George,
This doesn't work. Strongs is not an appropriate tool for serious
scholarship, and meaning connections based on English equivalents are
much too slippery. The Aramaic term in question for "watcher" or
"angel," (YR ('Ayin-Yod-Resh), means to be awake and designates one of
the immortals (or angels) in contrast to mortals, who sleep (note the
story in the Gilgamesh Epic where Utnapishtim points out to Gilgamesh
that if he cannot stave off sleep, he cannot hope to succeed in his
quest for undying life). It has nothing to do with being a "doer" or
"keeper" of the Torah. Even in the Book of Enoch, the term 'ir is
morally neutral, since there are 'irin who remain in heaven as well as
those who take wives and are condemned to the depths of the earth. It's
not going to work as an inversion of Samaritan, which if related to the
root that means watch or guard, would reflect a different connotation.
David Suter
Saint Martin's College
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
On Behalf Of George Brooks
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 8:02 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: orion-list Samaritans & Watchers
I'm sure you are familiar with some words and names
that have been amended to make the bible writer's
disapproval of someone fairly evident.
So it doesn't take too much imagination to think
that the Jerusalem leadership might not have wanted
to preserve the more "favorable" meaning of the word
Samaritan as "keeper" or "doer" [of the law].
While there is no obvious "shame" in the replacement
meaning "Watcher".... it does help to remove the "keeper/
doer" halo from the Samaritans. Further, we see an
odd use of a word that is phonetically quite similar
to the term related to Samaritan:
08105 shemer {sheh'-mer}
from 08104; TWOT - 2415a; n m pl
AV - lees 4, dregs 1; 5
1) lees, dregs
Here we see "shemer" = "dregs".
But below, we have the adjacent Strong's word:
08104 shamar {shaw-mar'}
a primitive root; TWOT - 2414; v
AV - keep 283, observe 46, heed 35, keeper 28,
preserve 21, beware 9, mark 8, watchman 8, wait 7,
watch 7, regard 5, save 2, misc 9; 468
1) to keep, guard, observe, give heed
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to keep, have charge of
1a2) to keep, guard, keep watch and ward,
protect, save life
1a2a) watch, watchman (participle)
1a3) to watch for, wait for
1a4) to watch, observe
1a5) to keep, retain, treasure up (in memory)
1a6) to keep (within bounds), restrain
1a7) to observe, celebrate, keep (sabbath or
covenant or commands), perform (vow)
1a8) to keep, preserve, protect
1a9) to keep, reserve
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to be on one's guard, take heed,
take care, beware
1b2) to keep oneself, refrain, abstain
1b3) to be kept, be guarded
1c) (Piel) to keep, pay heed
1d) (Hithpael) to keep oneself from
[END OF CLIP]
As you can see, this word follows quite closely
to the idea of "keeping" and "preserving".
I'm trying to find a concise reference to the
difference of opinion between the Jews and Samaritans
on how their name was TRULY derived.
But in terms of the Enochian "watchers".... it seems
hard to avoid the "pun" of connecting the wicked and
unpopular angels (called Watchers)... to the wicked
and unpopular Samaritans (called Watchers, Keepers,
and so on).
For private reply, e-mail to "David Suter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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