Moulton and Milligan express their view of ONOMA (Philippians 2) when writing:
"By a usage similar to that of the Heb. SHEM, ONOMA comes in the NT to denote the character, fame, authority of the person indicated (cf. Phil. 2:9f, Heb 1:4). With this may be compared the use of the word as a title of dignity or rank, as in P Oxy I.58.6 (A.D. 288) where complaint is made of the number of officials who have devised 'offices' for themselves--ONOMATA hEAUTOIS EXEURONTES, and provision is made that, on the appointment of a single trustworthy superintendent, the remaining 'offices' shall cease-14f. TA DE LOIPA ONOMATA PAUSHTAI."
See the entry for ONOMA in M-M.
Sporadic theological and historical musings by Edgar Foster (Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies and one of Jehovah's Witnesses).
http://papyri.info/search?SERIES=p.oxy&VOLUME=58
ReplyDeleteStill trying to find specifics but 288CE is not close enough.
Did you read the other materials I sent, including the links? Robertson (Word Pictures) explains Mt 28:19 in a similar way (i.e., that it pertains to authority). He points out that we not only find evidence for this usage in the papyri, but also in the LXX. ISBE makes a similar argument for LXX often rendering SHEM by ONOMA = authority. So there's evidence for the usage way before 288 CE.
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