OT verb, occurring in some 431 verses and is translated by a variety of English words. Basically shamar conveys the picture of one exercising great care to watch over and so to keep, preserve, protect and guard. It can mean to hedge about as in guarding or protecting a person or object. The first Old Testament use is instructive for the "LORD God took the man (Adam) and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep (and guard) it." (Genesis 2:15). As Genesis 3 shows, Adam did not guard the garden carefully enough! In another instructive use we see the Jewish men who "were gatekeepers keeping watch at the storehouses of the gates." (Neh 12:25) The verb shamar describes a most tender preservation. For example, the noun shemurah is derived from shamar and is used in Ps 77:4 (note) for the eyelids, which are "the keepers" of the eyes. (See note). Shamar was used by Israel in recounting Israel's Exodus and wilderness journey, the people (answering Joshua's challenge to remain faithful) declaring that "the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved (shamar; LXX = dia-phulasso = watch carefully, guard closely) us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed." (Joshua 24:17) GREEK VERB PHULASSO The Greek translation of the Hebrew text (Septuagint or Lxx) renders shamar with the Greek verb phulasso. "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/psalm_121_a_commentary.htm#Phulasso