Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NAZARENE

A gentilic (Gk. Nazarēnós, Nazōraíos) normally used to distinguish someone from the city of Nazareth. In the NT “Nazarene” is used most frequently to clarify the identity of Jesus by associating him with his hometown of Nazareth (Mark 10:47; John 18:7). In the early history of the Church, the term took on a further connotation and referred by extension to Jesus’ followers, who were called “the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5).

A difficult use of Nazōraíos appears in Matt. 2:23, which states that the family of Jesus settled in Nazareth as a fulfillment of the prophetic teaching that he would be called a Nazarene. The problem is that no OT passage explicitly connects the Messiah with Nazareth. Apparently, Matthew was referring rather to the general expectation of the prophets that the Messiah would be despised and rejected (Ps. 22:6-8[MT 7-9]; 118:22; Isa. 49:7; 53:2-3). Jesus’ association with Nazareth, a despised city (John 1:46), caused him to be scorned by some (cf. John 7:41-42, 52). Elsewhere in his Gospel, Matthew quotes the OT to emphasize this theme of Jesus as a humble Messiah, rejected by his people (Matt. 12:16-21; 13:13-15; 21:42; 27:39-44).

Bibliography. W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Nazareth’ and ‘Nazoraean,’ ” JBL 65 (1946): 397-401; R. T. France, “The Formula-Quotations of Matthew 2 and the Problem of Communication,” NTS 27 (1981): 233-51.

Joel F. Williams

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NAZARENE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)