WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Their names may be lost to history, but their stories endure
By Shona Crabtree, Religion News Service
Published: June 06, 2008

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Lot’s wife and daughters. Two thieves crucified with Jesus. Three Wise Men. They’re all iconic figures from the Bible, yet they all have one thing in common. Officially, they have no names.

The Bible is riddled with famous or infamous people who went nameless—in some cases forever, and in others for decades or centuries after their stories were recorded.

How and why they were eventually named, and why they initially went nameless, are the types of questions that intrigue scholars. And while anonymity often is equated with unimportance or insignificance, some scholars have challenged that assumption.

Adele Reinhartz, professor of religious studies at the University of Ottawa, is the author of Why Ask My Name? Anonymity and Identity in Biblical Narrative. While some anonymous biblical figures simply aren’t that important, she cited several times when an unnamed person is essential to the story.

Take Lot’s wife and daughters. ...