Editing Bozrah, Connecticut (section)

==A legend about the origin of the town's name==
[[Bozrah]] is the name of a pastoral community mentioned several times in the [[Old Testament]], sometimes with pleasing connotations, sometimes not. The town name may have resulted from the happy connotations connected with [[Book of Micah|Micah]] chapter 2, verse 12: "I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold; they shall make a great noise by reason of the multitude of men."<ref name=philips>[http://www.curbstone.org/index.cfm?webpage=76] Bozrah Web page on Curbstone Press Web site, which itself cites the book ''Legendary Connecticut,'' by David E. Philips / {{ISBN|1-880684-05-5}} Web page accessed July 23, 2006</ref> In Hebrew, the name Bozrah signifies "an enclosure".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Connecticut Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA331|year=1903|publisher=Connecticut Magazine Company|page=331}}</ref>

According to a persistent legend, the name "Bozrah" was derived from another Biblical text, which came to someone's mind under the particular circumstances surrounding the community's petition to the [[Connecticut General Assembly]] for township status. Whether or not the story is true, the informal, early name "New Concord" was dropped when the town was incorporated.<ref name=philips/>

The community, according to the legend, really wanted to call itself "Bath" after the [[Bath, Somerset|famous spa]] in England. The local man chosen to carry the parish's request to [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]] had a somewhat eccentric manner of dress, however, and when he appeared before the Legislature he was dressed in loud, parti-colored homespun so odd as to bring to the mind of one amused legislator the query of [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 63:1: "Who is this that cometh from [[Edom]], with dyed garments from Bozrah?" Overcome by the humorous appropriateness of this verse, the Assembly decided to name the town "Bozrah" when it incorporated the place.<ref name=philips/>