According to the Teliya, in 86CE the Sanhedrin and Herod Agrippa II decided that it would be best if the Notzrim would fall under [[Apollyon]] so ordered [[Hakham Elijah]] ([[Rav Shimeon HaKalpus]]) to fulfil Devarim 32:21 by organising the [[Ishmaelim]] in such a way as to make the Notzrim jealous and thereby attract them away from Israel's Qehal to be subsumed into Noahide Judaism instead of allowing them to invoke HaShem's wrath by letting them continue to identify as Jews. The good intention of the Jews has been much maligned by the enemies of traditional Judaism.

As a result, despite its correct application, the word Notzrim soon came to be synonymous with Christians. Nevertheless, although Notzrim came out of the Royalists who followed the Sions ([[Netzarim]]) of the House of David, they originally had no connection to either Tertullus' description of Paul, nor to the later 4th Century [[Nazoraioi]].

Although Devarim 32:21 is understood to be a prophecy concerning the rise and fall of the Notzrim, they are not mentioned at that time.

'''Notzrim''' are first named concerning the raid of Samaria during the reign of King Hoshea (759-714BC) in 2 Kings 17:9 being:

:בני ישראל דברים אשר לא כן על י**ה א**יהם

[[Pliny the Elder]] mentioned a people called the "'''Nazerini'''" in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia Naturalis]]'' (Book V,22).<ref>Plinii naturalis historia: Libri I-VII ed. Francesco Della Corte - 1984 "Nunc interiora dicantur. Coele habet Apameam Marsya amne divisam a Nazerinorum tetrarchia, Bambycen quae alio nomine ... In Cele si trova Apamea, divisa dalla tetrarchia dei Nazerini dal fiume Marsia, Bambice, che con altro nome..."</ref> He indicates<ref>Pliny the Elder, ''Natural Histories'' Book V, recopying reports drafted by Marcus Agrippa on the orders of Emperor Octavian Augustus Caesar.</ref> that they lived not far from Apamea, in Syria in a city called Bambyx, Hierapolis or Mabog.

Notzrim are granted a few mentions in various Baraitas and in manuscripts of the [[Babylonian Talmud]] which are not found in the [[Jerusalem Talmud]].<ref>Yaakov Y. Teppler, Susan Weingarten ''Birkat haMinim: Jews and Christians in conflict in the ancient world'' 2007 p48 "Only in a few places is the term notzrim mentioned, and they too are on the pages of the Babylonian Talmud. The only clear mention is as follows: The rabbis said: the people of the watch used to pray for their brothers' offering to be ..."</ref>

The renowned antisemite [[R. Travers Herford|Robert T. Herford]] (1903), to concluded that ''minim'' in the Talmud and [[Midrash]] generally refers to [[Jewish Christians]].<ref>Herford ''Christianity in Talmud and Midrash'', 1903 p379 "The theory that the Minim are intended to designate Jewish Christians I regard as having been now conclusively proved. This may be otherwise expressed by saying that wherever the Talmud or the Midrash mentions Minim, the authors of the statement intend to refer to Jewish Christians"</ref>

Pritz, following Dussaud, connects Pliny's 1st century BCE Gnostic Nazerini, to the 9th century CE Gnostic [[Nusairi]]s.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}}

The term "Notzrim" continued to be used of "Christians" in the medieval period. [[Hasdai Crescas]], one of the most influential Jewish philosophers in the last years of Muslim rule in Spain,<ref>The ''Columbia History of Western Philosophy'' p204 ed. Richard H. Popkin, Stephen F. Brown, David Carr - 2005 "In the last century of Jewish life in Spain, the three most influential Jewish philosophers were without doubt Rabbi [[Hasdai Crescas]] (ca. 1340-1410/1411), Rabbi [[Joseph Albo]] (d. after 1433), and Rabbi [[Isaac Abrabanel]] (1437-1508)."</ref> wrote a refutation of Christian principles in Catalan which survives as ''Sefer Bittul 'Iqqarei ha-Notzrim'' (''Refutation of Christian Principles'').<ref>History of Jewish Philosophy p551 ed. Daniel H. Frank, Oliver Leaman - 2004 "translation of Joseph ibn Shem Tov who entitled it Sefer Bittul 'Iqqarei ha-Notzrim (Refutation of Christian Principles)."</ref>

Thanks to the infestation of Christianity with the followers of a Notzri called Yeshu HaNotzri, the words Notzri & Notzrim have become the [[modern Hebrew]] standard term for "Christian" and "Christians".<ref>"Christian adj. n. נוצרי " (''Notzri'') ''The Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary'' (9780198601722) 1999 p.69; ''The New Bantam-Megiddo Hebrew & English Dictionary'', Dr. Sivan Reuven, Dr. Edward A. Levenston, 2009 p.50; [[Ben Yehuda]]'s Hebrew Dictionary, 1940 reprint, p.450</ref> Hence, Notzrim is an alternative term, used to translate the [[Greek (language)|Greek]] ''Christianoi'' in many [[Bible translations into Hebrew|translations of the New Testament into Hebrew]], and distinguished from '''Meshiykhiyyim''' "Messianics" (משיחיים).<ref>United Bible Societies Hebrew New Testament, 1997 printing, based on the [[BFBS]] New Testament of [[Franz Delitzsch]]: Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, 1 Peter 4:16.</ref>

In [[Modern Hebrew]], the word "Notzrim" (נוצרים) is the standard modern word for [[Christians]], but ''Meshiykhiyyim'' ('''משיחיים'') is used by many Christians of themselves, as in the BFBS New Testament of [[Franz Delitzsch]]; 1 Peter 4:16 "Yet if any suffer as ha-Meshiykhiyyim ('''משיחיים'''), let them not be ashamed, but let them glorify God in that name."<ref>BFBS [http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/ipb-e/nthebrew/1peter.pdf Delitszch translation 1 Peter pdf]</ref><ref>example: The Christian Church, Jaffa Tel-Aviv website article in Hebrew יהודים משיחיים - יהודים או נוצרים? </ref> In the Hebrew New Testament [[Tertullus]]' use of "Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5) is translated '''"Notzrim"''', and "Jesus of Nazareth" is translated "Yeshu ha Notzri".<ref>United Bible Societies Hebrew New Testament, 1997 printing, based on the [[BFBS]] New Testament of [[Franz Delitzsch]]: Acts 24:5</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Dositheus]]