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Re: Nazoreth vs. Nazorean
>The other day, during the chanting of the Thirteen Attributes, I found myself
wondering about the phrase "notzer chesed l'alafim" (sorry about my unacademic
inclusion of vowels) and how it might relate to notzer/notzrim. Is the verb
"guard" in precisely the same sense of "SH-M-R" or there a slightly different
connotation, even without the association with "chesed"?<
The two verbs do seem to hasve similar basic meanings of to "guard, keep,
preserve." There's also a specific agricultural sense: compare the use of verb
sh-m-r in Gen. 2:15, where God puts Adam into the Garden *le-ovdah u-le-
shomrah* (to till it and to tend it) with the use of the verb n-t-r in Song
of Songs 1:6, *karmi shelli lo natarti* (my own vineyard I have not tended).
However, even this specific usage of these two verbs fits in with the general
notion of guarding and preserving.
Judith Romney Wegner, Providence