Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

2. THE BAPTISMAL FORMULA. The apostles were specifically instructed to baptize eis to
onoma tou patros kai tou huiou kai tou hagiou pneumatos (into the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit). The Vulgate rendered the first words “eis to onoma” by
the Latin “in nomine” (in the name), a rendering followed by Luther’s “im namen.” The
words are thus made to mean “on the authority of the triune God.” Robertson gives this
as their meaning in his Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p. 649, but fails to give any
proof for it. The fact is that this interpretation is exegetically untenable. The idea of “on
the authority of” is expressed by the phrase en toi onomati or the shorter one en onomati,
Matt. 21:9; Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17; John 14:26; Acts 3:6; 9:27, etc. The preposition eis
(into) is indicative rather of an end, and may therefore be interpreted to mean “in
relation to,” or “into the profession of faith in one and sincere obedience to one.” It is
quite in harmony with this when Allen says in his commentary on Matthew: “The
person baptized was symbolically introduced ‘into the name of Christ,’ that is, became
His disciple, that is, entered into a state of allegiance to Him and fellowship with Him.”
This is the meaning given by Thayer, Robinson, and, substantially, also by Cremer-
Koegel and Baljon, in their Lexicons. It is also that adopted by the commentators, such
as Meyer, Alford, Allen, Bruce, Grosheide, and Van Leeuwen. This meaning of the term
is fully borne out by such parallel expressions as eis ton Mousen, I Cor. 10:2; eis to onoma
Paulou, I Cor. 1:13; eis hen soma, I Cor. 12:13; and eis Christon, Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27. Dr.
Kuyper’s argument touching this point is found in Uit het Woord, Eerste Serie, Eerste
Bundel. 41 It would seem that we should translate the preposition eis by “into” or
“to” (that is, “in relation to’”) the name. The word onoma (name) is used in the sense of
the Hebrew shem as indicative of all the qualities by which God makes Himself known,
and which constitute the sum total of all that He is for His worshippers. Deissman in his
Bible Studies 42 refers to interesting examples of this particular use of the word onoma in
the papyri. Interpreted in this light, the baptismal formula indicates that by baptism
(that is, by that which is signified in baptism) the recipient is placed in a special
relationship to the divine self-revelation, or to God as He has revealed Himself and
revealed what He will be for His people, and at the same time becomes duty bound to
live up to the light of that revelation.
It is not necessary to assume that, when Jesus employed these words, He intended
them as a formula to be used ever after. He merely used them as descriptive of the
character of the baptism which He instituted, just as similar expressions serve to
41 pp. 263 ff.
42 p. 146.
692