{"id":71318,"date":"2020-03-06T15:37:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T13:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71318"},"modified":"2020-03-06T15:37:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T13:37:38","slug":"christians-watchmen-guardians-and-waiters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/christians-watchmen-guardians-and-waiters\/","title":{"rendered":"Christians, Watchmen, Guardians and Waiters\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"71318","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64450,"related_cahpter":"431","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The varied derivations of a common root\r\n","content":"

After many chapters of destruction and disaster, in chapter 31 Jeremiah delivers prophecies of a bright future. For example, he announces:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the day is coming when watchmen<\/span>
\n<\/span>Shall proclaim on the heights of Ephraim:<\/span>
\n<\/span>Come, let us go up to Zion,<\/span>
\n<\/span>To the LORD our God!\u201d (6)<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the word \u201cwatchmen.\u201d In Hebrew, it is <\/span>notzrim<\/span><\/em>. In Modern Hebrew, that means \u201cChristians.\u201d How did that come to be?<\/span><\/p>\n

The verb <\/span>natzar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201cto watch\u201d or \u201cto guard.\u201d According to some theories, this is the origin of the ancient town of Nazareth. Nazareth sits on a mountain, overlooking the Jezreel Valley, and so therefore served as a good guard post to watch for invading armies. Since Jesus was from Nazareth, Christians called themselves Nazarenes, which entered Hebrew as <\/span>notzrim<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Returning to <\/span>natzar<\/span><\/em>, the word has some interesting cognates. In Arabic the cognate is <\/span>nazar<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201clooked at, examined.\u201d Since someone looking at something stands across from it, the word <\/span>nazir\u00a0<\/span><\/em>in Arabic came to mean \u201copposite.\u201d The opposite of the zenith (the highest point) was the <\/span>nazir assamt<\/span><\/em>, which via French, came into English as \u201cnadir\u201d \u2013 \u201cthe lowest point.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Hebrew consonants sometimes can switch out, and that happens a few times with <\/span>natzar<\/span><\/em>. A related synonym, more frequently found in Aramaic, is <\/span>natar<\/span><\/em>. The anti-Zionist Orthodox group, Neturei Karta, gets its name from here \u2013 that phrase translates as \u201cguardians of the city.\u201d And the Hebrew word for target, <\/span>matara<\/span><\/em>, derives from <\/span>natar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two other verbs that may also be related are <\/span>nezer<\/span><\/em>\u00a0and <\/span>neder<\/span><\/em>. They are both types of vows, and as such guard against (or in favor of) particular behavior or objects. <\/span>Neder<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is a more general type of vow or oath. The cognate <\/span>nezer<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is a more particular kind of vow, that of the <\/span>nazir<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 the Nazirite. The <\/span>nazir\u00a0<\/span><\/em>as described in Numbers 6:1-21, vows to abstain from alcohol, cutting his hair and contact with the dead.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last cognate isn\u2019t through Hebrew, Arabic or Aramaic, but the ancient language of Akkadian. The Akkadian word <\/span>meltzar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is related to the Hebrew <\/span>netzer<\/span><\/em>\u00a0and meant \u201cguardian.\u201d But in modern Hebrew it means \u201cwaiter.\u201d How did a guardian turn into a waiter?<\/span><\/p>\n

This goes back to the book of Daniel. In the first chapter, Daniel was kept by the king in the royal palace. He did not want to eat the food and wine provided by the king, so he asked the guard (the <\/span>meltzar<\/span><\/em>) to bring him legumes instead. Since this guard was occupied with bringing and removing food to Daniel, eventually people began to think of a <\/span>meltzar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0as not just a steward, but simply as a waiter in a restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today Jeremiah and Daniel would be amazed at how the land of Israel is full of both guardians and waiters!<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":71319,"id":71319,"title":"jer31-netzer","filename":"jer31-netzer.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/christians-watchmen-guardians-and-waiters\/jer31-netzer\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer31-netzer","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71318,"date":"2020-03-06 13:34:52","modified":"2020-03-06 13:35:04","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Christians, Watchmen, Guardians and Waiters\u00a0","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The varied derivations of a common root","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":71319,"id":71319,"title":"jer31-netzer","filename":"jer31-netzer.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/christians-watchmen-guardians-and-waiters\/jer31-netzer\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer31-netzer","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71318,"date":"2020-03-06 13:34:52","modified":"2020-03-06 13:35:04","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-netzer-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71318"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71320,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71318\/revisions\/71320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}