What's in a Name?

In this morning's reading, I was reminded of how important names are to all of us, and particularly as they are used in the Scriptures. We all get tired of being simply a number; being identified by a computer generated social security number, a driver's license number, your preferred customer number, etc.

In the Bible, no one had yet determined that you could place everyone in a computerized database with a unique identifying sequence of digits. Instead, we read of "Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh" (Numbers 14:38) or "Eleazar the priest" (Numbers 26:3) or even "Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite" (2 Samuel 11:3). But if we study the names a little more carefully, we find that the names and places are more than filler. They can tell us much about the interaction of the people and possibly the motives behind their actions.
And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

Take for instance, Ahithophel. We find in 2 Samuel 15:12 that Ahithophel was a counselor to David. And not only was he a counselor to the king (1 Chronicles 27:33), but that his advice was highly regarded by both David and his son Absalom. 2 Samuel 16:23 reads, "the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom."

So, why then would a trusted counselor to King David participate in Absalom's rebellion? Although the Scriptures are not explicit in this regard, a study of Ahithophel will provide us with some clues. When we do a search for every occurrence of "Ahithophel" in the Old Testament, we find his name 20 times in 17 verses. These are:

2 Samuel 15:12
2 Samuel 15:31
2 Samuel 15:34
2 Samuel 16:15
2 Samuel 16:20
2 Samuel 16:21
2 Samuel 16:23
2 Samuel 17:1
2 Samuel 17:6
2 Samuel 17:7
2 Samuel 17:14
2 Samuel 17:15
2 Samuel 17:21
2 Samuel 17:23
2 Samuel 23:34
1 Chronicles 27:33
1 Chronicles 27:34

All of these references seem rather nondescript, particularly the list of David's mighty men found in 2 Samuel 23:8-39. But, not the reference to Ahithophel in verse 34. He was the father of one of David's mighty men, Eliam. As it turns out, Eliam is only listed here in this passage and in 2 Samuel 11:3 where, as noted above, we find that he is the father of Bathsheba.

So is it a coincidence that Ahithophel turned against the king who had an adulterous relationship with his granddaughter or that this connection may be made only with two brief references to Eliam? You decide. As for me, this only reinforces that God has placed in His Word, exactly what He wants us to know.