Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; (ASV)
PHIL 2:9
Philippians 2:9 in the Greek New Testament
διὸ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσε καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα
wherefore also the God him {highly exalted} and gave {to him} name the above every name
I did not get any responses to choosing a name from the list of alternatives I gave you in the last Gem. I did however have some responses.
- One person wrote, “If the experts can’t agree then who am I to add my tuppence worth.” (One word used tells you their age)
- Another told me by word of mouth, “I was tempted Ian but I didn’t really want to add my comment on your Comments slot for all to see, especially if I was wrong.”
- Another wrote, “I will send this by email because I haven’t worked out how to comment on your site yet.” “I think you need to add some more options: what about adding: ‘Adonai’, ‘lord’, ‘Christ Jesus’ and ‘The Lord Jesus Christ’?
- One person told me what they thought and it was right (in my humble opinion there are a few right options) only they did not want their name to be mentioned. Fair enough.
- I suspect there are a number of you who think like the first mentioned, if the experts and commentators can’t agree and are debating the name, I am not willing to give an answer.
But I would say this is the perfect multi-choice “question” to hazard a guess. In a sense you can’t be wrong. Some expert somewhere will agree with you. To use the Comments section you need to register your name. Just fill in the details and the site records your name forever more and you will tagged accordingly. But as Person #4 above indicates they don’t want their name in lights as such. No problem – just select your choices and I will add them up in total at the end.
The New List of Options
- The name given was Jesus Christ.
- The first name should be translated as “title“.
- The name given is a revelation of the Name for God and Christ.
- “The name” and not “a name” is meant. i.e. it is mistake.
- This strange construction is a way of indicating the name is not used to distinguish one individual from another by name but is used to show the character or status.
- The name given was Lord.
- The name given was LORD.
- The name given was Jehovah.
- The name given was YHWH.
- The name given was Jesus.
- The name given was Ha Shem “The Hebrew word meaning “The Name” signifying the actual Divine Presence.
- “A high rank” is meant as such and not any specific name is being referred to.
- The name given was Adonai.
- The name given was Christ Jesus.
- The name given was The Lord Jesus Christ.
- The name given was Jesus Messiah.
- The name given was lord.
- The name given was Kurios.
You will see at a glance that I have accepted the suggestions of Person #3 and I have added three more. My suggestion now is that you choose the names that are the most likely to be candidates for the name Paul intended. Any of the names listed that you think would be most appropriate. Just send me a list of the numbered options you choose by email, text, FB or in the Comments section. I told you in the last Gem that I would give the answer in this Gem. The answer will be delayed until we reach the appropriate point.
I am now going to work my way through some more tricky text and I will give you the Propositional Analysis layout again.
Philippians 2:9-11 in Related Propositions
Wherefore also God highly exalted him,
and gave unto him the name
which is above every name;
that in the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
of beings in heaven and
beings on earth and
beings under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is LORD,
to the glory of God
the Father.
In the previous Gem I have a listing of the versions set in blocks – those versions which chose “A Name”, those which chose “The Name” and those which chose to duck the issue. I said [τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα] is a complex relative noun phrase meaning “the above every name” which is added in apposition to explain the meaning or the intention of the first use of “a name”. i.e. Paul is meaning: God gave to him a name, the name that is above every name, name. It is a way of intensifying his meaning or purpose. But the commentators have gone into debate over the meaning of THE NAME.
I thought I was being helpful but what I did in these few sentences above was confuse some of you. Yes I confess that using technical grammatical language with lay people is confusing when you don’t know the meaning of the term used. The term noun phrase in apposition is a technically exact way of describing what is going on. (See the Glossary below)
“Joe, my friend, the lecturer for this course, said . . .” There are three nouns and two noun phrases in that comment.
- “Joe” is a noun, a proper noun.
- “My friend” and “the lecturer for this course” are both noun phrases, collections of more than one word which act as naming words.
Therefore:
- Joe
- My friend
- the lecturer for this course
are all valid ways of pointing to the lecturer for the course. They are all placed in apposition.
The other aspect of what I wrote that confused some of you and one dared to comment was my comment :-
Paul is meaning: God gave to him a name, the name that is above every name, name.
“Too many names Ian.”
The Greek construction [τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα] is a fascinating way of expressing something. You can take the τὸ … ὄνομα out of that embedded phrase and added anything in between the two words which then become the collection of words in apposition which can act as a related noun phrase or clause
So Paul is saying God gave Him the name, the above everything name . . . So i just played with the words and added the third name to say
God gave Him the name
the above everything name
or God gave Him a name
the- above everything – name
that name.
Glossary
- Apposition means to place something side by side, close together or in parallel.
- A clause is a group of words which contains a verb.
- A phrase is a group of words which doesn’t contain a verb.
- Our task together is to figure out what is the Above Everything Name?
- Which of the above options for a name fit the category of being the ABOVE EVERYTHING NAME?
Go on, dare to choose, one or more of the options that you think fit that category.
When the experts can’t agree then you are free to offer any suggestion you like, the sky is the limit.
You can make up something like the above everything name name.
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
William Shakespeare
I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I’ve never been able to believe it. I don’t believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.
Anne of Green Gables
Names have power.
RIck Riordan
“What’s your name,’ Coraline asked the cat. ‘Look, I’m Coraline. Okay?’
‘Cats don’t have names,’ it said.
‘No?’ said Coraline.
‘No,’ said the cat. ‘Now you people have names. That’s because you don’t know who you are. We know who we are, so we don’t need names.”
Neil Gaiman
Number 15.