Onomastics support the historical reliability of the Gospels

Summary:

In Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, historian Richard Bauckham compares the first names used in the Gospels with those found on ancient Palestinian tombs and ossuaries. And, incredibly, the results coincide almost perfectly!

For example, according to the historical data, the two most popular first names at the time of Jesus were "Simon" and "Joseph". At the time, 15.6% of the population had one of these two first names. A statistical analysis of first names in the New Testament shows that around the same proportion (18.2%). As for men bearing one of the nine most popular first names, archaeological data shows a percentage of 41.5%, and the combination of what is reported in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles gives a result of 40.3%.

This very fact is an incredible element of authenticity, as it is very difficult to guess the statistical distribution of first names given in one's own era. Generally speaking, our intuitions are very rarely correct on this subject.

Another striking detail is that the most common first names of the time ("Simon" for men and "Mary" for women, according to statistical data) are mentioned in the Gospel with an indication of the difference between them. Given that many people were called "Simon" and "Mary", they needed a distinctive sign to know who they were. And, as chance would have it, the Gospels always add a specific element to highlight this distinction: Simon the Zealot(Mk 3:18), Simon the Leper(Mk 14:3), and Simon of Cyrene(Mk 15:21). The same applies to the first name "Mary", which is followed by a clarification: Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of James and Joseph(Mt 27:56).

The same applies to the apostles. Here are the names of the Twelve with their respective rankings according to the popularity of their first names: Simon (1) (Peter); Andrew (> 99); James (11), son of Zebedee; John (5), son of Zebedee; Philip (61); Bartholomew (50); Thomas (>99); Matthew (9), the tax collector; James (11), son of Alphaeus; Judas (4), son of James/Thaddaeus; Simon (1) the Zealot; and Judas (4) the Iscariot.

We can see that the most common first names each have a distinguishing feature. Conversely, the least common first names (below 49th place in the ranking), such as "Andrew", "Bartholomew", "Philip" and "Thomas", are not followed by a nickname.

As a result, all the names match the statistical distribution data. The only credible reason to explain the fact that the first names given in the New Testament correspond to those of the time is that the writers of the Gospels were actually there and were genuine eyewitnesses. Indeed, if the New Testament texts had been written later by people who were making up a story, these first names would not have corresponded at all and it would have been easy to realise this. It would be immensely difficult to invent all the Jewish surnames, insert them into a story and hope to obtain a perfectly accurate statistical list of names corresponding to the data of the time.

A writer's intuition is very poor when it comes to finding a distribution of contemporary names for fictional characters that ring true. We can see this in the apocryphal Gospels, which were written much later. For example, in the apocryphal Gospel of Judas, none of the first names, apart from "Jesus" and "Judas", correspond to the first names of the Jews of Palestine at the time: "Adamas", "Adonaios", "Barbelo", "Galial", "Nebro", "Yobel", etc.

The onomastic argument is therefore powerful in demonstrating the historical credibility of the canonical Gospels, unlike the apocryphal Gospels! The Gospels are not myths or legends, but accounts or narratives rooted in reality.

Going further:

Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, second edition, 2017.

More information:

• Exploring Reality, Gospel Reliability - Names of People July 7, 2022.
• Testify, Names in the Gospels, evidence for their reliability March 5, 2021.
• The Thinking Believer, The nerdiest evidence for the gospels' reliability August 9, 2018.