Can the term “in the name of” in Matthew 28:19 have multiple referents?

This question relates to “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” in Matthew 28:19

• εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος

There is already a separate answer on this website showing that the whole context of Matthew 28:18-20 is about baptism that does not have to literally be in any given formula, but is by the authority of God, or his Son and through the ‘Holy Spirit’, a New Testament term related in this context to the new breath in the new creation, or new life. New men and women born again through baptism into Christ.

Is in the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit missing in early manuscripts of Matthew 28:19? Answered by BibleQ . July 29, 2021 – 5:27 pm

This usage is obviously different from a completely subordinated use of a name such as when “Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.” (Esther 8:10 NIV)

In the name of A and B.

The use of “in the name of” to refer to more than one person is certainly common enough in both English and Latin and other languages.

• in the name of the King and of my commanding officer (English, Sir Walter Scott)
• all the regal power is now acted in the name of the king and queen (English, Parliamentary debate on the regency bill of William and Mary 1690)
• in the name of the emperor and of the Hungarian clergy , he spoke with such energy against several abuses of the church of Rome, and particularly against the celibacy of the clergy (Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, Johann Lorenz Mosheim  1867)
• in nomine IMPERATORIS et archiepiscopus Toletanus domnus Raymundus  – in the name of the EMPEROR and of the archbishop of Toledo, Lord Raymond. (Latin, Corpus historiographicum latinum hispanum, saeculi VIII-XII)
• Nous vous engageons donc, au nom de notre honneur, au nom du roi et de la patrie, à venir nous joindre ici le plus tôt que vous pourrez. – We therefore urge you, in the name of our honour, in the name of the king and the country, to come and join us here as soon as you can. (French, Lecture de M. Gossuin des lettres des officiers du dixième bataillon du Mans à leurs soldats, des chasseurs de Gévaudan et de M. Schmidt, lors de la séance du 6 juillet 1791)
• en nombre del Rey y del principe de Asturias – On behalf of the King and the Prince of Asturias (Spanish, Crónica del serenissimo rey don Juan 1591)
• im Namen des Kaisers und der Kaiserin einzuleiten – in the name of the Emperor and Empress (German, Holy Roman Empire)
• im Namen des Kaisers und der Stände zu erfüllen hatte – in the name of the Emperor and the Estates (Germany, 16th Century)

However examples of the same kind are less common in Greek. Partly because the earlier the text the less likely there would be shared authority of any kind. A full search on the databases of classical Greek texts would need to be run, looking for, for example, lines like:

• “εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ..” – in the name of the king and..
• “εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Καίσαρος καὶ..” – in the name of the emperor and..

The are obviously other expressions – to the memory of A, B and C, the account of A, B and C, and so on, where no one would suggest that A, B and C and the same person. It is primarily the literalist idea of a name as being limited to an actual name, which the examples above in English, Latin and French show is not the meaning that “in the name of” has in these languages.
So we are left (for now) without listing a specific Greek example, but nevertheless the idea that “in the name of A, B and C” means that they are the same one person goes against common sense and usage in Greek or any other common language.

The broad usage of ὄνομα, ONOMA, name in Hellenistic Greek texts.

Kittel’s lexicon is helpful in demonstrating the wider uses of “in the name of”.

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament – Volume 5 Gerhard Kittel, ‎Geoffrey William Bromiley, ‎Gerhard Friedrich · 1964. Page 243-245 in particular, at the start of a lengthy entry.

• a. name
• b. repute
• c. name as opposed to thing
• d. the actual person so named
• e. noun, a substantive in grammar
• f. “The papyri extend the usage at some points . Thus ovoμa is the name of a person in books or on lists establishing its owner’s rights and obligations” etc.