Spiritual Meaning of Name

Spiritual Meaning of

Name

In the Word also by name is signified the essence of a thing, and by seeing and calling by name is signified to know the quality. As in Isaiah:--

I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My chosen, I have even called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee, and thou hast not known Me (Isaiah 45:3, 4).

In this passage, to call by name, and to surname signifies to foreknow the quality. Again:--

Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall declare (Isaiah 62:2),

signifying to become of another character, as appears from the preceding and subsequent verses. Again:--

Fear not, O Israel, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine (Isaiah 43:1),

denoting that He knew their quality. Again in the same Prophet:--

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their army by number. He will call them all by name (Isaiah 40:26),

meaning that He knew them all. In the Revelation:--

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments: he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels (Revelation 3:4, 5).

And in another place:--

Whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 13:8).

By names in these passages are by no means meant names, but qualities; nor is the name of any one ever known in heaven, but his quality.

AC 145

The expression this shall be thy name, when used in the Word, signifies the quality, that is, that the person will be of such a quality, is evident from what has been adduced in (AR 144, 145, 1754). And as the name signifies the quality, the name comprehends in one complex whatever is in the man. For in heaven no attention is paid to any one's name; but when any one is named, or when the word name is spoken, there is presented the idea of the person's quality, that is, of all things that are his, that are connected with him, and that are in him; hence in the Word name signifies quality. That this may be evident to the understanding we may adduce from the Word a number of additional confirmatory passages. As in the Benediction in Moses:--

Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee; Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee and have compassion on thee; Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee and give thee peace. So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel (Num. 6:24-27).

From this it is evident what is denoted by name, and by putting the name of Jehovah upon the sons of Israel, namely, that Jehovah blesses, guards, enlightens, is pitiful, gives peace; and thus that Jehovah or the Lord is such.

[2] In the Decalogue:--

Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who taketh His name in vain (Exod. 20:7; Deut. 5:11);

where to take the name of God in vain does not signify the name, but all things in general and particular that are from Him, and therefore all things in general and particular that belong to the worship of Him, none of which are to be despised, still less blasphemed and contaminated with what is filthy. In the Lord's Prayer:--

Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come Thy will be done, as in heaven so also in the earth (Luke 11:2);

where also by name is not meant the name, but all things of love and faith; for these are God's or the Lord's, and are from Him and as these are holy, the Lord's kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as in the heavens when they are held to be so.

[3] That name signifies such things is evident from all the passages in the Word of the Old and of the New Testament where name is mentioned. As in Isaiah:--

In that day shall ye say, Confess to Jehovah, call upon His name, make known His works among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted (Isaiah 12:4);

where to call upon the name of Jehovah, and to make mention that His name is exalted, does not at all mean to place worship in the name, or to believe that Jehovah is invoked by using His name, but by knowing His quality, and thus by means of all things in general and particular that are from Him. In the same:--

Therefore honor ye Jehovah in the Urim the name of Jehovah the God of Israel in the isles of the sea (Isa. 24:15);

where to honor Jehovah in the Urim, is to honor Him from the holy things of love; and to honor the name of Jehovah the God of Israel in the isles of the sea, is to honor Him from the holy things of faith.

[4] In the same:--

O Jehovah our God, only in Thee will we make mention of Thy name (Isa. 26:13).

I will raise up one from the north, and he shall come; from the rising of the sun, he shall call upon My name (Isa. 41:25);

where to make mention of the name of Jehovah, and to call upon His name, means to worship from the goods of love and the truths of faith. They who are from the north are they who are outside the church and ignorant of the name of Jehovah, who nevertheless call upon His name when they live in mutual charity and adore as the Deity the Creator of the universe; for the calling upon Jehovah consists in worship and the quality of it, and not in the name. The Lord is present with the Gentiles, (AR 932, 1032, 1059).

[5] In the same:--

The nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of Jehovah shall name (Isa. 62:2);

where thou shalt be called by a new name, denotes to become another person, that is, to be created anew or regenerated, and thus to be such. In Micah:--

All the peoples will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God forever and to eternity (Micah 4:5);

to walk in the name of his god, plainly denotes profane worship; and to walk in the name of Jehovah, true worship. In Malachi:--

From the rising of the sun and even to its going down, My name shall be great among the nations; and in every place incense is offered unto My name, and a clean offering for My name shall be great among the nations (Malachi 1:11);

where by name is not signified the name, but the worship; which is the quality of Jehovah or the Lord, by reason of which He wills to be adored.

[6] In Moses:--

The place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all the tribes to put His name there, and to cause His name to dwell there, thither shall ye bring all that I command you (Deut. 12:5, 11, 14; 16:2, 6, 11);

where also by putting His name, and making His name dwell there, is not signified the name, but the worship, and thus the quality of Jehovah or the Lord by reason of which He is to be worshiped. His quality is the good of love and the truth of faith; and the name of Jehovah dwells with those who are in these. In Jeremiah:--

Go ye unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I caused My name to dwell in the beginning (Jeremiah 7:12);

where in like manner name denotes worship, and thereby the doctrine of true faith. Every one can see that Jehovah does not dwell with him who merely knows and speaks His name, for the name alone, without any idea, knowledge, or faith concerning His quality is a mere word. Hence it is evident that the name is the quality, and the knowledge of the quality.

[7] In Moses:--

At that time Jehovah separated the tribe of Levi, to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name (Deut. 10:8);

where to bless in the name of Jehovah is not to do so through the name, but by means of the things which appertain to the name of Jehovah, spoken of above. In Jeremiah:--

This is His name whereby they shall call Him, Jehovah our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6);

where the name denotes righteousness, which is the quality of the Lord, of whom these words are said. In Isaiah:--

Jehovah hath called Me from the womb, from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name (Isaiah 49:1);

also said of the Lord; to make mention of His name, is to instruct in respect to His quality.

[8] That name signifies quality, is still more clearly evident in John, in the Apocalypse:--

Thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before My Father and before the angels. He that overcometh, I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and My new name (Apoc. 3:4, 5, 12);

where that the name is not the name, but the quality, is plainly evident; the name in the book of life is nothing else; and the quality is also meant by confessing his name before the Father, and by writing upon him the name of God, and of the city, and the new name; and the same is true of the names which are said elsewhere to be written in the book of life, and in heaven (Rev. 13:8; 17:8; Luke 10:20).

[9] In heaven it is solely by the quality that any one is known from another; and in the sense of the letter this is expressed by the name, as every one can see from the consideration that on earth whoever is named is presented in the listener's idea in accordance with his quality, and it is by this idea that he is known and distinguished from others. In the other life the ideas remain, but the names perish; and this is still more the case among the angels. Hence it is that in the internal sense the name is the quality, or to know the quality. Again:-

Upon the head of Him who sat upon the white horse were many diadems; and He hath a name written which no one knoweth but He Himself. He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood;and His name is called the Word of God (Rev. 19:12, 13);

where that the name is the Word of God, and thus is the quality of Him who sat upon the white horse, is said in plain words.

[10] That the name of Jehovah is to know His quality, namely, that He is all the good of love and all the truth of faith, is clearly evident from these words of the Lord:--

O righteous Father I have known Thee, and these also have known that Thou hast sent Me for I have made known unto them Thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:25, 26).

[11] And that the name of God or of the Lord is all the doctrine of faith concerning love and charity, which is signified by believing in His name, is evident from these words in the same gospel:--

As many as received Him, to them gave He the power (potestas) to be sons of God, to them that believe in His name (John 1:12).

If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it. If ye love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:13-15).

Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He giveth you. These things I command you, that ye love one another (John 15:16, 17).

In Matthew:--

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).

By those who are gathered together in the name of the Lord, are here signified those who are in the doctrine of faith concerning love and charity, and thus who are in love and charity. Again Ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake (Matt. 10:22; 24:9, 10; Mark 13:10); where for My names sake plainly means for the sake of His doctrine.

[12] That the name itself effects nothing, but that everything is effected by that which the name involves, namely, everything of charity and faith, is clearly evident from these words in Matthew:--

Have we not prophesied by Thy name, and by Thy name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many mighty works? But then will I profess unto them, I never dew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22, 23);

from which it is evident that they who place worship in a name, as did the Jews in the name of Jehovah, and as do Christians in the name of the Lord, are not on that account the more worthy, because the name avails nothing; but that which does avail is that they be of such a character as the Lord has commanded; for this is to believe in His name; and further, that its being said that there is no salvation in any other name than the Lord's, means that there is none in any other doctrine, that is, in no other than mutual love, which is the true doctrine of faith, and thus in no other than the Lord, because all love and the derivative faith are from Him alone.

AC 2009

He who does not know that a name denotes the quality and state of the subject being treated of, can believe that where a name is mentioned, the name merely is meant; thus when the Lord speaks of His name, that it is merely the name, when yet it is the quality of the worship, that is, everything of faith and charity by which He is to be worshiped, as in these passages:--

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20);

here the name is not meant, but worship from faith and charity.

As many as received, to them gave He power to be the sons of God, to them that believe in His name (John 1:12);

here also by name is meant faith and charity, whereby the Lord is worshiped.

These things have been written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31);

where the sense is the same.

[3] Again:--

If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:13, 14);

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you (John 15:16; 16:23, 24).

Here it is not meant that they should ask the Father in the Lord's name, but that they should ask the Lord Himself; for there is no way open to the Divine Good which is the Father (AR 3704), except through the Lord's Divine Human, as is also known in the churches; and therefore to ask the Lord Himself is to ask according to the truths of faith, and whatever is asked in accordance with these truths is granted, as the Lord Himself says in the previous passage from John:--

If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:14).

This can be seen further from the fact that the Lord is the name of Jehovah, of which thus in Moses:--

I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way; beware of His faces, and hear His voice, and do not provoke Him, because My name is in the midst of Him (Exod. 23:20, 21).

[4] In John:--

Father, glorify Thy name: there came forth a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John 12:28).

I have manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou hast given Me out of the world. I have made known unto them Thy name, and I will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:6, 26).

From these passages it is plain that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the name of Jehovah, or His whole quality; hence all Divine worship is from the Divine Human, and it is this which is to be worshiped; for thus is worshiped the Divine Itself, to which no thought reaches in any other way, and if no thought, no conjunction.

[5] That the name of the Lord is everything of faith and love by which the Lord is to be worshiped, is still more plain from the following passages:--

Ye shall be hated of all for My name's sake (Matt. 10:22).

Whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth Me (Matt. 18:5).

Everyone that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for My name's sake; shall receive a hundredfold (Matt. 19:29).

They cried, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matt. 21:9).

Verily I say to you, For ye shall not see Me until the time shall come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Luke 13:35).

Whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in My name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward (Mark 9:41).

The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons obey us in Thy name. Jesus said to them, In this rejoice not, that the spirits obey you, but rather rejoice that your names have been written in heaven (Luke 10:17, 20);

names written in heaven are not names, but the quality of their faith and charity.

[6] So it is with names written in the book of life, in the following passages:--

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before the Father and before His angels (Rev. 3:4, 5).

He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. He calleth His own sheep by name (John 10:2, 3).

Jehovah said unto Moses, I know thee by name (Exod. 33:12, 17).

Many believed in His name, when they saw His signs which He did (John 2:23).

He that believeth in Him is not judged, but he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

They shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west (Isa. 59:19).

All people walk everyone in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God (Micah 4:5).

[7] In Moses:--

They were to worship Jehovah God in the place which He should choose, and should put His name (Deut. 21:5, 11, 14).

Also in (Isa. 18:7; Jer. 7:12; Isa. 26:8, 13; 41:25; 43:7; 49:1; 50:10; 52:5; 62:2; Jer. 23:27; 26:16; Ezek. 20:14, 44; 36:21-23; Micah 5:4; Mal. 1:11; Deut. 10:8; Rev. 2:17; 3:12; 13:8; 14:11; 15:2; 17:8; 19:12, 13, 16; 22:3, 4).

[8] That the name of Jehovah denotes everything by which He is worshiped, thus in the supreme sense everything that proceeds from the Lord, is evident from the benediction:--

Jehovah bless thee and keep thee, Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee, and have mercy on thee; Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee, and give thee peace. So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel (Num. 6:23-27).

From all this it is now clear what is meant by this commandment of the Decalogue:--

Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him innocent that taketh His name in vain (Exod. 20:7);

also by Hallowed be Thy name, in the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6:9).

AC 6674

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Author: E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design: I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.