Why is it that some of the characters in the Bible are named and some are not? In fact, there is curiosity as to who some of these biblical figures were; but still, should we bother? This lesson from brother Eli Soriano will enable us to address it more elaborately.
The Bible is not, first and foremost, a book of names. This may seem a paradoxical assertion inasmuch as there are so many genealogies and named characters populating its pages. Closer to the truth, many persons of significance remain unnamed. The purpose behind this selectivity stands not for historical records alone.
For instance, do you know the wife of Apostle Peter or even his mother-in-law? These women who most probably played major roles in the life of one Jesus' closest disciples have been mentioned in Scripture but without names. More staggering still, none of Adam's daughters were identified in Holy Scripture while their sons were called Cain, Abel, and Seth. Other notable figures also bear the same trend of selective naming. The name of the Pharaoh's daughter who rescued and raised Moses as her own baby was not named (Exodus 2:5). It is a point of reference that such blanks are meant to signal the message of God rather than call people by their names.
It's very important to differentiate between bible stories and what we see in movies. One easy example is the movie "The Ten Commandments". This movie shows that Pharaoh survived while his army were drowned in the sea, during the crossing of the Red Sea. But, what we have in the Bible is clearly different.
Psalm 106:9-11 says: “He also caused the Red Sea to go back, and they passed through the deep as through a desert; He saved them from an adversary's hand and He redeemed them from the oppressor's hand. The waters covered their adversaries: there wasn't one of them left.” As Psalm 136:15 says, “But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea: for his mercy endureth forever.”
As opposed to what the movie shown to us, the Bible record shows that Pharaoh and his entire army were drowned. This tells us that movies though being a form of entertainment and education, they should not be used as accurate representation of biblical records.
That should remind us that the whole Bible is about God's character and His plan of salvation for mankind and our relationship with Him. Also, if we focus too much on the names or on minor details, we don't catch the bigger things and deeper messages which the Bible is trying to convey.
For example, let's look at Exodus 32:1: "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him."
The names of people who went to meet Aaron where not mentioned, which suggest that their personalities were not as important as what they did. We can therefore see it that the Bible focus is on individual faithfulness than who initiated the creation of the golden calf.
As we close this study on this reflection, let us stop trying to find every name and detail, but rather seek out the greater messages and lessons it carries. This is not an oversight or defect of the Bible, but one way of leading one's focus onto God's character, His promises, and His instructions. Anyway, who within the Bible is being named does not really matter, but rather who this God is, and whom we are called to be in relation to Him.