The precise form of the word and its si,!,'^iiification are alike uncertain. In two passages (Mt 4i'*, Lk 4"') the oldest MSS read NaJo6/!a, and are followed by all recent editors. Elsewhere in the Synoptic Gospels WH print Nalxpir, with the exception of Mt 2111 (iixZap'J), Tischendorf reads tlxZa-p-'U consistently in all passages of Matthew and Luke (except Na^a^a, as above), adding with reference to the usage of tlie latter a note (on Lk 126) that on a comparison of all the instances in which the name occurs in St. Luke, including Ac 103», the decision must be that the Evangelist wrote Na^a^/fl not NaJa/jsV, a variable usage between the two forms being inconceivable.* In Mark and John the form Kx-^ccpiT and in Acts tSx^xpid is accepted by all with the more ancient MSS ; and in Mk 19 the form N«f«/>aT is found in AP. Dr. Hort also states that in eight out of the eleven passages in the Gospels the Codex Sangallensis has NaJa/>aH, but that the form ' has little other attestation.' It would seem probable that the variations in spelling, where they are not merely acci- dental, are due to local or dialectic peculiarities, t and are to be ascribed to the transmitters of the tradition or the copyists of the documents rather than to the original authors.!
The adjective also appears in two different forms. The Second Gospel uses onl\- iJaZxpyivi; (Mk 124 lO-i" 146" 166) ; Matthew and John have always tixi^apx]e; (Mt22:' 26'?', Jn 185- ^ 1919). gt. Luke has both in his Gospel (-pr.vos, 4^* 2419 ; .^aiW, 18^'), but in the Acts only iixZupx'to; (222 36 410 614 228 24-5 269). In no instance is there any important difference of reading. Neither the noun nor the adjective is found in the Epistles or the Book of Revela- tion.
There is no agreement, again, with regard to the meaning or derivation of the name. St. Matthew sees in the return to Nazareth a fulfilment of the prophecy of Is 111 (' a branch (nezer) out of his roots shall bear fruit '), thus connecting Nazareth with the Hebrew I'ii 'shoot,' 'sprout' ; and some have therefore supposed that the name was given to the town in reminiscence of Isaiah's language, and on account of the circumstances of our Lord's early life there. Such an origin of the term is perhaps not impossible, although it hardly com- mends itself as probable ; and of course no such thought was in the mind of the writer, or is intended to be suggested by his words. Others ha\e sought a connexion with the root "li'J in the sense of keeping iratch or guard ; e.(j. Dr. Swete would follow Delitzsch and Dalman in explaining Nazareth to mean 'watch-tower.' § This would imply either that the town itself
* ' vxZapiT, c.NBKLXn al permu e q. Conlatis omnibus hujus evangelii locis (quibus accedit Ac 1038 .{fl nBCDE) Lucam vx'ixpsB scripsisse statuendum est non vxJ^xpsT, nisi quod 4 16 formam eum vx'ixpx adhibuisse suadent testes. Inter -id enim et -IT eundem scriptorem fluctuasse incredibile est.'
t Compare shibboleth and sibboleth (Jg 126),
J Dr. Hort, however, writes : — ' The evidence (for the spelling of the name Nazareth) when tabulated presents little ambiguity. 'SxZxpx is used at the outset of the Ministr.y in Mt 1/3 (4i-') and Lk i/g (4I6) ; VxlxpiH in Mt 1/3 (2111), the only later place in the Gospels where the name occurs, and in Acts ; and 'i^xtxp-.-r certainly or probably in all other places' {New Testament in Greek, Notes on Orthography, p. 160).
§ See his note on Mk 19 ; Aram, ms:, ms:. Cf. also Mer- rill, loc. cit. p. 122.
was on the top of the hill, or that it took its name from the hill on the slopes or at the foot of which it stood ; the former would seem to be contrary to fact, and the latter improbable. It would be preferable to understand the word in a passive sense from TS3, to preserve, protect (Old Aram, ni'3, Assyr. nasdru),* so that Nazareth is the town secluded, protected, and the name describes its position in a valley surrounded by hills. "The word might also be explained as a Niphal participle of nis, "il^, with the same meaning of 'confined,' ' shut in ' ; compare the adjec- tival form Nxlupxio;. Heb. or Aram, s, however, usuallj' becomes <r in Greek, e.g. lVi = '2utiv, 2iav, T\M<2^-2xl3xu6, nssD = M«o- a-ax, iilx(nrr,$x, etc. ; Or a dental, e.g. 'v\)i=Tipi>i. But "lys is represented by Ziyopx in On I310. A derivation from 11:, denom. of Ti:, has also been suggested ; Nazareth would then be 'the town of the Nazirites.' Ti: becomes in the Greek of the Septuagint yx^ip, \ixZ,ipx'n>;. Compare the modern name of the town en-Ndsira. The latter, however, is more likely to be a conscious or unconscious assimilation of the sound and per- haps the spelling to a well-known descriptive title. See also preceding article.
LiTERATURE.^In addition to the references given above, the articles in the Bible Dictionaries ma\' be consulted ; add Edward Robinson, BRP, London, 1841, iii. 'pp. 183-200 ; A. Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, London, 1883, i. pp. 145- 148, 456 f. ; Cunningham Geikie, Holy Land and the Bible, London, 1887, ch. xxxix. ; G. le Hardy, Hist, de Nazareth et de ses sanctuaires, Paris, 1905. A. S. GEDEN.