Just looking at some of the names and what they mean is very eye-opening. Names were taken very seriously back then. They carried meaning and symbolism, and they were sometimes like a monument or reminder of certain events or works that God had done in the lives of the people involved.
God placed importance on names, as did Jesus. Remember Abram, Sarai, Jacob, Simon, and Saul? They all had their names changed. And it was usually for a purpose.
Another astonishing tidbit is that there are over 2000 names in the Bible. There are Hebrew names and Greek names and hyphenated Babylonian/Assyrian/Persian names. They all meant something important.
I was telling Sarai Mays tonight (by the way, Sarai means controlling) that I don't think people these days place the same importance on a name. People tend to choose names that they think sound cool or pretty instead of something that carries meaning. That's a shame, I think.
I know that my name, Charles, is French and means "manly" (yeah, I giggled, too), and Howard, which is English and means "brave, guardian of the home." I think "home" might mean THE home.
By the way, I've looked up most of your names, too.
One name not found on any list is... well, let me tell the whole story.
Sunday night at church. Controlling Mays, I mean, Female noble Mays and myself were talking while Benji and the boys were practizing. I was singing along with them to (I think) One Way Jesus. I was in one of those goofy, random moods so I kept singing "One Way Yeshua" and we all had a good laugh. Then Sarah says:
"How about Yahweh, Jr.?"
Quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever heard.
