Science may have evicted ghosts and witches from our beliefs, but it just as quickly filled the vacancy with aliens having the same functions.

Folklorist, Thomas E Bullard (1989)

Nazarene 3

The Semantics of Nazarene

Abstract

Origen of Caesarea (185-254 AD) lived thirty miles from Nazareth, but could not find it. He concluded that many places mentioned in the gospels never existed. Before Constantine, Nazareth was attested only by the New Testament evangelists. Yet “Nazarene” was a word people understood. In the Qumran scrolls, the Hebrew word “nasi” is a messianic leader. The Nasi had the role of the messiah at the sacred meal of the council of the Essene community. In Ezekiel, nasi means the coming Davidic prince, the messiah. The plural “nesiim” means clouds, enabling the Nasi to come in the nesiim, reminding us of Daniel, but logically it means “princes”—the saints and angels of the heavenly host. Nasi seems to be the origin of “Nazarene”. Nazarenes were followers of the messianic leader, the Nasi, either Essenes or their converts.

The Semantics of Nazarene I

Let us look at the semantics of the word Nazarene more closely. The Hebrew alphabet was purely consonantal except for some consonants which partly expressed vowels just as our “w” and “y” do. In writing no vowels were used. Even in English vowels are often unimportant. They can vary widely in the spoken word but its sense is understood from the use and context. In Yorkshire we use a full, rounded “u” sound but most English regard it as vulgar and reduce it to an “e” sound. A woman orders “better” in a restaurant and the waiter brings her “butter”. A man describing a cricket match says: “He gave it some ‘bit’ ”, but we know he is not talking about a horse. The woman wants to be recognized as upper class and the man is probably South African. Vowels vary a great deal with dialect but the speakers can still be understood.

By omitting vowels, written Hebrew could be understood without distracting regional variations of representing vowels. Archaeologists will transliterate the name of God from old inscriptions as Yahu or Yeho, for example, but these conventions do not tell us how the word was pronounced. Though we can be confident the “u/o” sound was “oo”, the “a/e” will have varied from place to place and time to time. Only later, when no one was actually speaking Hebrew in everyday life, was it felt important to put vowels in writing because, without them, no one in the synagogue had any idea how to pronounce the words. So in the sixth century AD Jewish scholars introduced vowels by copying the pronunciation of the language, Syriac, that Aramaic had evolved into. Yet, in a millennium, Syriac vowels were surely quite different from Hebrew.

J A Fitzmeyer (1970) is among several scholars who have carefully examined language usage in Palestine in the first century AD. Hebrew in the intertestamental years was almost dead but not quite, being replaced by Aramaic. Aramaic was most common, but Greek was also common, some might think surprisingly, though often as a second language, and not only among the wealthy but even among craftsmen and farmers. It seems possible and even likely that Jesus understood Greek, even if he chose not to use it. Hebrew was not widely used at all, and Fitzmayer has to allow that some limited groups might have used it—presumably some priests is meant. Fitzmayer has to contradict Josephus in concluding that some Palestinians spoke only Greek.

By the time of the gospels Aramaic was the language of Palestine even if slightly influenced by the older language. Even as a religious language, Hebrew was possibly resurrected in the third century BC. Thus nothing can be deduced with confidence from supposed variations in vowel sounds in Hebrew. Even consonants, like the sibilants (s, sh, ts, ch, dj, tz and z), were in flux. Hebrew had five sibilants but their properties were variable, even becoming “d” or “t”. Moreover even older roots already showed such changes suggesting they had occurred long ago in some instances. All of this needs to be remembered when the origins and meanings of puzzling New Testament words like Nazarene are sought.

The word “nazar” (nzr—with zayin) is to separate or to consecrate and sometimes to abstain from. All of these definitions are superlatively applied to the Essenes. To separate is the use of the word in Leviticus 15:31 where the children of Israel were told to separate themselves from uncleanness caused by menstrual and sexual discharges. The noun, nazir, literally means one who is separated or consecrated but also means a prince, in the sense of being consecrated into that office and being distinct and distinctive—though the concept of prince for nazir might be derived from the related word, “nizer”, which has the clear connotation of crown. Priests had to separate from all pollution and were, of course, consecrated. The Essenes were a priestly sect who also chose to be separate from other Jews. It seems the Essenes also called themselves princes.

The noun “nazir” occurs most frequently in the scriptures referring to the Nazirites who were spiritual role models, dedicated men and women holy unto the Lord. The vow of the Nazirite could be temporary or permanent, but the only people the bible tells us were lifelong Nazarites were Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist. James the Just is known from other sources to have been a lifelong Nazirite, and Paul also took the Nazarite vow on occasions for reasons of penitence (Acts 18:18; 21:18-27; 24:17-18).

Practical details of the Nazirite vow of separation is recorded in Numbers 6:1-21, where the Nazirite is described as abstaining from products of the grape, allowing their hair to grow, and avoiding the ritual pollution of a dead body. If a Nazirite accidentally defiled himself, he had to ritually purify himself and begin the full period of consecration over again. The Nazirite was consecrated to God and his long hair was symbolic of it. We know from Luke that John the Baptist was a Nazirite, one dedicated to God who did not drink wine. We are not told explicitly that John wore his hair long but he is identified with Elijah and the Old Testament describes him as hairy. Jesus’s brother, James, who became leader after the crucifixion, was also a Nazirite, it is unlikely that Jesus was not. It seems Nazarenes were Nazirites.

Interestingly the word “nazar” only appears in the Septuagint in the story of Samson (Jg 13:5). His birth story has points of similarity with the gospel birth stories and the child was consecrated to God from birth:

There shall come no razor upon his head, for the child shall be called a Nazir to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

Samson was also saviour. He would save Israel from the Philistines. He was a saviour messiah who died destroying a polluted temple!

The Essenes considered themselves in the same category, separated out from the sinful world. When they had to meet the sinful world of commerce, they did so only under the eye of the “mebaqqer”, or overseer—the word that is now bishop. Since the Essenes wrote of their use of new wine or unfermented grape juice at their messianic meal, it seems they were not Nazirites according to the scriptures though they regarded themselves as separated and consecrated to God. They will have seen a contradiction in the fruit of the grape being forbidden to holy men yet wine being served at the messianic banquet in God’s kingdom and deduced that God had forbidden only fermented grape products, the wine of the messianic banquet in God’s kingdom being new wine. Essene references to wine should be read as new wine and the same is probably true of the gospels. (Indeed, there is reason to think that “new wine” was really water!) Jesus was not a wine bibber. Relevant here is the meaning of nazir as an unpruned or undressed vine. In Leviticus 25:5 and 11 the vine (nazir) was to be unpruned during sabbatical and jubilee years and left to grow naturally. In Jeremiah 6:9 the remnant of Israel, a name of the Essenes, is likened to a vine, while Jesus in John 15:1 referred to himself as the true vine, meaning the natural, undressed vine, the nazir.

Even in the twentieth century, Christians in Syria would pray to a saint to be blessed with a child, vowing to dedicate the child to the saint. The child was consecrated to the saint as a nedher, in English, a Nazarite. The vow “nezer” required that the child would not have its hair cut until the age of seven, and then in the shrine of the patron saint, unless gifts were substituted. Nedher is the Aramaic word for the Hebrew, “nazir”. Why should Christians in Syria be continuing this old Jewish custom using words that go back to the time of Jesus himself? Because the Nazarenes were Nazirites.

The noun “nezer” means separation, consecration and a crown. In Exodus 29:6, explained in Exodus 28:36-38, nezer is an engraved gold plate which a priest wore over his forehead to mark him as a consecrated person. According to Numbers 6:7 and 9 the Nazirite also wears his nezer unto God upon his head. His nezer was his uncut hair. The word “nizer” is used of a royal crown in several places including Zechariah 9:16 where God, smiting the enemies of Israel, saves his flock who shall be as the stones of a nizer (crown) over His land. Psalms 89:39 and 132:18 both replete with Essene imagery and language, use nizer. Incidently, the word, “Essene”, in Josephus, is also the word for the priests’ holy breastplate, so both Nazarene and Essene seem to reflect parts of the priestly attire!

All of these words in nzr seem to come from a primitive root nadar, to vow to give something to God. Indeed a vow in the scriptures is a promise to God, not to men. The vow implies a promised gift or sacrifice. The noun “neder” thus means a vow or a votive offering, either the vow, or that offered to mark the vow. A neder is an offering for God to grant zeal for the law, and He only accepted it when the offerer had no sin in his heart. Essenes tried to be perfect (Hasid) and zealous for the law, never made oaths and regarded their vows to God as inviolable.

The Semitic root “ns” is a common word in the scriptures, meaning “to lift up”, “to bear” or “carry” or “support”, and “to take” or “take away”. It is nasa. (The title of the National Aeronautical and Space Administration seems to have been cleverly devised to have the acronym, NASA, to lift up!) It is used especially of bearing the guilt or punishment of sin. He shall “bear his iniquity” occurs frequently in the scriptures. Sin can be forgiven of those that bear it when it is taken up and carried away, so metaphorically ns can translate as forgiving sins. Jesus was reputed to blaspheme by forgiving sins. It is possible that the Essenes had this power because one scroll fragment speaks of a holy man forgiving the king’s sins to cure him of an ulcer.

There are several other fascinating word links between the names of Jesus and his followers, and the Essenes. The Semitic root “nsr” also means “protector” or “saviour”. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew word, Joshua, itself short for Jehoshua, which means “saviour of God”, “God of salvation” or “God saves”. It is the same name as Isaiah but with the root words for God and salvation swapped around. Hosea, meaning salvation, was the original name of Joshua. It is properly written Osea. The Aramaic for “save us” is “osanna ”the cry of the multitude when Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king. Epiphanius speaks of the Ossenes, a Jewish sect by the Dead Sea, obviously the Essenes because of the fluidity of vowels in these languages. Essene in Hebrew is Osim, “the Saviours”. The name Jesus is clearly linked semantically with the word Essene. The Quran’s name for Jesus is Essa or Issa from the same word, Osea. It is likely that the Osim were the followers of “the saviour”, Jesus, and that Jesus or Joshua was a title.

Some scroll fragments are striking for their emphasis on salvation. We find “the children of salvation” and “the salvation of His works”. Yesha is a common Qumran word and its importance in the context of Christian origins has not been acknowledged by the Qumran experts. It appears in the Damascus Rule, “they would see His salvation”, effectively, “they would see Jesus”.

Zechariah 3:1-10 suggests that the name Joshua might have been a priestly title. It relates the appointment of the High Priest, Joshua, and proves to be very important in the testament of Mark. This Joshua was the High Priest who with Zerubbabel and the remnant of the people (Hag 1:12ff) rebuilt and reconsecrated the temple on the return from exile. Joshua was the son of Jehozadak, a man who never left captivity in Babylon and whose name literally means “God is righteous”, but might be a contraction of “Joshua the priest” (zadok) or “Joshua the righteous” or “just” (zaddik). All of it chimes sweetly with all we know about Essene tradition. Conceivably, here are links with the foundation of the new covenant. Sure enough we find in the Community Rule that the priests bless the “God of salvation” (bless Joshua or Jesus) while the initiates call out, “Amen, Amen”.

Christ is the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew “messiah” but the two words have come to mean something different. Because Christ is the divine title of Jesus the Christian God, people tend to think it has always been a divine title. It has not. The Jewish messiah was a saviour prince.

The word “nasa” yields nasi—one lifted up, an elected chief, a captain, a leader, a ruler, a prince, a king. A nasi is an official who has been lifted up, that is, chosen or called, as in Numbers 1:16 where the sentence, “these were the ones chosen (or called)”, occurs, but translated “renowned”, referring to the princes (nesiim) of the tribes. The ones chosen are the elect, those whom the Essenes considered themselves to be. Solomon is a nasi and so are any rulers of God’s people and leaders of the congregation. Though the gospels never refer to Jesus as the prince, we find repeatedly, in John, Jesus being described as lifted up. Thus, in John 3:14—“even so must this Son of man be lifted up”. John is trying to maintain that the title Nasi simply meant lifted up not prince of Israel. The Greek noun “anatole” and verb “anetello”, which pertain to rising, have the same origin and occur often in the New Testament and in early Christian writings applied to Jesus.

In the Damascus Rule we find that God called all the captives of Israel “princes” because they were lost and wanted to find Him (a pun on the word “masa”) and were men of repute or renown (called or chosen). The captives of Israel were the priests of the Essene sect, the sons of Zadok. Evidently Essene priests were called princes—they were the heirs of Melchizedek. In the Qumran literature, the Hebrew word “nasi” is used frequently to mean a messianic leader, the prince of the many or the prince of Israel, apparently one of the head priests of the remnant of Israel. The Nasi seemed to play the role of the messiah at the sacred meal of the council of the community. Significantly, in Ezekiel, nasi is constantly used for the coming Davidic prince, the messiah. The plural nesiim also means clouds or vapours, enabling the Nasi to come in the nesiim reminding us of Daniel, but logically it means “princes” so the messiah is coming not “on the clouds” but “with the princes”—the saints and angels of the heavenly host. Nasi, then, could be the specific origin of the gospel term “Nazarene”. The Nazarenes were those who followed the messianic leader, the Nasi, and were either Essenes or their converts.

Now, besides being separated and princes, the Essenes were keepers of the covenant and watchers for the kingdom, to use their own names. Here is another Hebrew word similar to Nazarene—“nasar”, which means “to watch”, “to keep” and “to protect”. The Arabic word from the same root has become nazara, to keep in view. The Arabs still call Christians the Nasrani. Watchers or noserim were employed to guard anything valuable, like a vineyard, and a watch tower would usually be built for them. The Qumran monastery had a watchtower, suggesting they thought of themselves as “watchers”. In Jeremiah 31:6 and 2 Kings 17:9 and 18:8, God is a keeper or watchman over his vineyard, Israel. The children of Israel have to keep the covenant and God’s commandments in return for His lovingkindness. The Essenes considered that only they kept this bargain properly by protecting His covenant with the people of Israel and watching for the signs of the arrival of God’s kingdom. The Essenes were also guardians of certain mysteries or secrets and significantly nasar is used in this same sense. In Isaiah 48:6, nasar refers to hidden things not revealed by God, the hidden things which the Essenes sought in the scriptures and believed they had found, according to the scrolls. Nazarenes kept the hidden things of God—the secrets or mysteries of God. Paul in Romans, 1 Corinthians and Ephesians speaks of the revealing of divine mysteries through the holy spirit. Isaiah 49:6 calls those of Israel gathered to Him in the End Days the preserved or protected of Israel—the word for preserved is “nasar”, and promises (Isa 49:8) a covenant of the people that shall “raise up” the land.

Centurion carrying a vine shoot as his badge of authority

Nasar itself comes from an older root natar used in farming contexts of those who keep or guard vineyards, but is also used in the sense of keeping one’s anger or wrath, bearing malice or a grudge. In Leviticus 19:18, a favourite of Jesus (Mt 19:19; Mk 12:31), Israel is commanded:

Thou shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge (natar) toward the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself.

But God keeps wrath (natar) for his enemies (Neh 1:2). The Essenes believed in brotherhood towards the children of Israel but wrath towards their enemies, the gentiles.

“Naza” also means to sprinkle, as in sprinkling the blood of a sacrifice or, for the Nazarenes, the sprinkling of water at baptism. “Nasah” meaning “victory” is yet another word with an appropriate connotation. Jesus was the Victorious One.

Page Tags: Jesus and Nazareth, Nazarenes, Call to All Israel in the Last Days, Jesus, New Testament, Meaning of Nazarene, Pre-Christian Nazarenes, Christians, Christianity, Essenes, Qumran, Messiah, Kingdom of God, Apocalypticism, Mystery

Last uploaded: 19 April, 2008.