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‘Nazarene’: Was Yeshua a Nazir?
There is a lot of debate over what was meant by this:
[Yosef with Miriam] came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Matthew 2:23 NASB 1995
Unlike other citations from the TaNaKh1 in the Gospels, here there is no writer or prophet named nor use of λέγων legon (“saying”) to denote a quotation, so this reference is thought to be a paraphrase drawn from multiple prophets.2
And contrary to what was required for the vow of a Nazir, Yeshua never claimed to abstain from grapes or alcohol, but rather acted contrary (Matt. 11:16-19; John 2:9; 4:46; Luke 22:20; Mark 14:25).
The tension between Yeshua’s actions and statement that He was not out to abolish the Torah (Matt. 5:17-19), leads scholars to suggest that Nazoraios/Nazarenos refers to either Natzeret (“Nazareth”) or the netzer (“branch,” later tzemach, or “sprout”) of messianic prophecy (Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15; Zechariah 3:8, 6:12). Or Nazoraios could be a combination of both possibilities.3
Summary: Tammy
- Hebrew acronym for Torah, Neviim (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings) ↩︎
- Stern, David H. Jewish New Testament Commentary: a Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament. Accordance electronic edition, version 1.4. Clarksville, Md: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1992, paragraphs 297–302. ↩︎
- Stern (paragraphs 299–302) ↩︎