The meaning of Memorial; Memory in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
me-mo'-ri-al, mem'-o-ri ('azkarah, zekher, zekher, zikkaron; mnemosunon): "Memorial" as the translation of 'azkdrah is a sacrificial term, that which brings the offerer into remembrance before God, or brings God into favorable remembrance with the offerer; it is used of the burning of a portion of the meal offering, the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "meat-offering"); better, cereal offering, on the altar (Leviticus 2:2, the Revised Version (British and American) "as the memorial"; Leviticus 2:9, Leviticus 2:16; Leviticus 5:12, the Revised Version (British and American) "as"; Leviticus 24:7; Numbers 5:26, the Revised Version (British and American) "as"); as the translation of zekher (zekher), zikkaron, it is a memorial in the sense of a remembrance (zekher, zekher, Exodus 3:15; the memorial (name) of Yahweh); hence, we have in the Revised Version (British and American) "memorial name" for "remembrance" (Psalms 30:4 the American Standard Revised Version; Psalms 97:12, the English Revised Version "holy name," marin "Hebrew memorial"; Psalms 102:12; Psalms 135:13; Isaiah 26:8; Hosea 12:5, the English Revised Version "memorial"); for "memorial" (Esther 9:28; Psalms 9:6, the American Standard Revised Version "remembrance"); zikkaron, "a remembrance" (Exodus 12:14; Exodus 13:9; Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 5:15 (of the meal offering); Joshua 4:7; Nehemiah 2:20; Zechariah 6:14); the Passover feast was to be in this sense "a memorial .... for ever" (Exodus 12:14; Exodus 13:9); so also the shema' (Deuteronomy 6:4 f.) ; "memorial" occurs in The Wisdom of Solomon 4:1 (mneme), the Revised Version (British and American) "memory"; The Wisdom of Solomon 4:19; Ecclesiasticus 45:1 (mnemosunon); Ecclesiasticus 49:1; 1 Macc 3:7; 12:53, the Revised Version (British and American) "memorial."
"Memorial" occurs in the New Testament as the translation of mnemosunon, "a token of remembrance" (Matthew 26:13; Mark 14:9; Acts 10:4, "Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God," which suggests the sense in which "memorial" was used in the sacrificial ritual, and also the "better sacrifices" of the new dispensation).
Memory is the translation of zekher (zekher) (Psalms 109:15; Psalms 145:7; Proverbs 10:7; Ecclesiastes 9:5; Isaiah 26:14, the Revised Version (British and American) "remembrance"); it occurs also in 1 Macc 13:29; 2 Macc 7:20. Katecho, "to have or hold fast," is rendered in I Corinthians 15:2 the King James Version "keep in memory," margin "hold fast," the American Standard Revised Version "hold fast," the English Revised Version "hold it fast," i.e. the word preached to them.
W. L. Walker
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