John the Baptist

"But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah,

for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will

bear you a son, and you will name him John" (Luke 1:13)

"On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child,

and they were going to hame him Zechariah after his

father. But his mother said, 'No; he is to be called John.'

They said to her, 'None of your relatives has this name.'

Then they began motioning to his father to find out what

name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet

and wrote, 'His name is John.'" (Luke 1:59-63)

The naming of John the Baptist

The case of John the baptist further demonstrates that names carried great significance in the

New Testament world. He is yet another example of a NT character who received a new name,

though in his case it was at a very early age.

The name "John" was the fifth most common name in Palestine. Its popularity derived from the

fact that it was the name of one of the Maccabee brothers. The case of Zechariah-John therefore

parallels that of Levi-Matthew, who also received a Hasmonean name.

But the meaning of the name "John" may also have played a part in its selection. It means

"YHWH has been gracious". Bauckham suggests that this name, and other names with the

same or similar meaning, may have expressed "the hope for God's gracious favor to his people

when he delivers them from their pagan oppressors and restores Israel as he has promised to

do".(1) This understanding of the name "John" fits John the Baptist well. Immediately after the

naming of John, his father said,

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed

them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke

through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our

ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, that oath that he swore to our ancestor

Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him

without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be

called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to

give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins." (Luke 1:68-77)

So, Zechariah's son was understood as representing God's mercy in delivering his people, and

thus the name "John", meaning "YHWH has been gracious" was very appropriate. If this was

indeed what the name "John" represented, it would be in keeping with the several other new

names in the NT that also represented saving strength (Peter, Oblias, Sosthenes, Magdalene,