The first time the word shamor appears in the book of Devarim is 2:4, when Moshe was re-telling the people G-d’s instructions to the people when they had circled around Edom/ Esav. 2:4 records that the people were told that even though Edom was scared of them, ve-nishmartem meod. Tigay (1996, p. 24) translates the phrase as “be very careful” that the people were to be careful not to provoke Edom, the following verse. This definition follows the idea that shamor relates to guarding but does it accord with the definition of keeping, which is how the word shamor is explained in most cases in the book of Devarim? Instead, the phrase should be understood to mean that people are to strongly remember that Edom/ Esav is considered their brother, which is mentioned in the beginning of the verse, and hence they should not provoke Edom, the following verse.
The next case of the word shamor is Devarim 4:2, which records that Moshe told the people that they are to lishmor the mitzvot of G-d. Can this phrase mean to guard or protect the mitzvot? Instead, the usual explanation/ translation is to keep the mitzvot (see for example Alter, 2004, p. 897) which can fit the context, but it is not the idea of guarding. Instead, the phrase should be interpreted to mean that Moshe told the people to remember the mitzvot. This same idea appears in 5:10,26, 8:2, 10:13, 12:28, 13:5, 26:17, 18, and 28:9.
Devarim 4:6 records that Moshe told the people, u-shemartem va-asitem. Alter (2004, p. 898) translates the phrase as meaning that Moshe said “you shall keep and do,” as again he translates the word shamor as meaning keep. How does keep differ from do? It is redundant to say to do, to do. Instead, the word shamor means to remember, and Moshe was telling the people to remember the laws to do them. Similarly, 5:1, 5:29, 6:3, 6:25, 8:1, 11:32, 12:1, 13:1,19, 16:5,12, 17:10,19, 19:9, 24:8 (the second and third times the word appears in the verse), 26:16, 28:1,13,15, 28:58, 29:8, 31:12 and 32:46 have the phrase of shamor la-asot, which again means to remember to do.
Devarim 4:9 then records that Moshe told the people “But, he-shamer lecha, ushemor nafeshcha moed, pen tishkach.” In this phrase, the word shamor appears twice. Alter (2004, p. 898) explains the phrase as meaning “Only be you on the watch and watch yourself closely lest you forget.” In this phrase, Alter is translating the word shamor to mean on the watch. Is this the same meaning as keep, his translation of the word shamor in 4:6? What does it mean for a person to be on their watch? Instead, Devarim 4:9 means, “But, you should remember, remember greatly with your nefesh, do not forget.” This double language of remembering stresses the importance of the people remembering. 6:17 and 11:22, also record the word shamor twice, which again is to stress to the people to remember. 9:18 also had the double language of remembering, though with the word zachor, the synonym of shamor. In addition, 4:15 records remembering with regard to a person’s nefesh.
4:23 records that Moshe told the people, “he-shamru lachem pen tishkachu.” Alter (2004, p. 901) translates the phrase as "Be you on the watch, lest you forget," similar to his translation of the word shamor in 4:9. However, the phrase means that Moshe told the people to remember, do not forget. This phrase has both the positive injunction to remember and the negative injunction not to forget, as in 4:9, 6:12, 9:7 (with the word zachor) and 8:11. This charge to remember, hishamer, in order not to do something wrong also appears in 11:16, 12:13,19,30, 15:9, and 24:8 (the first time the word appears in the verse and this remembering connects with the remembering in 24:9).
4:40 records that Moshe ended his first (?) speech in the book of Devarim by saying “ve-shamarta et chukov ve-et mitzvotov.” Alter (2004, p. 904) translates the word shamor here as keep as he did in 4:6, but Tigay (1996, p. 39) writes that the word shamor should be translated as “take to heart.” This is similar to idea of remembering, and 4:40 should be understood to mean that Moshe was telling the people to remember G-d’s laws. This same idea appears in 7:11, 8:6, the end of 8:11, 9:13, 11:1, and 11:8. Similarly, 27:1 records that Moshe told the people to remember to follow his instructions when they would cross the Jordan River. Also, in 33:9, the idea is that the tribe of Levi remembered G-d’s words.
The beginning of 6:2 records that the people should fear G-d, which will lead lishmor all the laws, and the beginning of 6:3 records that the people should hear, shamarta, to do. Tigay (1996, p. 75) explains that the beginning of 6:3 means “literally, obey and faithfully do,” as now he is explaining the word shamor to mean faithfully. However, again the word shamor means to remember. The beginning of 6:2 means that Moshe told the people that they should fear G-d and this fear will lead them to remember the laws, as in 4:40, and the beginning of 6:3 means that Moshe was telling the people to listen, to remember (shamor) and to do (la-asot).
Towards the end of parashat Va-ethannan, Moshe told the people that G-d shomer the covenant, 7:9, and this idea is repeated in the second half of the first verse of parashat Ekev, 7:12. In between these verses, 7:11, records that the people are ve-shamarta et ha-mitzvah and the first half of 7:12 record that if the people shemartem va-asitem, then G-d will shomer the covenant. In these four verses, 7;9-12, the word shamor appears four times, twice in reference to G-d and twice in reference to people. Tigay (1996, p. 88) writes that in reference to the people, the word shamor means to observe, while in reference to G-d, the word means to keep or maintain, maybe since he did not want to say that G-d observes the covenant. Again, the simplest explanation is that shamor means to remember that the people are to remember the covenant, and G-d will remember the covenant, see Vayikra 26:42,45.
The next case of the word shamor is Devarim 4:2, which records that Moshe told the people that they are to lishmor the mitzvot of G-d. Can this phrase mean to guard or protect the mitzvot? Instead, the usual explanation/ translation is to keep the mitzvot (see for example Alter, 2004, p. 897) which can fit the context, but it is not the idea of guarding. Instead, the phrase should be interpreted to mean that Moshe told the people to remember the mitzvot. This same idea appears in 5:10,26, 8:2, 10:13, 12:28, 13:5, 26:17, 18, and 28:9.
Devarim 4:6 records that Moshe told the people, u-shemartem va-asitem. Alter (2004, p. 898) translates the phrase as meaning that Moshe said “you shall keep and do,” as again he translates the word shamor as meaning keep. How does keep differ from do? It is redundant to say to do, to do. Instead, the word shamor means to remember, and Moshe was telling the people to remember the laws to do them. Similarly, 5:1, 5:29, 6:3, 6:25, 8:1, 11:32, 12:1, 13:1,19, 16:5,12, 17:10,19, 19:9, 24:8 (the second and third times the word appears in the verse), 26:16, 28:1,13,15, 28:58, 29:8, 31:12 and 32:46 have the phrase of shamor la-asot, which again means to remember to do.
Devarim 4:9 then records that Moshe told the people “But, he-shamer lecha, ushemor nafeshcha moed, pen tishkach.” In this phrase, the word shamor appears twice. Alter (2004, p. 898) explains the phrase as meaning “Only be you on the watch and watch yourself closely lest you forget.” In this phrase, Alter is translating the word shamor to mean on the watch. Is this the same meaning as keep, his translation of the word shamor in 4:6? What does it mean for a person to be on their watch? Instead, Devarim 4:9 means, “But, you should remember, remember greatly with your nefesh, do not forget.” This double language of remembering stresses the importance of the people remembering. 6:17 and 11:22, also record the word shamor twice, which again is to stress to the people to remember. 9:18 also had the double language of remembering, though with the word zachor, the synonym of shamor. In addition, 4:15 records remembering with regard to a person’s nefesh.
4:23 records that Moshe told the people, “he-shamru lachem pen tishkachu.” Alter (2004, p. 901) translates the phrase as "Be you on the watch, lest you forget," similar to his translation of the word shamor in 4:9. However, the phrase means that Moshe told the people to remember, do not forget. This phrase has both the positive injunction to remember and the negative injunction not to forget, as in 4:9, 6:12, 9:7 (with the word zachor) and 8:11. This charge to remember, hishamer, in order not to do something wrong also appears in 11:16, 12:13,19,30, 15:9, and 24:8 (the first time the word appears in the verse and this remembering connects with the remembering in 24:9).
4:40 records that Moshe ended his first (?) speech in the book of Devarim by saying “ve-shamarta et chukov ve-et mitzvotov.” Alter (2004, p. 904) translates the word shamor here as keep as he did in 4:6, but Tigay (1996, p. 39) writes that the word shamor should be translated as “take to heart.” This is similar to idea of remembering, and 4:40 should be understood to mean that Moshe was telling the people to remember G-d’s laws. This same idea appears in 7:11, 8:6, the end of 8:11, 9:13, 11:1, and 11:8. Similarly, 27:1 records that Moshe told the people to remember to follow his instructions when they would cross the Jordan River. Also, in 33:9, the idea is that the tribe of Levi remembered G-d’s words.
The beginning of 6:2 records that the people should fear G-d, which will lead lishmor all the laws, and the beginning of 6:3 records that the people should hear, shamarta, to do. Tigay (1996, p. 75) explains that the beginning of 6:3 means “literally, obey and faithfully do,” as now he is explaining the word shamor to mean faithfully. However, again the word shamor means to remember. The beginning of 6:2 means that Moshe told the people that they should fear G-d and this fear will lead them to remember the laws, as in 4:40, and the beginning of 6:3 means that Moshe was telling the people to listen, to remember (shamor) and to do (la-asot).
Towards the end of parashat Va-ethannan, Moshe told the people that G-d shomer the covenant, 7:9, and this idea is repeated in the second half of the first verse of parashat Ekev, 7:12. In between these verses, 7:11, records that the people are ve-shamarta et ha-mitzvah and the first half of 7:12 record that if the people shemartem va-asitem, then G-d will shomer the covenant. In these four verses, 7;9-12, the word shamor appears four times, twice in reference to G-d and twice in reference to people. Tigay (1996, p. 88) writes that in reference to the people, the word shamor means to observe, while in reference to G-d, the word means to keep or maintain, maybe since he did not want to say that G-d observes the covenant. Again, the simplest explanation is that shamor means to remember that the people are to remember the covenant, and G-d will remember the covenant, see Vayikra 26:42,45.
One case that is not clear is 23:10. This verse records that when the people go to war, ve-nishmarta from all bad things. In this case, one might be tempted to interpret the word shamor as guard, that when the people go to war, the soldier should guard himself from all bad things. What are the bad things? Something dangerous, but then the soldier would have known this on his own. Also, how does this verse relate to the ensuing verses which refer to a person having a nocturnal emission? I think the verse is usually understood to mean that a soldier should not do bad things, that is to say to keep from bad things. These bad things are undefined and then the verse is unrelated to the following verses. A different possibility based on the definition of shamor meaning to remember, is that the verse is stating that when a soldier in the war camp remembers some bad things, something sexual, then this can lead the soldier to have a nocturnal emission, see Talmud Avodah Zara 20b.
One interesting case in the section of laws is 23:24 which records that what comes out of one’s lips, tishmor. The usual translation is that a person should keep the promises that he/ she makes, but really it means that a person needs to remember his/ her promises and vows.
This understanding that the word shamor means to remember is not unique to the book of Devarim. In the story of Yosef, Bereshit 37:11 records that after Yosef told his second dream to his father and brothers, that Yaakov shamor the words, and this means that Yaakov remembered the dream, see Rashi on 37:11. My impression is that the majority of cases where the word appears in the Torah, the definition it to remember and not to watch. Hopefully in the future, I will add posts about the word in the other four books of the Torah.
Bibliography:
Alter, Robert, 2004, The five books of Moses: A translation and commentary, New York: W. W. Norton and Company
Tigay, Jeffrey H. 1996, The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
This understanding that the word shamor means to remember is not unique to the book of Devarim. In the story of Yosef, Bereshit 37:11 records that after Yosef told his second dream to his father and brothers, that Yaakov shamor the words, and this means that Yaakov remembered the dream, see Rashi on 37:11. My impression is that the majority of cases where the word appears in the Torah, the definition it to remember and not to watch. Hopefully in the future, I will add posts about the word in the other four books of the Torah.
I did not examine the word shamor in Neviim and Ketivum, but in Tehillim 121:3,4,5,7,8 the word shamor has the meaning to watch and protect, the modern interpretation of the word. However, Tehillim 130:3, follows the meaning of the word shamor in the Torah that the verse records a plea to G-d not to shamor, not to remember, the sins of the people. Three verse later, Tehillim 130:6, the word shamor (twice) also probably refers to remembering.
Alter, Robert, 2004, The five books of Moses: A translation and commentary, New York: W. W. Norton and Company
Tigay, Jeffrey H. 1996, The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
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