The link between נצרי (Nazarene) and נצר (to keep) comes purely from the fact that the town of Nazareth was named with this root. The town name means something "Keeper" or "Guard". We see pretty much the same link between the term שׁמרון (Samaria) and שׁמר (to keep). These days the Samaritans are known as the שׁמרונים (Shomronim). Most understand this as deriving from the name of the town of Samaria, but the Samaritans themselves interpret the label as "Keepers" of Torah.
GEORGE ATHAS Dean of Research, Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au) Sydney, Australia _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
