13 [Note: 3 Luk 3:30.] Judas of Damascus,14 [Note: Act 9:11.] Judas or Jude, a brother of Jesus,15 [Note: 5Mat 13:55, Mar 6:3.] Judas distinguished as not Iscariot,16 [Note: Joh 14:22.] probably the same as Judas ,17 [Note: 7 Luk 6:16, Act 1:13.] and Judas Barsabbas, who has already been noticed. But of the seven the most notable is Judas the traitor. In regard to his surname, scholars are now practically agreed that the term translated Iscariot is the Greek for .18 [Note: 8 But see W. B. Smith, in HJ ix. [1911] 531, 892.] The reading 19 [Note: Joh 6:71, 12:4, 13:2, 26, 14:22, all of D.] clearly indicates a place. If a place be meant, what is its correct designation? The Manuscripts oscillate between ,20 [Note: Mar 3:9, Luk 6:16, both in D, and Joh 6:71 in BCGL.] ,21 [Note: Mar 3:9 in BCL, Luk 6:16 in BL, Mat 10:4 in C.] ,22 [Note: Mat 10:4 in D.] and ,23 [Note: Mat 10:4, etc., also the readings in and D noted under 19.] but the reading seems clearly preferable.24 [Note: 4 E. Nestle and F. H. Chase, ExpT ix. 140, 189, 240, 285.] Kerioth can scarcely be of Moab,25 [Note: 5 Jer 48:24; Jer 48:41, Amo 2:2.] and is much more likely to be of Judah,26 [Note: Jos 15:25, HJ ix. 531.] meaning the twin cities or twin fortresses. It is identified with a place variously spelt Kuryetein,27 [Note: 7 E. Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine, 3 vols., London, 1841, ii. 472.] Kuryezein,28 [Note: 8 E. H. Palmer, The Desert of the Exodus , 2 vols., Cambridge, 1871, map to vol. ii.] and Karjetein,29 [Note: 9 HDB ii. 836.] 4; miles to the N.W. of Arad. Conder, indeed, founding upon the reading in D of Joh 12:4, etc., , thinks that the place indicated is Ischar, which (according to the Samaritan Chronicle) was the old name of the present Askar, near Jacobs well, the Sychar of Joh 4:5. In that case Judas most probably was a Samaritan.30 [Note: 0 PEFSt, April 1905, p. 157; HDB iv. 635.] The reference to the Traitor in the Fourth Gospel31 [Note: 1 Jn 6:71 in BCGL, 12:4 A(E)IKM, 13:2, 25 BLM.] would indicate that his father bore the surname , which he transmitted to his son.
Another of the disciples of Jesus is designated ,32 [Note: Mat 10:4 BCDL, Mar 3:18 KABCDL.] or ,33 [Note: Mar 3:18 ATH.] and the same person is designated by Luke34 [Note: Luk 6:15, Act 1:13.] and . is the transliteration of the Hebrew , the Cananaean, and is to be distinguished from, though it may be connected with, the geographical term Canaanite. In Syriac this surname is rendered , and so is properly distinguished from the Canaanite woman (), who is .1 [Note: Burkitt, p. 5.] The Cananaeans or Zealots were a well-known Jewish sect.2 [Note: Schrer, HJP i. [Edinburgh, 1890] ii. 80, 177, 229; HDB i. 348; Jos. BJ iv. iii. 9, 13, 14, iv. 5, v. 1, vi., vii.; ExpT xxvi. [1914-15] 341 f.]
The name Mary, in Hebrew , in Greek or , seems to be used in the NT of eight persons.3 [Note: Exp, 7th ser., viii. [1909] 58, 307; HDB iii. 278.] Of these Mary the mother of James, Mary of Clopas, the other Mary, are generally admitted to be the same person indicated by different designations. Mary the sister of Lazarus, Mary the mother of Mark, Mary saluted by St. Paul, Mary the mother of Jesus, have been already referred to. There remains the eighth, Mary of Magdala, . This is the form found in Matthew , 4 [Note: Mat 27:55; Mat 27:61; Mat 28:1.] Mark , [Note: Mar 15:40; Mar 15:47; Mar 16:1-9.] and John , [Note: Joh 19:25; Joh 20:1; Joh 20:18.] while Lk. uses the form Daniel , [Note: Luk 8:2.] and .8 [Note: Luk 24:10; there is a difference in the MSS, some reading , others ; some also read .] Most probably she got this surname from being a native or resident in Magdala, or Magadan, now Mejdel, a short distance from Tiberias.9 [Note: But see HDB iii. 202.]
Mention is made in Act 5:37 of , Judas the Galilaean, a surname derived from the fact that he was a native of that province,10 [Note: Jos. Ant. xviii. i. 1-6, xx. v. 2, BJ ii. viii. 1, xvii. 8, 9, vii. viii. 1.] though Josephus in one passage rather indicates that he came from Gamala, which lies east of Galilee.11 [Note: Jos. Ant. xviii. i. 1; Schrer, HJP i. ii. 4, 80.]
In Act 13:1 among the teachers and prophets of Antioch mention is made of . He may or may not have been the same person as is mentioned in Rom 16:21, but at any rate he was a fellow-countryman of .12 [Note: Mat 27:32, Mar 15:21, Luk 23:26; some MSS have in the latter case ; R. C. Trench, Studies in the Gospels4, p. 144.]
The purple-seller whom St. Paul met at Philippi was named .13 [Note: Act 16:14; Act 16:40.] That may have been the womans proper name, but was most probably, as Ramsay hints, a designation from the district of Lydia, of which Thyatira was an important town. If this be so, it accounts for the fact that in his Epistle to the Philippians St. Paul does not mention her, though it is possible that she was Euodia or Syntyche.14 [Note: 4 HDB iii. 176 f.]
(2) Those derived from other sources.-Various explanations have been given of a surname Boanerges given by our Lord to James and John, and applied to them but once.15 [Note: Mar 3:17.] None of these is very satisfactory, but by far the most likely is that the two were not merely brothers but twins, and that, since the superstitions attached to twins and the worship of the Dioscuri were well known, something in character, conduct, or appearance caused Jesus to give them the surname sons of the Sky.16 [Note: 6 Exp, 7th ser., iii. [1907] 146; ExpT xxv. [1913-14] 100 f., xxvi. 45 f., 236 f.] The strange ideas associated with twins remind us of another disciple whose name we do not know, though we know his surname. In three passages in the Fourth Gospel17 [Note: Joh 11:16; Joh 20:24; Joh 21:2.] reference is made to an apostle . Thomas is not, as it has become, a personal name; it is simply the Aramaic word for twin. is transliterated into Greek as , and is a Greek translation of the word. In the Acta Thomae he is called Judas Thomas, and very early18 [Note: 8 In the Sinaitic Syriac Gospels, discovered by Mrs. Lewis, Judas, the brother of our Lord, and Thomas are identified in Joh 14:22; HDB iv. 753; Exp, 7th ser., iii. 381; ExpT xiv. [1902-03] 397 ff., xvii. [1905-06] 338.] a legend arose that he was the twin brother of Jesus.
In Mat 10:3 a disciple is named according to NB, but C2EFGHKLM have . Mar 3:18 has , D reading . Luk 6:16, Act 1:13 have . There seems, from a collocation of these passages, to be only one person meant, but, the meaning of the two names being at present quite doubtful, the reason of the triple name is impossible to determine. He may be the Judas not Iscariot of Joh 14:22.1 [Note: HDB iv. 741.]
3. The surnames of our Lord.-These are of special interest and of special difficulty. (a) Those derived from some word like Nazar.-(1) One theory connects this word with the place-name variously spelt , , , , . Mat 4:13 and Luk 4:16, where has the support of B, are not in Mk., and therefore are most probably taken from Q. If that be so, was most probably the spelling of Q. The note of universality in our Lords teaching and His freedom from the restrictions of Jewish legalism have naturally raised questions as to His nationality and descent. Renan, in pointing out that the Galilaeans were a mixed race, declares it impossible to ascertain what blood flowed in his veins,2 [Note: Quoted by David Smith in Religion and the Modern Mind, London, 1908, p. 171.] while Gwatkin cautiously says, The Gospel sprang up on Jewish soil, its Founder was a Jew, though only a Jew of Galilee.3 [Note: M. Gwatkin, The Knowledge of God2, Edinburgh, 1908, ii. 55.] It has been suggested that Nazareth, or, better, some name which underlies that corrupt form, is an old synonym of Gll, i.e. Galilee, but that supposition is contradicted by the fact that it is clearly stated that Nazareth was a town in Galilee, situated on a hill.4 [Note: Mat 2:23, Mar 4:29; cf. Joh 1:45-46; HJ ix. 892; Burkitt, p. 17.] The effort to find a more probable solution has led to a discussion of the connexion of Jesus with Nazareth, along two lines. One set of scholars, anxious to prove Jesus an Aryan, insist that He was born in Nazareth.5 [Note: ExpT xxii. [1910-11) 4, xx. [1908-09] 531. This was the view of Joseph Priestley; see H. McLachlan, The NT in the Light of Modern Knowledge, London, 1914, p. 229.] That He was not a Jew was argued by Emile Burnouf.6 [Note: Transactions of the Third International Congress for the History of Religions, Oxford, 1908, i. 304.] Ihering says, From the very commencement there is a touch of the Aryan in him. Some have tried to account for this link between him and the Aryans by accepting his descent from an Aryan father.7 [Note: Rudolph von Ihering, The Evolution of the Aryan, London, 1897, p. 241.] Cheyne quotes with approval the words of Percy Gardner, According to all historical probability, Jesus of Nazareth was born at Nazareth.8 [Note: EBi ii. 1631.] Very strong support has been given to this in various papers by Paul Haupt.9 [Note: ExpT xx. 531, xxii. 4; Transactions, p. 303.] Evidence in its favour is found in the fact that on one occasion, we are told, Jesus went and preached .10 [Note: 0 Mat 13:54; Mat 13:57, Mar 6:1.] This is rendered in Authorized Version and Revised Version , English and American, into his own country; in the 20th Century NT (2London, 1904), his own part of the country; in R. F. Weymouths translation (The NT in Modern Speech, London, 1903), His own country, with this added note, literally, fatherland; while J. Moffatt in his Historical NT (2Edinburgh, 1901) translates accurately his own native place. and in his translation of the NT his native place. The words of Mk. are very significant, as in the Second Gospel no account is given of our Lords birth, and no mention is made of Bethlehem; and this significance is intensified if the passage was taken by the writer of the First Gospel from Mark. If Jesus was born in Nazareth, His surname with gains significance and force, as .1 [Note: Mat 21:11 (cf. Joh 1:45-46), Act 10:33; D omits , BCDEHK read , FGLM , .] But this connexion of Jesus and Nazareth must not be held as settled, for another group of scholars take quite a different view and carry on the discussion along another line. (See W. M. Ramsay, Was Christ born at Bethlehem?, London, 1898.)
One set are doubtful if any such place as Nazareth existed. They point out that no town bearing that name is mentioned in the OT or Josephus, and that, although the Talmud mentions sixty-three towns in Galilee, it mentions none bearing that name till as late as a.d. 900.2 [Note: HJ ix. 867; EBi iii. 33:60; ExpT xxii. 4.] If there be left out of consideration the narrative of the address at the opening of the Ministry in the Synagogue at Nazara, a narrative peculiar to S. Luke, and apparently composed by him out of Mar 6:1-5 together with some very probably genuine sayings of our Lord which he took from another source, there is nothing whatever in the New Testament to individualize Nazareth at all beyond the mere letters of its name. The fact is, that the identification of the Gospel or with a place spelt is a piece of early Christian archaeology, rather than of primitive tradition.3 [Note: Burkitt, p. 17.] Burkitt further points out in regard to the wce pronounced on Chorazin, Bethsaida, Tyre and Sidon, and Capharnahum, that, while Bethsaida and Capharnahum were the centres of our Lords ministry, no mention is made of any work in Khorazin, while in Nazara Jesus had actually been rejected; and with some misgivings he ventures to suggest4 [Note: 17-18; HJ ix. 892; Luk 10:13-15, Mat 11:20-24.] that the name Nazareth may have arisen from a literary error, and that we ought to consider the possibility that the city of Joseph and Mary, the of Jesus, was Chorazin.
W. B. Smith, founding on the fact that the Tell el-Amarna tablets and the Annals of Tiglath-Pileser III. mention a town, Hinatuni, which means defence, protection, argues that to this ancient town a new name Nazareth, also meaning defence, was given; and, as Nazareth did not, as we shall see, yield the requisite adjective, it was written Nazara.5 [Note: HJ ix. 541, 865.] Cheyne (who identifies Hinatuni with Hannathon) denies that either name means defence, and Conder identifies Hannathon with Kefr Ann in Upper Galilee.6 [Note: , p. 892; HDB ii. 299.] But from a place or the adjectival surnames of Jesus- and 7 [Note: in Mar 1:24 (AC read ) 14:67, 16:6, (LAK read ), Luk 4:34; Luk 18:37 (with D) 24:19 (ADIP read ). Joh 18:5 (with D); in Mat 2:23; Mat 26:71, Luk 18:37 (D reads ), Joh 18:5 (D reads ) 18:7, 19:19, Act 2:22; Act 3:6; Act 4:10; Act 6:14; Act 22:8; Act 26:9; Act 9:5 (with ACE) 24:5.] -cannot be derived. Burkitt says,8 [Note: Burkitt, pp. 18, 21, 24.] it is not easy to understand the form in any case, but the difficulty is greater if we have to make it an adjective denoting an inhabitant of Nazara or Nazareth. The name of the place in the Syriac Texts is written , vocalized Nrath in the Peshita, the adjectives and being rendered by . Here it is to be noted that stands for , but in hardly any other instance is this the case; the equivalent of is not but 1.9 [Note: Nestle says all examples for the transition of into = 1 are not to the mark (ExpT xix. [1907-08] 524); E. A Abbott (The Fourfold Gospel: the Beginning, Cambridge, 1914, p. 324) differs.] If, then, the town was , the Greek should be or .
(2) This fact has given rise to two theories.
(i.) The theory which connects the word with (from , to separate, consecrate, purify), meaning the consecrated one. The Nazirites were a Jewish sect.1 [Note: HDB iii. 497 ff.; Num 6:1-21; Jos. BJ ii. xv. 1; W. R. Smith, RS2, London, 1894, pp 332, 482; H. Schultz, OT Theology, Edinburgh, 1892, i. 161, 401; Abbott, p. 311.] John the Baptist was a Nazirite; Jesus was not a full Nazirite.2 [Note: Mat 11:19, Luk 7:34, a passage not in Mk.] Burkitt throws out the suggestion3 [Note: 18.] that Nazoraean was a nickname, meaning possibly this odd sort of Nazarite-one who calls for repentance, and yet eats and drinks like other folk. The true origin of nicknames is easily lost, and it may have been supposed that the name referred to some place in Galilee. Abbott, while unable to support Burkitts idea that is made to represent the Semitic , heartily agrees with his dictum that the ordinary view of Nazareth is wholly unproved and unsatisfactory.4 [Note: Burkitt, p. 18; Abbott, p. 324.] He favours another solution-
(ii.) The theory which connects the word with a root, , meaning flowering, growing. Mat 2:23 says that Joseph came and dwelt in a town called that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet he shall be called . But cannot be derived from . Before the age of Jesus there was a belief that the Messiah would be or Rod of Jesse of Isa 11:1. The Targum paraphrases , branch, as Messiah, so that it need not surprise us if among the Messianic names in the first century the Branch of the Tree of Jesse became familiar and popular so that the Messiah might be hailed as Ntzer.5 [Note: Abbott, pp. 309, 315.] Hence when Jesus became famous as a healer the people began to play on the words Nazarene and Nazoraean, and His disciples, who felt His residence from childhood in Nazareth had been ordained to fulfil a Messianic prophecy that He should be called a Nazoraean, connected some form of Nazareth or Nazara with a form of Ntzer, a word used in prophecy to indicate the Messiah. Thus Jesus the Nazarene, i.e. the man of Nazareth, became known as Jesus the Nazoraean, i.e. the Ntzer, the Lifegiver and Healer.6 [Note: , p. 309.] Abbott supports this by several lines of evidence. Taking such passages as Mar 1:24 = Luk 4:34, where the demoniac addresses our Lord as , he contends that Nazoraean in a Messianic sense is much more appropriate than Nazarene, a name referring to an obscure place Nazareth, and that this was used by the demoniac, but wrongly rendered by Mark 7 [Note: 310.] Mar 14:67 reads .8 [Note: Mat 26:69 reads .] Mat 26:71 reads .9 [Note: Mar 14:69 reads .] Abbott argues: if Nazoraean, meaning Ntzer, was regularly used about Jesus by His Galilean followers in Jerusalem, it would naturally be repeated by the Roman soldiers, and afterwards by Gentiles in general, as a mere place-name-Nazoraean being regarded by Mark and other Greek writers as an inaccurate form of Nazarene. 10 [Note: 0 Abbott, p. 314.] Again, the Talmud calls Jesus or His followers Ntzri. This does not resemble Nazara. But it closely resembles a form of branch (Ntzer) extant in the text of Ben Sira-the branch of violence shall not be unpunished. And it is easy to believe that the Jews parodied a form of Ntzer, to distinguish the Branch of the Christians from that true Ntzer of Jesse which God might call the branch of my planting. Thus the Talmud, as far as it goes, favours Ntzer, not Nazara.11 [Note: 1 Ib., p. 318.] Again, while Jesse in Jewish mystical thought is typical of old age, the shoot growing up from the root of Jesse indicates life and vigour, and would suggest thoughts of strengthening, healing, vivification, resurrection; and it is most significant that the first proclamation of the gospel concerns , the first miracle is done , and the title which our Lord used when He spoke to St. Paul on the Damascus road was .1 [Note: Abbott, pp. 315, 320; Act 2:22; Act 3:6; Act 4:10; Act 22:6.] Most readers-if they approach these stirring announcements with a desire to realize them as if hearing them for the first time-will feel (I think) that there would be something flat in the mention of the Nazoraean if it only meant born at Nazara,-a name suggesting Where is it?-but that it would sound an inspiriting and stirring note if it also alluded to the ever-living Prince of Life, the Ntzer, the Branch of the Lords Planting. 2 [Note: , p. 320.] Finally, Abbott argues that, when Nazara, Ntzer, Nazr were transliterated into Greek in Marks Gospel, they were inevitably confused. Eusebius did confuse them, Jerome actually indicates that Nazirite was an early interpretation of Matthews Nazoraean, while Tertullian takes as applied to Jesus in Luk 4:34 to mean Nazirite and then applies that term, in this sense, to the Christians.3 [Note: , p. 311.] In this connexion the words of the demoniac (Mar 1:24, ) are significant. The Holy One of God (Jdg 13:7; Jdg 16:17) is rendered . The words of the demoniac may indicate a tradition that called Jesus Nazir instead of Ntzer and that took Nazir to mean holy one of God, and in recording the words Mark might naturally add-in accordance with his frequent habit of combining two interpretations-thou Nazirite of God in the sense of thou holy one of God. 4 [Note: , p. 313.]
A consideration of the evidence for and against these two theories shows at least the need of a thorough philological and historical investigation of the terms and their use before an answer can be given to the question which Nestle propounded, did not the whole tradition of Jesus living at Nazareth, and being called after that town, arise from a misunderstanding of this designation Nazarene?5 [Note: ExpT xix. 524.]
(b) .-Another surname of our Lord is that of . Throughout His earthly life our Lord bore the simple name . But in His time there was a general feeling of the approach of the Messiah: a Hebrew official title meaning one anointed for a special office, the Greek equivalent of which was . Whether any person was was a question the answer to which depended on evidence. It was disputed whether or not John the Baptist was .6 [Note: Luk 3:15-16.] Whether or not Jesus was was also disputed. His disciples came to believe that He was;7 [Note: Mat 16:16.] His enemies ridiculed the idea.8 [Note: Mat 27:17, Joh 9:22.] But by the time the Gospels were written His followers had come to call Him ,9 [Note: Mat 1:1; Mat 1:18, Mar 1:1, Joh 1:17; Joh 17:3; in Mat 23:10 the reference is Impersonal.] and to describe Him as .10 [Note: 0 Mat 1:16; in Mar 1:34 the reading of BCGLM is clearly an addition, and in Mat 23:8 is a gloss.] In this way became a surname, and finally passed into a distinct personal name.11 [Note: 1 As in Mar 9:41.]
Other two names applied to our Lord may be either surname or title-
(c) .-The primitive Semitic conception of God was embodied in , and the different aspects of were expressed by additions, one of which was .12 [Note: 2 ERE i. 664; HDB ii. 198; Schultz, OT Theology, ii. 128.] The assertion13 [Note: 3 F. Hommel, Ancient Hebrew Tradition as illustrated by the Monuments, Eng. tr., London, 1897, p. 157.] that there must have been a Western Semitic deity who was known by this name lacks proof, but the incident in Genesis 14 indicates the worship of a god bearing that title, to which further support is given by a statement of Philo of Byblus.1 [Note: HDB iii. 450.] The title would seem to have been assimilated by , and the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews 2 [Note: Heb 13:18.] practically identifies this deity with . God the Highest was a widespread pagan expression.3 [Note: Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller, p. 215.] In the NT God is named ,4 [Note: Luk 1:35.] John the Baptist was designated ,5 [Note: Luk 1:76.] the beneficent and helpful are called ,6 [Note: Luk 6:35.] Stephen in his speech before the Sanhedrin emphasized the omnipresence of , His superiority to Jewish conceptions of Him, and His exaltation over the gods of paganism by naming Him .7 [Note: Act 7:48.] The slave girl of Philippi describes St. Paul and Silas as servants 8 [Note: Act 16:17.] . In the Annunciation the angel, while instructing Mary to name her child , announces that He will be called .9 [Note: Luk 1:32.] He is, however, never so called, the only approach to it being the words of the Gergesene demoniac, who salutes Him as .10 [Note: Mar 5:7, Luk 8:28.]
(d) .-This name is mentioned in a passage in the First Gospel11 [Note: Mat 1:23.] where the writer quotes a prediction from Isa 7:14, and applies the words his name will be called , as indicating that the name and what was said of the child there was true and would be fulfilled in Marys son; but so far as the Gospels go this name was never given to Jesus.
4. Roman surnames.-The conquest of Palestine by the Romans and the dispersion of the Jews throughout the Empire caused a considerable number of them to adopt Gentile names. Thus a certain Jesus adopted the surname Justus.12 [Note: Col 4:11.] If Levi13 [Note: 3 Mar 2:14, Luk 5:27; Luk 5:29.] be Matthew, then it would seem that the tax collector dropped his name of Levi and assumed that of Matthew on his becoming an apostle. A companion of St. Paul named John seems to have assumed the Roman name Marcus.14 [Note: Act 12:12; Act 12:25; Act 13:5; Act 13:13; Act 15:37; Act 15:39 etc; ExpT xxvi. 372.] At Corinth St. Paul lodged with one Titus or Titius Justus, about whose name there is very much variation in the Manuscripts .15 [Note: Act 18:7; HDB ii. 829; Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller, p. 256.] The most distinguished personage who adopted a Roman name was the Apostle to the Gentiles. Deissmann has shown that the alteration in the name in Act 13:9 is due to the writer of the Acts, and that it had no reference to the proconsul but simply indicated that Saul, like many Jews and Egyptians of his time, had a double name chosen by him very probably because of resemblance in sound.16 [Note: 6 Act 13:9; Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 313, with the references therein to 1 and 2 Mac. and Jos.; Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller, p. 81; HDB iii. 697.]
Literature.-This has been sufficiently indicated throughout the article.
P. A. Gordon Clark.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Surname
Names were at first expressive, as those of Scripture. According to Du Cange, surnames were originally written, not after the Christian-name, but above it, and so were supernomina over names. The first or Christian name is usually given at baptism. Hereditary surnames did not exist in England till after the Norman Conquest. They are taken from locality, as Field or Forest from occupation, as Fisher or Miller, Pilgrim or Palmer; from personal qualities, as Black or Brown; from natural objects, as. Lemon or Lamb, Peel or Hog, Steel or Jewel, etc. As distinct from the surname, the sirname or sire’s name is a natural addition, with son, Mac, or Fitz, O, ap, wich, or sky (all signifying son); as Donaldson or Macdonald, Fitzgerald, O’Connell, Alexandrowich, Petrousky ap Howel becoming Powel, and ap Richard becoming Prichard.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Surname
surnam (, kanah; , epikalen): A word derived from the French., meaning an additional name; in modern English always the family name of a person. Indeed, the spelling surname in the King James Version 1 Macc 1:10; 2:2; 6:43 may be due to a confusion with sire’s name. But the custom of family names was entirely unknown among the Hebrews. The word is used twice in the King James Version of the Old Testament, namely, Isa 44:5; Isa 45:4. The Hebrew word means to give flattering or honorary titles. In the former passage foreigners are so envious of the prosperity of the Jews that they are anxious to be surnamed by the name of Israel, i.e. to be enrolled as members of the Jewish nation. In the latter case Yahweh gives Cyrus an honorary title, namely, servant of Yahweh, and thus appoints him to be His instrument in the restoration of His people. The same word is rendered in Job 32:21, the King James Version give flattering titles. Elihu declares his intention to examine the situation without fear or favor. He will not allow such high-sounding titles as Your Worship or My Lord to stand in his way. He will not be overawed by Job’s social position. In the New Testament the word is used in the case of Peter – Simon whose surname is Peter (Act 10:5, Act 10:32; Act 11:13); of Mark – John whose surname was Mark (Act 12:12, Act 12:25; Act 15:37); of Judas – surnamed Iscariot (Luk 22:3); of Barsabbas – who was surnamed Justus (Act 1:23); and of Judas – surnamed Barsabbas (Act 15:22). It was a widespread custom in the ancient world to give honorary and symbolical titles. our Lord surnamed Simon Peter (Mar 3:16), and James and John Boanerges (Mar 3:17). Act 15:37 the King James Version has surname for the simple call (so the Revised Version (British and American)).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Surname
In scripture this means an additional or added name, not a family name, as the word now implies. Isa 44:5; Isa 45:4; Mat 10:3: Mar 3:16-17; etc.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Surname
“to put a name upon” (epi, “upon,” kaleo, “to call”), “to surname,” is used in this sense in the Passive Voice, in some texts in Mat 10:3 (it is absent in the best); in Luk 22:3, in some texts (the best have kaleo, “to call”); Act 1:23; Act 4:36; Act 10:5, Act 10:18, Act 10:32; Act 11:13; Act 12:12, Act 12:25; in some texts, Act 15:22 (the best have kaleo).
Notes: (1) In Mar 3:16-17, “He surnamed” is a translation of epitithemi, “to put upon, to add to,” with anoma, “a name,” as the object. (2) In Act 15:37, AV, kaleo, “to call” (RV, “called”), is rendered “whose surname was.” (3) The verb eponomazo, translated “bearest the name” in Rom 2:17, RV, finds a literal correspondence in the word “surname” (epi, “upon,” == sur), and had this significance in Classical Greek.