Memorial

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

The concept of "remembering" recurs prominently in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. God remembers his covenant with his people, whereupon God's people are enjoined to remember him. Remembering, frequently placed in opposition to "forgetting, " focuses not only upon the past, but upon the present and future as well ( Ecclesiastes 11:8 ).

God Remembering . In the Old Testament God may remember to have mercy or to judge. God's covenant with his people lies behind each occasion of God's memory, whether for grace or retribution. God's remembrance often yields forgiveness ( Jeremiah 31:34 ). Calling on God to remember his people (or an individual) is the essence of prayer. When God recalls iniquity, remembering is synonymous with pronouncing judgment ( Psalm 109:14;  Hosea 7:2 ). Not remembering the memory of the wicked is one of God's ultimate expressions of judgment ( Psalm 34:16 ) in contrast to the memory of the upright, which is a blessing ( Proverbs 10:7 ).

Human Remembrance of God . The most prevalent use of remembrance in the Bible is the command to remember the Lord and his mighty deeds. No biblical book utilizes this motif more fully than Deuteronomy, where God exhorted the people to remember him, the exodus, and the wilderness experience in order to prepare themselves for the conquest of Canaan. Even the Shema (6:4-12) stresses remembering the Lord as the fundamental element in the Israelites' theological education.

 Psalm 105 is entirely devoted to rehearsing God's wondrous deeds. Ezekiel provides another notable example, but he often uses memory to chastise Israel for her sins (16:60-63).

Perhaps the single most significant expression of remembering God rests with God's self-disclosure through his name ( Exodus 3:14-15 ). Israel must remember their God as the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, " the "I am, " forever.

The "memorial" is equivalent to a "sign" in the Bible. Numerous items and institutions serve as a reminder of Yahweh. The rainbow, which portended God's promise, symbolized the Noahic covenant; phylacteries recalled the Law ( Exodus 13:16 ); and the Sabbath commemorated God's rest from his creative activity ( Exodus 20:8-11 ).

Finally, even the gospel represents the recollection of God's mightiest act of salvation. This memory is epitomized in the Lord's Supper ( 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 ) whose purpose is to lead believers to recall the atoning work of Christ.

George L. Klein

See also The Lord'S Supper

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) A memorandum; a record.

(2): ( n.) Memory; remembrance.

(3): ( n.) A written representation of facts, addressed to the government, or to some branch of it, or to a society, etc., - often accompanied with a petition.

(4): ( n.) A species of informal state paper, much used in negotiation.

(5): ( n.) Anything intended to preserve the memory of a person or event; something which serves to keep something else in remembrance; a monument.

(6): ( a.) Mnemonic; assisting the memory.

(7): ( a.) Serving to preserve remembrance; commemorative; as, a memorial building.

King James Dictionary

MEMO'RIAL, a. L.memorialis. See Memory.

1. Preservative of memory.

There high in air memorial of my name,

Fix the smooth oar, and bid me live to fame.

2. Contained in memory as memorial possession.

MEMO'RIAL, n. That which preserves the memory of something any thing that serves to keep in memory. A monument is a memorial of a deceased person, or of an event. The Lord's supper is a memorial of the death and sufferings of Christ.

Churches have names some as memorials of peace, some of wisdom, some of the Trinity.

1. Any note or hint to assist the memory.

Memorials written with king Edward's hand shall be the ground of this history.

2. A written representation of facts, made to a legislative or other body as the ground of a petition, or a representation of facts accompanied with a petition.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Μνημόσυνον (Strong'S #3422 — Noun Neuter — mnemosunon — mnay-mos'-oo-non )

denotes "a memorial," that which keeps alive the memory of someone or something (from mnemon, "mindful"),  Matthew 26:13;  Mark 14:9;  Acts 10:4 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 3:15  Exodus 12:14 Exodus 13:9 Joshua 4:7 Matthew 26:13 Mark 14:9 1 Corinthians 11:25-26

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is the name

(1) of a prayer of oblation; the prayer in the order of the communion beginning "O Lord and heavenly Father," which follows the communion of the faithful.

(2) The tomb of a martyr, or a church dedicated to his memory.

(3) The commemoration of a concurrent lesser festival by the use of its collect.

(4) Exequies, an office for the dead said by the priest in the 14th century in England.