Naziriten.adj.

Etymology: In α. forms < post-classical Latin Nazaraeus, Nazareus Nazirite (Vulgate; < (with change of vowel in the second syllable) Hellenistic Greek Ναζιραῖος , Ναζειραῖος (Septuagint, only in Judges 13 and 16) < Hebrew nāzīr Nazirite < nāzar to separate or consecrate oneself, to refrain from anything; in later use, to take the vow of a Nazirite) + -ite suffix¹. In β. forms remodelled with -i- in the second syllable after Hebrew. Compare earlier Nazaree n.Until recent times the vowel of the second syllable has predominantly been -a- . It apparently first occurs in Hellenistic Greek Ναζαραῖος (Origen, in Migne's text of In Proverbia), then in post-classical Latin Nazaraeus , Nazareus (Vetus Latina and Vulgate; but compare rare post-classical Latin Naziraeus (1686 in J. Spencer Leg. Hebr. alongside Nazaraeus )). Nazaraeus is also used in the Vulgate to render Hellenistic Greek Ναζωραῖος ‘from Nazareth’ (see Nazarean n.), which suggests that the words for ‘Nazirite’ and ‘Nazarene’ were early identified and the spelling of the latter transferred to the former, perhaps on the basis of the enigmatic prophecy cited in Matthew 2:23 ‘he shall be called Ναζωραῖος ’; certainly the identification by Christian writers of Hellenistic Greek Ναζιραῖος with Ναζωραῖος is attested at least since Epiphanius (see Nazarean n.). Some scholars in recent times have taken the view that there actually is an etymological link between the two Hellenistic Greek words, i.e. that Ναζωραῖος ‘Nazarean’ was primarily the designation of a sect and only secondarily linked with the place name Nazareth (see further the etymological note at Nazarean n.). This association of the term with the concept of Nazarene through its spelling with -a- was perpetuated in the vernacular languages down to the 19th cent. In early modern English, the introduction of the present word in the spelling Nazarite by the influential Geneva Bible guaranteed a close association between it and Nazarite in the sense ‘Nazarene’, which had been coined earlier by Coverdale (1535). It is probable that the two were often regarded as the same word in different applications, although the latter meaning was (following the King James Bible, 1611) more usually expressed by Nazarene; Nazarite in this meaning became unusual except in extended applications (such as the names of denominations). In the 19th cent. the etymological spelling Nazirite was introduced; compare the French Naziréen (1837) replacing earlier Nazaréen in this sense, German Nasiräer (1836). The earliest English translation of the Bible to adopt the spelling Nazirite was the Revised Version (1885). Nazir, a direct transliteration from Hebrew, is also occasionally found; compare French Nazir (1837 in S. Cahen's Bible translation; 1863 in Renan). The spelling Nazarite for Nazirite remains popular alongside Nazirite, partly owing to the influence of the King James version, and partly owing to the scholarly identification mentioned above.