Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Think of individuals who were known by their place of origin: Leonardo da Vinci springs to mind. Catherine of Aragon is another. And the Bible is full of such names, led of course by Jesus of Nazareth, but also Saul of Tarsus, Joseph of Arimathea, Simon of Cyrene, and others. One might suggest this was needed for clarification before surnames became widely used. However, we still employ this when we run through a list of “John Smiths” in a directory and need to narrow our search.
Unfortunately, we are sometimes labeled with titles that don’t really fit. For example, take the Cape May Warbler, so named because Alexander Wilson first discovered it there in New Jersey and named it in 1811. The name is somewhat misleading for it is found there only during fall migration. It did better with its Latin species name, tigrina, which means “striped like a tiger”, an appropriate if perhaps somewhat inflated handle.
Scripture contains and interesting story which illustrates the importance placed upon maintaining the family name and the inheritance that would accompany such a name. Zelophehad died leaving five daughters but no sons. It was for this reason the daughters came to Moses and asked they be given their father’s inheritance so his name might be remembered. Numbers 27 tells how Moses, after consulting with God, saw wisdom in following this line of reasoning and established a policy putting this into practice; something that makes perfect sense today but at the time might be considered a landmark decision. Perhaps the normalcy of such a practice has caused us to ignore the wisdom encapsulated in the words of Proverbs 22:1: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (NIV)