Explaining Name Changes in the Bible: Neville Style

In the Bible, name changes are far more than surface-level updates—they represent deep inner transformation. From Neville Goddard’s point of view, these changes reflect shifts in consciousness, revealing the journey of the individual soul as it aligns more fully with divine purpose and imagination.

Below are some pivotal examples of biblical name changes, placed in chronological order, each holding symbolic significance that can illuminate our own spiritual development.

Abram to Abraham & Sarai to Sarah
Genesis 17:5, 15

Abram, meaning “exalted father,” becomes Abraham—“father of many nations.” Sarai becomes Sarah, “princess” or “noblewoman.” According to Neville, this change signifies far more than a name update—it represents a shift in consciousness, a deepening of awareness that brings the individual into alignment with divine imagination.

What’s particularly significant is the introduction of the letter He (ה) into both names. In Hebrew, He symbolises a window—an opening through which the spirit or breath of God (Ruach) flows. It marks the moment the divine creative power enters into the individual, breathing life into the barren and impossible.

In this context, Abraham and Sarah do not simply become more socially significant—they become the embodiment of a new spiritual state. They receive the divine imprint, the creative spark, through which the promise—or imagined desire—can now be fulfilled.

This mirrors the experience of awakening to the power of assumption. Even when the outer world appears barren, the individual who has received the ‘He’—the breath of inspiration—can conceive through faith. It is the transformation from believing in the facts of life, to believing in the truth of imagination.

Jacob to Israel
Genesis 32:28

After wrestling with a divine figure, Jacob is renamed Israel, meaning “he who struggles with God” or “God prevails.” Neville would interpret this as the internal battle between reason and faith, or between doubt and imagination. Jacob's night of wrestling symbolises the psychological struggle of assuming a new state and refusing to let go until it blesses you.

Jacob also wrestled with the established beliefs—those embodied by Laban, his father-in-law. Laban represents the strict, inherited mental structures and traditions we often feel bound to. The victory over this inherited thought system prepares Jacob for the transformation that follows.

Receiving the name “Israel” marks the triumph of the inner man over appearances. From this point, Jacob is no longer just a supplanter—he becomes a spiritual being in full recognition of his divine power.

Simon to Peter
Matthew 16:18

When Jesus renames Simon as Peter (meaning “rock”), it’s not just a poetic gesture. It marks Simon’s shift from instability to foundational faith. Neville would say that Peter represents the ability to stand firm in one’s assumption, the rock-like quality needed to persist in the face of contradiction.

This moment symbolises establishing your spiritual foundation—the unshakeable belief in the unseen reality.

Saul to Paul
Acts 9:4–6

Saul’s transformation is dramatic: from persecutor of Christians to one of the New Testament’s most influential figures. When he becomes Paul, it signifies the death of his old self—the self rooted in law, judgement, and outer works—and the birth of a new self governed by inner revelation and grace.

Neville might suggest that Saul’s blinding light on the road to Damascus represents the moment the old belief system collapses, making room for the new awareness born of spiritual experience. Paul becomes the embodiment of the conclusion to the biblical narrative of manifestation: the individual who not only awakens to the divine within but now lives by the law of assumption, teaching and embodying the truth that imagining creates reality. Paul represents spiritual maturity, where the inner journey comes full circle and becomes a conscious, deliberate life in alignment with divine imagination.

What These Name Changes Reveal

In Neville’s teachings, every biblical story is psychological. Name changes reflect shifts in state—when a person moves from limitation into a higher level of being. Each transformation is an allegory of our own inner journey, where the old self must give way to the new identity born from imagination, faith, and divine remembrance.

These stories aren’t just history. They’re happening within us every time we accept a new idea of ourselves and persist in it until it manifests.