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In my name = Aramaic Idiom? Matthew 18:5
#1
The phrase 'do it in the name of' (in my name, in the name of a disciple etc) is often occuring in the NT.

For instance
Matthew 18:5: "Receive this child in my name..."
and 10:42 'whoever gives a glas refreshing water to one of these little ones, in name of a disciple...'

Would we take this literally?

Who -ever- would have said: "In name of Jeshua, I receive this child!"
Or: "In name of apostle Paul, I give you a refreshing glass of water!"

(Whoever says something like that seriously, might think he/she can earn the kingdom by good deeds).


QUESTION:

Would 'in my name' not just mean: "In my way" or 'like I did'

So, Who receives this child, like I did, will inherit the kingdom...

and

Who shares gifts and deads of charity, does it in the way of Paul (for instance). Nobody, would utter the name of a disciple of Jesus, and share charity, or would it?
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#2
Shlama:
The phrase "in my name" is simply "power of attorney". When a lawyer or a notary is given signing authority he is endowed with the authority to carry out the will of the CEO to make executive decisions.

Shlama,
Stephen
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#3
Stephen Silver Wrote:Shlama:
The phrase "in my name" is simply "power of attorney". When a lawyer or a notary is given signing authority he is endowed with the authority to carry out the will of the CEO to make executive decisions.

Shlama,
Stephen
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dukhrana.com">http://www.dukhrana.com</a><!-- m -->

So, how might this apply to matthew 18:5?
Was Jesus giving people the power of attorney to receive children?

I suspect the OP makes a good point. It seems to be so me sort of idiom I think.

Does Matthew chapter 10 read literally "in the name of a disciple"?
If so that passage seems, to me, to indicate something like "in my way".
There seems a suggestion, in Matt 10, that it relates to the/a quality of the person.
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#4
Very good question ..

I think the meaning of the discussed phrase is "because of him/her representing (me)" or "as if he/she represented me". Same as the "power of attorney" given by Stephen. It goes well with the context and also explains Mattai 10:41 (and 42) and other occurrences of "in the name". What do you think? It is only my guesswork from the context, and analysis of all occurrences of "in the name", no underlying knowledge of Aramaic idioms, but my gutt feeling tells me it is a proper understanding.

Btw, there is an expression in my mother tongue, which word for word goes "I greet you in the name of X" and the meaning is "greetings from X (and I'm just the messenger)". Or sometimes I can hear "please do A in my name" which simply means "please do A, as if I was doing it (because I physically can't but I give you my permission and authority to do it)". Those expressions must be directly borrowed from Latin, or ... the Bible <!-- sSmile --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><!-- sSmile --> .

This brings to mind also "blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord", Mt 21:9 , a quote from Psalm 118 (v26). Interesting that some Hebrew translations of Psalms twist the meaning of this verse to "May he who enters be blessed in the name of the Lord" but the meaning is "blessed is the one who comes representing the Lord", imho.

Finally, if I may add to the question ... How do you understand baptism "in the name" (see Mt 28:19)?

Shlama,
Jerzy
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#5
enarxe Wrote:Very good question ..


Finally, if I may add to the question ... How do you understand baptism "in the name" (see Mt 28:19)?

Shlama,
Jerzy

Hi,

I think that this is quite simple, baptize like (in the way) Jesus got baptized. Fully immersed under water.
One could say: "I baptize you in name of Jesus!" but, what is the value of that 'formula'? Would the baptizing be invalid or void if we did not add these words? Would Jesus not bless that believer?

The same question applies to the wording: "If you ask anything 'in my name, I will do it!'"
I think, that Christians add a formula (like I did in my live but I wondered, why I did!)

"In Jesus name, Amen!"

Would God not listen if we did not add the 'magical' word 'in Jesus name'? I don't think, God is like that, like Jesus demonstrated on earth, to be free of any dogmatism <!-- sSmile --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><!-- sSmile -->
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#6
Most of the bible can be taken literally. According to acts 4-12, there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There is power in the name of Jesus. Also Jesus said that heaven and earth would pass away, but his words will not pass away. To ignore the words of God, is extremely dangerous.
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#7
Just to clarify my question added to that of the original post, I meant it in view of the current topic, i.e. what "In my name = ..?" means.
So, do you understand this commandment to go and baptize them "in the name" as meaning "as if it was .." , or "with authority" (of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit)?
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#8
sean Wrote:Most of the bible can be taken literally. According to acts 4-12, there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There is power in the name of Jesus. Also Jesus said that heaven and earth would pass away, but his words will not pass away. To ignore the words of God, is extremely dangerous.

Sean, it seems as if we should shiver and fear Jesus? I don't understand that people felt like that when they lived with him on earth so the same applies to our heavenly Father. He loves you, and is not turning his face to destroy you if you understand something wrong.

To comment on Acts 4:12. Yes. Agree.

But this does not mean that praying 'in name of' Jesus, (I believe this) means adding a magical formula after the prayer: "In name of Jesus, Amen!".
Does God listen to such 'magical words' or does God see your heart?

Besides, -nowhere- in the NT, we see that if someone prays, adds the words 'in Jesus name, Amen!'...
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#9
Hi, it's good to fear the Lord, but we also love Him. No it's not a magic formula, but God is not into witchcaft. The bible saids that the name of Jesus is above every other name. The bible saids to do everything in the name of jesus. God has given belivers the authority to do everything that Jesus did while on earth. When we pray with faith and ask in the name of jesus, the bible saids we will have what we ask for. God wants us to live by faith, ususally we have too much unbelief, but without faith it is impossible to please God
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#10
let me give you afew scriptures;-
acts 3-6 then peter said silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I thee: in the name ofJesus Christ of Nazereth rise up and walk.
james 5-16-Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
acts 10-48-and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ .
Acts 19-5-When they heard these things, they were baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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#11
sean Wrote:. When we pray with faith and ask in the name of jesus, the bible saids we will have what we ask for.

1 John tells me I can have whatever I ask for in prayer if my heart does not condemn me.

So according to this I need not use the name of Jesus in the way some chose to in the NT.

Which means I dont need to use the name of Jesus in some magic formula way (and Im not saying you suggested this ).

This seems to me, to strengthen my view that it is about the quality of the person not that it is a legal formula.

But if it helps someone elses faith to do so..then go for it I say. <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->
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