1 Samuel 25:9
"And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased."
Were all David's young men also named David? Or does the phrase "in the name of David" mean that they simply said "David told us to give you this message"?
Jeremiah 26:20
"And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:"
Was this prophet's name Urijah, or YHWH?
So, what does the phrase "in the name of" actually mean?
Edit: Esther 3:12 might help you answer that:
"Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring."
"And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased."
Were all David's young men also named David? Or does the phrase "in the name of David" mean that they simply said "David told us to give you this message"?
Jeremiah 26:20
"And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:"
Was this prophet's name Urijah, or YHWH?
So, what does the phrase "in the name of" actually mean?
Edit: Esther 3:12 might help you answer that:
"Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring."