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Bible Dictionaries
Nazarene
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Nazarene (năz'a-rçne'). When our Lord was taken as a child to Nazareth, which thus became for many years his dwelling-place, the evangelist records this as a fulfilment of prophecy, Matthew 2:23, citing no particular place, but referring generally to "the prophets," who predicted Messiah's humble and despised condition. See Isa. chaps. 52, 53. The words, "He shall be called a Nazarene," do not occur in the writings of the Old Testament; but the thing or meaning conveyed by them is sufficiently obvious. Jesus, living at Nazareth, was from that very circumstance contemned; and we find in the course of his public career his connection with that town repeatedly used against him. John 1:46; John 7:41; John 7:52. Matthew notes that event which branded him with an ill-omened name, "Jesus of Nazareth." and his followers as Nazarenes, comp. Acts 24:5, as an exact fulfilment of what ancient seers had foretold. It is an error to connect Matthew 2:23 with Isaiah 11:1-16, from a fancied relation of the original Hebrew word there translated "branch" with the name Nazareth.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Nazarene'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/n/nazarene.html. 1893.
