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02-28-2012, 09:15 PM | #1 |
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Nazareth/Gennesarat?
Does anyone know if anyone has investigated the possibility of the word, "Nazareth" possibly having some kind of origin with "Genessaret?" One variant spelling is "Genesareth." Is it theoretically possible that is was a generic reference to somebody from the lake of Genesserat (Sea of Galilee) if not from the town of that name (which was very near Capernaum, the putative site where Jesus began his ministry).
Just an idle curiosity on my part. Has anyone ever seen or done an investigation/analysis of the possibility? Maybe I'm totally out to lunch. I expect there's some obvious reason why that can't be it, but I'm asking just in case there isn't. |
02-28-2012, 09:45 PM | #2 | |||||
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Quote:
http://www.freeratio.org/thearchives...at#post6286548 copied below for convenience. =================================== I’m getting rather interested in Capernaum... Wikipedia Capernnaum Quote:
I know Josephus has some story re falling off his horse and was taken to Capernaum. Life: 72 Quote:
The issue I have with this is the date - around 99 ce - and that earlier, around 75 ce, Josephus seems to be telling a more interesting story re Capernaum... Josephus War ch.3 published around 75 ce. Quote:
With such talk of water and fountains and wonderful beauty in nature, soil that is fruitful and palm trees and fig and olive trees - this place is the ambition of nature - plants that are natural enemies agree together, a happy contention of the seasons, supplies fruit beyond men’s expectation...Are we not seeing here a vision of Camelot, of Arcadia? Taking Josephus at his word, that he was not unfamiliar with the prophets etc and had visions and could interpreted them - is he not here dealing with an abstract ideal rather than the geography of the region? And if he was familiar with the geography of the region why the tall story re Philip: “Philip was tetrarch of Trachonitis; for he had chaff thrown into Phiala, and it was found at Paninto”. Quote:
This is the Josephus of around 75 ce - a Josephus with a keen sense of idealism - and then we have the later Josephus, writing around 99 ce, who remembers that years ago he fell of his horse and that the name of the place he got taken to was Capernaum - though he quickly moved on to somewhere else... Perhaps the archaeological evidence does establish that Capernaum existed around the time of the gospel storyline - however, from the early writing of Josephus - it seems evident that the name ‘Capernaum’ might well have had a more philosophical connotation as well...’Capernaum’ as the source of the water of life.... Anyway, whatever, bottom line is that the gospel storyline is quick to get Jesus out of Nazareth and on the road to Capernaum...why Capernaum is the question... (my formating) |
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02-29-2012, 06:15 AM | #3 | |
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Whether or not there is any technical connection between the two words, “Nazareth” and “Genessaret”, I’m of no help.....
However, on a more philosophical level, perhaps there is a connection. By all accounts the name of “Genessaret, or it’s other spellings, has the connotation of “a garden of riches”, or “the Paradise of Galilee”. The Josephan quote from my earlier post, has described the location in idealist philosophical terms. “the ambition of nature”, the place where “plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together”. In other words; utopia. An arcadia of ‘natural’ wonder. And the gospel storyline? Healing of the sick - by simply touching the edge of the JC cloak. Mark 6:56. The same healing in Matthew 14:34-35. Then we have the miraculous catch of fish in Luke 5:1-11. Miracles happen around or in Genessaret. And Nazareth? Well, is that not the biggest miracle of all - the virgin, immaculate, conception. Mythology at it’s grandest! So, perhaps, Nazareth has been used, by the gospel writers, as a sort of spin off from the ‘natural’ wonders associated with Genessaret - to the supernatural wonder associated with Nazareth. Two peas in the same philosophical basket. Supernatural wonders, wonders outside the normal physical realm (intellectually evolution, new insights etc) symbolized by “Nazareth”. And the earth bound wonders, the physical healing and feeding, symbolically associated with Genessaret. Just ideas.... ==================== Gennesaret Quote:
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02-29-2012, 06:49 AM | #4 |
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I do not know about Genessaret in particular. But, having hung around this forum for over six years, and having listened to just about every episode of Robert Price's Bible Geek, I'm quite sure there is not a single name of any place or person in the New Testament that has not been investigated to a fare-thee-well.
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02-29-2012, 07:12 AM | #5 | ||
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And paradise should be part of Galilee for those select to see 'emerging' in harmony, while for many it is chaos on a barren plain. Galilee is about transition to validate Nazareth along it's shore where the mermaid is waiting to take us down and show us what we are all aboout. |
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