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Bible Dictionaries
Nazareth (2)
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or NAZARETH (Ναζαρά, Ναζαράτ, Ναζαρέθ, Ναζαρέτ).—The town of Nazareth, the modern en-Nâsira, was situated in Lower Galilee, 5½ miles almost due west of Mount Tabor, and nearly as far in a southwesterly direction from Kefr Kennâ, the site that is usually identified with Cana of Galilee. The road that ascends from the latter place winds through the high valley in which Nazareth lies, and divides a short distance south of the town, the south-eastern branch finding its way to Jezreel, and thence down the valley to Beth-shean and the Jordan, the western crossing the low pass of the Samaritan hills, by ancient Megiddo, to join eventually the great trunk road north and south, on the plain by the sea. The town itself, however, lay retired from the great highways of commerce, though within easy reach, almost within sight of them; and its secluded position explains the absence of any mention of Nazareth in the OT or Josephus. The modern village, with a population of seven or eight thousand, clings to the foot of the hill. But the ancient town seems to have spread considerably higher up the slope, and from ‘the brow of the hill on which the city was built’ (Luke 4:29), 1600 ft. above the level of the sea, one of the finest views in Palestine is said to be obtained, embracing on the one side the valley of the Jordan and the mountains of Gilead, and on the other the blue waters of the Mediterranean.* [Note: For a description of Nazareth and its site see G. A. Smith, HGHL, London, 1894, p. 432 ff.; Baedeker’s Palestine; PEF Memoirs, i. pp. 262 f., 275–79, 328 f.; A. P. Stanley, SP, London, 1860, p. 365 ff.; cf. W. Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, Oxford, 1903, p. 49 f., with plates; Ramsay, Education of Christ, p. 47.]
That in our Lord’s time Nazareth was a place of considerable importance is indicated by the fact that it is always referred to in the NT as a city (πόλις, Matthew 2:23, Luke 1:26; Luke 2:4; Luke 2:39) not a village (κώμη). It was in touch with, but not harassed by the currents of popular, commercial, or political life. And there appears to be no real justification for the belief that Nazareth or its people were in any sense insignificant or despised.† [Note: See especially Selah Merrill, Galilee in the Time of Christ, London, 1886, chs. xvii, xviii.] The words of Nathanael (John 1:46), which have given currency to this view, are perhaps misunderstood. He must himself have shared the universally accepted belief that the Christ could come only from Bethlehem (cf. Matthew 2:5, John 7:42); and if his language is intended to express disdain, it is no more than that of the polished town-dweller for the uncultivated rural population who know nothing of his artificial rules of propriety and manners. As to the Athenian every native of Bœotia was a dullard, so to the refined habitué of Jerusalem the rustic of Galilee may well have appeared uncouth and contemptible. These characteristics might not improbably have become accentuated in the case of Nazareth, owing to its withdrawn position in a self-contained upland valley. Under any circumstances Nathanael’s words bear witness only to a personal opinion, and are no evidence of a widespread or general belief.
With the exception of the events of the early ministry recorded in Luke 4:16 ff., the direct references to Nazareth in the Gospels are all associated with the birth and boyhood of Jesus. It was to Nazareth that the angel Gabriel was sent, to Mary His mother (Luke 1:26); and thither His parents came to find a home after the flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:23). From Nazareth they journeyed into Judaea for the purpose of the Roman enrolment (Luke 2:4), returning to the same city when the requirements of the Jewish law for the purification of Mary had been satisfied (Luke 2:39). Twelve years later a similar visit to Jerusalem, in accordance with His parents’ annual practice (Luke 2:41 f.), and return to Nazareth (Luke 2:51), make it evident that the home during this period had been at the latter town. On the occasion of His baptism, it is from Nazareth that, according to St. Mark (Mark 1:9), Christ came to the Jordan; the other Synoptists merely state that the journey was made from Galilee (Matthew 3:13), or name no place (Luke 3:21). His early life, therefore, was spent at Nazareth, and only in consequence of the opposition aroused by His preaching in the synagogue and the murderous attempt upon His life (Luke 4:28 f.) did He abandon Nazareth and take up His abode at Capernaum (Matthew 4:13). Thenceforward He does not appear to have visited, or to have had any direct relations with, His former home. Its name, however, continued to cling to Him, and by that designation He is known to the ‘multitudes’ at Jerusalem at the Passover, the stranger-pilgrims from Galilee His native province (Matthew 21:11). Philip uses the name when he calls Nathanael to Jesus (John 1:45); and later in the history it is employed by Peter at Caesarea (Acts 10:38) as a well-known title with which Gentiles also would be familiar.
The precise form of the word and its signification are alike uncertain. In two passages (Matthew 4:13, Luke 4:16) the oldest Manuscripts read Ναζαρά, and are followed by all recent editors. Elsewhere in the Synoptic Gospels WH [Note: H Westcott and Hort’s text.] print Ναζαρέτ, with the exception of Matthew 21:11 (Ναζαρέθ), Tischendorf reads Ναζαρέθ consistently in all passages of Matthew and Luke (except Ναζαρά, as above), adding with reference to the usage of the latter a note (on Luke 1:26) that on a comparison of all the instances in which the name occurs in St. Luke, including Acts 10:38, the decision must be that the Evangelist wrote Ναζαρέθ not Ναζαρέτ, a variable usage between the two forms being inconceivable.* [Note: ναζαρετ, C. א BKLXII al permn e q. Conlatis omnibus hujus evangclii locis (quibus accedit Acts 10:38 -εθ אBCDE) Lucam ναζαρεθ scripsisse statuendum est non ναζαρετ, nisi quod Acts 4:16 formam eum ναζαρα adhibuisse suadent testes. Inter -εθ enim et -ετ eundem scriptorem fluctuasse incredibile est.’] In Mark and John the form Ναζαρετ and in Acts Ναζαρέθ is accepted by all with the more ancient Manuscripts ; and in Mark 1:9; the form Ναζαράτ is found in AP. Dr. Hort also states that in eight out of the eleven passages in the Gospels the Codex Sangallensis has Ναζαράθ, but that the form ‘has little other attestation.’ It would seem probable that the variations in spelling, where they are not merely accidental, are due to local or dialectic peculiarities,† [Note: Compare shibboleth and sibboleth (Judges 12:6),] and are to be ascribed to the transmitters of the tradition or the copyists of the documents rather than to the original authors.‡ [Note: Hort, however, write:—‘The evidence (for the spelling of the name Nazareth) when tabulated presents little ambiguity, Ναζαρά is used at the outset of the Ministry in Matthew 1/3, (Matthew 4:13) and Luke 1/5, (Luke 4:16); Ναζαρέθ in Matthew 1/3, (Matthew 21:11), the only later place in the Gospels where the name occurs, and in Acts; and Ναζαρέτ certainly or probably in all other places’ (New Testament in Greek, Notes on Orthography, p. 160).]
The adjective also appears in two different forms. The Second Gospel uses only Ναζαρηνός (Mark 1:24; Mark 10:47; Mark 14:67; Mark 16:6); Matthew and John have always Ναζωραῖος (Matthew 2:23; Matthew 26:71, John 18:5; John 18:7; John 19:19). St. Luke has both in his Gospel (-ρηνός, Luke 4:34; Luke 24:19; -ρηνός, Luke 18:37), but in the Acts only Ναζωραιος (Acts 2:22; Acts 3:6; Acts 4:10; Acts 6:14; Acts 22:8; Acts 24:5; Acts 26:9). In no instance is there any important difference of reading. Neither the noun nor the adjective is found in the Epistles or the Book of Revelation.
There is no agreement, again, with regard to the meaning or derivation of the name. St. Matthew sees in the return to Nazareth a fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1 (‘a branch (nçẓer) out of his roots shall bear fruit’), thus connecting Nazareth with the Hebrew נֵצִר ‘shoot,’ ‘sprout’; and some have therefore supposed that the name was given to the town in reminiscence of Isaiah’s language, and on account of the circumstances of our Lord’s early life there. Such an origin of the term is perhaps not impossible, although it hardly commends itself as probable; and of course no such thought was in the mind of the writer, or is intended to be suggested by his words. Others have sought a connexion with the root נֵצֶר in the sense of keeping watch or guard; e.g. Dr. Swete would follow Delitzsch and Dalman in explaining Nazareth to mean ‘watch-tower.’§ [Note: See his note on Mark 1:9; Aram. נצדה, נצדח. Cf. also Merrill. loc. cit. p. 122.] This would imply either that the town itself was on the top of the hill, or that it took its name from the hill on the slopes or at the foot of which it stood; the former would seem to be contrary to fact, and the latter improbable. It would be preferable to understand the word in a passive sense from נצד, to preserve, protect (Old Aram. Aramaic נְצַד, Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] nasâru),* [Note: G. A. Cooke, North Semitic Inscriptions, pp. 185, 189; Oxf. Heb. Lex. s.v. נצר.] so that Nazareth is the town secluded, protected, and the name describes its position in a valley surrounded by hills. The word might also be explained as a Niphal participle of צור, צרר, with the same meaning of ‘confined,’ ‘shut in’; compare the adjectival form Ναζωραῖος. Heb. or Aram. Aramaic צ, however, usually becomes σ in Greek, e.g. צִיו̇ן = Σειών, Σιών, צבאוח = Σαβαώθ, מצפה = Μασσώχ, Μασσηφά, etc.; or a dental, e.g. צור = Τύρος. But צער is represented by Ζόγορα in Genesis 13:10. A derivation from נור, denom. of נויד, has also been suggested; Nazareth would then be ‘the town of the Nazirites.’ נויד becomes in the Greek of the Septuagint ναζίρ, ναζιραῖος. Compare the modern name of the town en-Nâsira. The latter, however, is more likely to be a conscious or unconscious assimilation of the sound and perhaps the spelling to a well-known descriptive title. See also preceding article.
Literature.—In addition to the references given above, the articles in the Bible Dictionaries may be consulted; add Edward Robinson, BRP [Note: RP Biblical Researches in Palestine.] , London, 1841, iii. pp. 183–200; A. Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, London, 1883, i. pp. 145–148, 456f.; Cunningham Geikie, Holy Land and the Bible, London, 1887, ch. xxxix.; G. le Hardy, Hist. de Nazareth et de ses sanctuaires, Paris, 1905.
A. S. Geden.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Nazareth (2)'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/n/nazareth-2.html. 1906-1918.
