What Is In a Name? and The Corporeality of Language

What is in a Name?
The article by Janowitz stated that through interpretation of the Targumic translation of Genesis and Exodus, the name of God contains the pragmatics of His name, which are His acts of creation. God's speech is divine and separate from the speech of humans so by linking his name with its pragmatics, the Targumic translation is denoting that God's name itself is a word more powerful than just a name. Janowitz emphasizes this statement by saying, "Finally it is worth repeating that one of the central messages of this translation is the linking of the divine name with the act of creation" (396).

It is interesting how the name of God itself is seen as a gift rather than just language. Janowitz references a story in the Bible regarding the name: "The Name was once entrusted to the entire nation, given to them during their journey through the desert. It was taken away, however, when they worshiped the Golden Calf" (398). This relationship with the Name can be further investigated with God's conversation with Moses when he asks God's name. God answers, "I am who I am" (Exodus 3). This answer is both subtle and powerful. Perhaps by saying this God is saying that he is whoever he says he is. He is saying that whatever he says he is, he will be. This itself is an example of an utterance. The power that God seems to have over language is extended to how his people use his language. As in the story of the Golden Calf, he gave the nation the ability to use his name and then took it away. It is truly evident in Biblical texts how God's language is far different from ordinary language.

The Corporeality of Language

Augustine talks about the flaw of the human ability to interpret signs which he defines as "Things which are used to signify something." I find that definition ambiguous unless he is referring to the actual usage of language itself. For instance, thoughts of the mind are often limited within the mind if there are no physical examples already existing outside of the mind. That is how I interpret Augustine's explanation of corporeality and its limitations. In the sin of Babel, people were forced apart by language. The tower of Babel could not be built because people could not understand each other. Perhaps then, language is limited by the mind (which is related to the body) and not the spirit, thus relating to the Fall when humans were banished into corporeal existence. In psychology, it is studied in bi-lingual children that the lobe responsible for linguistics in divided in half. Language is the production of the corporeal brain. Therefore, the restriction of human language is quite possibly related to the body and limiting in spirit. This goes back to the divinity of God's language compared to human language. I thoroughly agree with Augustine in his interpretation of language and signs when it comes to the physical limitations of language due to the mind.