THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Many died in prison, some were even sentenced to death in the war of 1866 on account of this refusal. Since 1868 the constitution has granted liberty of conscience, but this has not always been observed. As late as 1902 many, otherwise blameless, were in prison for refusing military service. Even their marriage customs brought them into conflict with the authorities. With the new Hungarian legislation of 1894 and 1895 some relief has come; they are no more obliged to belong to any of the acknowledged confessions. The State recognizes them as undenominational citizens when they apply as such, and they show respect for the " authority appointed by God." They are not molested because their children take no part in the religious instruction of the church and disregard obligatory attendance at church. In their propaganda they are also unmolested. They do not believe in universal salvation. Hence in their propaganda they aim to save from the world only the " susceptible souls."
S. Cramer.
Bibliography: On 1 consult: The founder's Biographie; ein Zeugniss der Nazarenergemeinde von der Entwicklung des Reiches Gottes auf Erden, Barmen, 1862; his Zeugnisse und Erbffnungen des Geistes durch J. J. Wirz heilige Urkunden der Nazarenergemeinde, 2 vols., ib. 1863-64; and C. von Palmer, Die Gemeinschaften und Sekten W urttembergs, pp. 143 sqq., Tubingen, 1877.
NAZARETH: The native city of Jesus (Matt, xii. 54; Mark vi. 1; Luke iv. 23). There his parents lived (Matt. ii. 23; Luke i. 26, ii. 4, 39) and his brothers and sisters (Mark vi. 3) ; and there he grew up (Luke ii. 51, iv. 16). As the name of the place does not occur in the Old Testament and is not authentically certified in later Jewish literature, its Hebrew form can be inferred only from the Greek form in the New Testament, Nazareth, Nazaret, or Nazara. The meaning of the name is uncertain. Jerome thought of nezer, " flower " (Epist. xlvi., Ad Marcellam). In the Talmud Jesus is called " the Nazarene " and his disciples " Nazarenes " from a Greek form Nazarenos (cf. Mark i. 24, x. 47), though another form is Nazoraios (Matt. xxvi. 71; Luke xviii. 37). In Eusebius' Onomasticon the form is interpreted either as " holy, pure," or it is brought into connection with the Hebrew for " twig, flower," ut sup. Hitzig proposed to derive the word from the Hebr. nzyry in the unpointed text of Isa. xlix. 6 and to interpret the plural Acts xxiv. 5, " saved ones," in contrast with the " perishing " of I Cor. i. 18, 21; II Cor. ii. 15. At a later time, according to Hitzig, the same word, as singular, was referred to Jesus himself, in the sense of " saved one " as well as in allusion to Nazareth (Matt. ii. 23).
Little is known of the early history of Nazareth. It was situated in Galilee (Matt. xxi. 11; Mark i. 9), on the slope of a hill (Luke iv. 29), and had a synagogue in which Jesus taught, though without success (Matt. xiii. 53-58; Mark vi. 1-6). According to Epiphanius (Hcer. i. 136) the town had only Jewish inhabitants until the time of Constantine, and even then only a few Christians settled there. Nazareth was evidently only at a comparatively late period received into the number of holy places of pilgrimage. Hence the authenticity of the holy places now revered in Nazareth is doubtful. Under the dominion of the crusaders Nazareth was apparently
a purely Christian place, the seat of a bishop, later of an archbishop. It suffered severely from the victories of Saladin 1187 and of Sultan Bibars 1263, also from the Turkish conquest in 1517. It flourished for a time under the dominion of Fahr el- Din, prince of the Druses (1620-1634), but soon declined owing to discords among the inhabitants and attacks from outside.
Nazareth rests concealed in a hollow surrounded by hills as if in the cavity of a shell. The slopes are well cultivated toward the south and east, cornfields alternating with vineyards and fig-trees. The present population is estimated at 11,000, of whom the orthodox Greeks and Mohammedans form each a third, while the Latins number 1,500, the United Greeks 1,000, the Protestants 250, the Maronites 200; Jews are not tolerated there. Nazareth is the capital of a district and an important market town. Of the holy places in Nazareth the orthodox Greek Church of St. Gabriel or the Church of the Annunciation is especially attractive, being built beside the spring of St. Mary in the northeast of the town. It was mentioned as early as 670, but the present structure was erected in 1780. The Roman Catholic church was built in 1730. Nazareth is now the seat of an orthodox Greek bishop and has a Greek monastery with a school for boys and girls; the Russians support several schools there. The Roman Catholic Church is represented by the Franciscans and by several orders of women. The Maronites also have a church. In 1851 the English Church Mission founded a Protestant congregation, and the Female Education Society in London erected in 1872-75 a stately orphans' home for girls.
(H Guthe.) Bibliography: An excellent treatment is to be found in F. Vigouroux, Dictionnaire de la Bible, fasc. xxviii. 1521- 1542, Paris, 1906. Consult further: Hitzig, in Tubinger theologische Zeitschrift, i (1842), 410-413; T. Tobler, Nazareth in Palmstina, Berlin, 1868; V. Gue>in, Description de la Palestine, iii., Galilee, i. 83-102, Paris, 1880; Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs, i. 275-279, London, 1881; W. M. Thomson, The Land and the Book, Central Palestine, pp. 310-322, New York, 1882; G. Ebers and H. Guthe, Palilstina in Bild und Wort, i. 302 sqq., Stuttgart, 1883; G. Schumacher, in ZDPV- xiii (1890), 235 sqq.; G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 432-435, London, 1894; F. Buhl, Geographic des alien Palilstina, pp. 215 sqq., Tubingen, 1896; Robinson, Researches, iii. 183 sqq.; DB, iii. 496-497; EB, iii. 3358-62; JE, ix. 195; DCG, ii. 235-237. The recent monograph is G. Le Hardy, Hist, de Nazareth et de ses sanctuaires, Paris, 1905. The subject is treated also in many of the works on the life of Jesus Christ.
NAZIRITES: The name given to Hebrews who assumed certain vows or upon whom these vows were imposed by their parents. The naziritic institution (Hebr. nazir, " separate," Gk. naziraios, nazaraios) included both sexes, involved abstinence from intoxicating drinks, avoidance of contact with the dead, and the unchecked growth of the hair. It was a distinctly religious institution, and the resolution to assume the obligations which it imposed was regarded as inspired by Yahweh (Amos ii. 1 1), to whom the nazirite was consecrated (Num. vi. 2). This consecration might be for a lifetime (Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist), or for a shorter period, and it might be assumed by the parents for a child even before his birth. The law of the nazirite is given Lev. vi. 1-21 . In the required abstinence from