WHO CHANGED HIS NAME, AND WHY? It should be evident that there is no candidate other than Paul to have supplied the new name for Immanuel. Paul’s primary role in shaping or forming Christianity is well known.16 That Paul was the first to expound early Christian theology on “being saved” through the sacrifice of God’s Son is also evident.17 His background as a Pharisee (Phil 3:4-5, Acts 23:6, 26:5) and an assiduous student of Judaism (Gal 1:13-14) indicates he would have been acquainted with the concept of offering human sacrifice in hopes of deliverance (2 Kgs 3:27). Thus he would have had the motivation to change Immanuel’s name to “Jesus” (or Joshua or Yeshua/Yahushua with meaning “Yahweh/God saves”) in support of his theology. Since Paul changed his own name from Saul to Paul, we know that he was not averse to altering a name. The name Joshua or its Greek equivalent of Jesus was of course already well known to Paul, and though it was not a rare name, through frequent attachment of the suffix “Christ” or prefix “Lord,” Paul could ensure that the intended man was understood. Renaming him from Immanuel to Jesus would link his name to the more contemporary expression for the Divine Name: Yahweh (LORD), which name came to predominate over El or Elohim (God) in the biblical tradition.18 From Exodus 6:2-3 one sees an example of the name Yahweh taking over from El, and similarly in Jer 32:38. Hence this consideration may have contributed to Paul’s renaming of Immanuel to “Yeshua the Messiah” or “Jesus the Christ.” However, a prime motivation for Paul to have altered Immanuel’s name quickly comes to mind. After Saul’s conversion, there should be no doubt that he would have wished to minimize in his thoughts the name of the man he must have hated with a passion in order to have been the arch persecutor of Immanuel and his disciples.19 Thus in speaking or writing of “Jesus,” or “Jesus Christ,” Paul would have a new image to dwell upon, not his previous image of the detested Immanuel. In propagating his message of forgiveness of sins through faith in a resurrected Jesus Christ, Paul would then speak only of Jesus, and avoid mention of Immanuel if possible. Consistent with this is Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7), which detailed study has suggested may refer to an “opponent” or “opponents” rather than to any physical ailment.20 The chief opponent would then have been Immanuel himself. By altering Immanuel’s name to “Jesus the Christ,” the post-conversion Paul could more readily keep this “thorn” from piercing into his memory every time he prayed to his Savior. Thus the salvation aspect of the name “Jesus” would well suit Paul’s need to pray for forgiveness for his terrible past sins of persecution. This, then, can go a long way toward explaining why Paul, in referring to Isaiah in his epistles, never mentioned “Immanuel” or Isaiah’s prophecy of Immanuel, though in mentioning the root of Jesse as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, he came close. However, still another reason exists to help explain not only this, but why, for nearly a century after Paul’s evangelizing, the name Immanuel and Isaiah’s prophecy of him were taboo topics. The supporters of Immanuel had to be silenced, which meant silencing the name they venerated. source: tjresearch.info/hisname.htm#VI
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 02:42:16 +0000
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