Notzrim
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- Not to be confused with the post-Messianic pro-Torah Nazuraiun sect.
The original Notzrim from Hebrew נֹצְרִים or נוצרים "sentry" or "watchmen"[1], for those who "keep safe" the original teachings; also Nasaraioi/Nasoraean (Gk:Νασαραίοι), a sect which began as a Gnostic movement during the reign of the Hasmonean queen Alexandra Helene Salome among Hellenized supporters of Rome in Judea[2]. They were named after fallen angels led by Shemyaza mentioned in the Book of Jubilees. Pliny the Elder, recopying reports drafted by Marcus Agrippa on the orders of Emperor Octavian Augustus Caesar, indicates in Book V of his Natural Histories that Νασαραίοι lived not far from Apamea, in Syria in a city called Bambyx, Hierapolis or Mabog. Since Marcus Agrippa died in 12 BC, Dubourg situates his investigations between 30 and 20 [B.C.E.]. Accounting for the lapse of time required for the installation in Syria of a sect born in Palestine, Dubourg judges plausible the presence of a Nasoraean current at least as far back as around 50 B.C. [3]
It appears that the Νασαραίοι were originally composed at least partly of Jews (viz., Israeli-Samaritans) beginning long before the Christian Era, whose anti-Torah teachings [4] may have had some “gnostic” leanings. The sect was apparently centered in the areas of Coele-Syria, Galilee and Samaria (essentially corresponding to the long-defunct state of Northern Israel).[5]
The Orthodox Church Father Epiphanius writes: “there were Nasoraeans amongst the Jews before the time of Christ.” [6] They were said to have rejected temple sacrifice and the Torah, but adhered to other Jewish practice. They are described as eschewing the consumption of meat, that is, as being vegetarian.[7] Following the teachings of the Prophets above the Priestly rituals, they are considered Minim (heretics) by the Pharisee-derived Rabbinic Judaism. They were members of a non-priestly congregation that counted Jeremiah as an early leader five centuries before. Key teachings are that sacrifices were created by the priesthood to feed the Priests, and are not in accord with God's Law.
The famous Notzrim of the pre-Christian era (in existence during the reign of King Yannai –Alexander Jannnaeus) included a rebellious student mentioned in the Baraitas as Yeshu Ha-Notzri and his followers. Some fringe scholars identify this individual as the Christian Jesus of Nazareth[8][9], although the identification has been contested, as Yeshu ha-Notzri is depicted as living ca. 100 BCE.[10]
According to a Mandaean Ms., the Haran Gawaita, John the Baptist is baptized, initiated, and educated by the patron of the Nasirutha ("secret knowledge") Anus or Anus-’uthra, the hierophant of the sect.[11] This research was conducted by the Oxford scholar, and specialist on the Nasoraeans, Dr. E. S. Drower. However, toward the end of the work, it is conceded that John’s name may have been inserted at a later date (it appears as Yahia, which is Arabic, not Aramaic).[12]
Drower also asserts that the Church Fathers Hippolytus and Eusebius describe Simon Magus, the Samaritan sorcerer of biblical fame (Acts 8:9ff), as a Nasoraean, and a disciple of John the Baptist.[13]
The author of the pseudo-Clementine Homilies (Bk. II, xxiii-xxiv), also describes Simon Magus as a disciple of John the Baptist and a Nasoraean. They (the Homilies) also state that the immediate successor to John was another Samaritan named Dositheus, elected as leader because Simon happened to be in Egypt at the time of the martyrdom of the Baptist.
Homily (Bk II, xxiv) recounts that when Simon returned from Egypt, the two quarreled: Simon’s authority was proved by miracles; thus Dositheus ceded his position as head of the sect and became Simon’s pupil.[14]
The Mandaeans, who consider themselves successors of the pre-Christian Notzrim, claim John the Baptist as a member (and onetime leader) of their sect; and the River Jordan is a central feature of their doctrine of baptism.[15] The term Mandaii itself may be the Aramaic/Mandaean equivalent of the Greek gnosis ("knowledge").
Drower surmises that the Nasoraean hatred for Jews likely originated during a period in which they were in close contact with orthodox Jewry, and when the latter was able to exercise authority over them.[16]
In Arabic they were known as Nasara (نصارى). Epiphanius says it was unlawful for them to eat meat or make sacrifices. According to him they were Jews only by nationality who lived in Gilead, Basham, and the Transjordan. They revered Moses but, unlike the pro-Torah Nazoraeans, believed he had received different laws from those accredited to him.
As a result of their efforts to bring the sect back into the folds of Judaism, they also disparaged the Christian books as fiction, regarding Jesus as being the literary invention (mšiha kdaba) of Paul of Tarsus, but eventually they emerged towards the end of the 1st century as the Mandaeans though others actually managed to shape the anti-Torah development of Pauline Christianities like Marcionism.[17] In the Mishnah they are often referred to as Minim ("heretics"). Besides the Mandaeans, they have frequently been connected with groups known as Naaseni, Naasenians, Naassenes.
They are sometimes identified as the group called Nazorei by Filaster[18], and were certainly one of the earliest key Gnostic sects. These days however the term is most commonly used to refer to various sects of Messianic Jews.
The Notzri movement was particularly popular with the Samaritan Jews. While the Pharisees were waiting for a Messiah who would be a descendant of David, the Samaritans wanted a Messiah who would restore the northern kingdom of Israel. The Samaritans emphasized their partial descent from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who were descended from the Joseph of the Torah. The Samaritans considered themselves to be "B'nei Yoseph" i.e. "sons of Joseph," but the Samaritans do not believe in any messiah.
Many of the original Nasoraeans became Christians leading the word in modern Hebrew to frequently be applied derogatively to Christians in general.
[edit] References
- ^ Jay P. Green, Sr. (editor), Interlinear Bible, p. 609.
- ^ Goldstein, M. Jesus in the Jewish Tradition, Macmillan 1950 (pp. 148-154 Toledot Y.S.W.)
- ^ B. Dubourg, L'Invention de Jesus, op. cit., II, p. 157.
- ^ Chase, Frederic H. Jr. (translator) "Saint John of Damascus: Writings" Volume 37 of The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1958 ch 19 on Heresies. First short run reprint 1999.
- ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, Nazarene article, Wm. Benton Publ., London, vol. 16, 1961 edition.
- ^ Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses, xxix, 6.
- ^ Bashan and Galaatides (Panarion 18; 20, 3; 29, 6, 1; 19, 5)
- ^ Mead, G. R. S. (1903), "Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.--An Enquiry into the Talmud Jesus Stories," Kila, MT: Kessinger Publishing Company
- ^ Herford, R. Travers (1906), “Christianity in the Talmud and Midrash,” Princeton Theological Review, 4:412-414.
- ^ Hayyim ben Yehoshua. Refuting Missionaries. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
- ^ Drower, p. 37
- ^ Drower, p. 101
- ^ Drower, p. 89
- ^ The Clementine Homilies, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, p. 233
- ^ Drower, Introduction, p. xiv
- ^ Drower, p. xv
- ^ Ajae (2000). The Pre-Christian Nasoraeans. Mandaean World. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
- ^ Filaster (ca. 397 A.D.) was a bishop who wrote the "Book of Diverse Heresies" (lived about the time of Epiphanius).
[edit] Further Reading
- The Interlinear Bible, Jay P. Green, Sr. (editor), Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1983.
- Drower, E. S., The Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1960)
- The Ante-Nicene Fathers (1986 American Edition), vol. viii, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
