Name That Tune

Name That Tune was a famous American radio and later television show where the host played a few scores from a song, and the contestants were to identify that song. In my music theory class nearly 40 years ago, our teacher would play just the opening few bars of classical pieces, and we had to identify them to pass the class.

The Hebrew people who knew the story of Sarah and Abraham, Rachel and Jacob, and Hannah and Elkanah would have thought they were in a game like “Name That Tune” because of the name the Angel of the Lord wanted Zechariah to give his son:

“Do not fear, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you will call his name, John.” (Luke 1:13)

The Hebrews primarily wrote the consonants of a word, not the vowels. For example, my last name, Spurgeon, would be written as SPRGN. The danger was that those who didn’t know my name could put the wrong sets of vowels and read my name as “Spergon,” “Spergen,” “Spargen,” etc. Realizing this, scholars added the vowels between AD 5-10th centuries.

The name “John” in Hebrew would have been YȞNH (the first Ȟ sounding very rough, like being formed in the back of one’s throat, like gargling). That was the consonants of two words: Ya ȞaNaH, where Ya was an abbreviation of Yahweh, God, and ȞaNaH, meaning “be gracious” (“Does God forgets to be gracious [ȞNH] and withholds his compassion in his anger?” Ps 79:10)

The same consonants, without the reference to God (Ya), ȞNH, was the root for the name Hannah, the wife of Elkanah. She couldn’t have a son and pleaded with God to give her a son promising to dedicate his life to God, God answered her prayers, and she left him in the temple! God showed ȞNH his ȞNH. Similarly, God has shown his mercy, ȞNH, to Zechariah and Elizabeth, and they were to name him YȞNH, YaHanNaH, “God is gracious.”

Zechariah and Elizabeth received their blessing. That was the beginning. The people were praying outside the temple while Zechariah was at the altar. God heard their prayers and was gracious to them as well. As such,

“John will be a joy and gladness to you. And many will rejoice at his coming since he will be mighty before the Lord.” (Luke 1:13–15a)

Both the noun “joy” (chara) and the verb “rejoice” (chairo) come from the same root, charis “grace,” and is related to “be gracious” (ȞNH). Zechariah, Elizabeth, and many people will rejoice at John’s birth because his coming testified that God’s grace had been offered to his people.

The phrase “mighty before someone” was a Hebrew idiom that meant the second most powerful person in a kingdom. For example, Naaman was mighty before the king of Aram (2 Kings 5:1). Similarly, John would be the second most powerful person in the Lord’s rule.

Centuries later, we may forget how the Hebrews living at that time would have perceived John. His parents were the daughter of Aaron and the priest chosen to enter the Holies to offer incense before God. They were righteous people living blamelessly within the law. They received a son of promise, symbolizing God’s graciousness, forgiveness, and acceptance of his people! These were reasons to celebrate!

The same joy should permeate us when we think of John and his ministries. God is always gracious!