Where in the Old Testament Does It Prophecy That Jesus Would Be Called a Nazarene

Question

What prophecy is Matthew 2:23 referring to regarding Jesus being a Nazarene?

Answer

St. Matthew the Apostle 2:23 says about Jesus, "He went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said done the prophets, that He would be named a Town." Where is this prophecy in the Ancient Testament?

Matthew is plainly not quoting a prophecy directly, every bit there is no Old Testament passing with the wording he uses. Three major options subsist for interpreting this verse. First, information technology may be that Matthew is associating the word Nazarene with the Hebrew word netser ("branch operating room sprout"). The "Branch" was a common full term for the Messiah, much as in Isaiah 11:1: "A germinate will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." Hebrew was backhand with only consonants, and netser would have appeared as NZR—the same main consonants as Nazareth. In fact, in Aramaic, the common linguistic process of Jesus' day, the give-and-take for "Nazareth" and the Hebrew word for "separate" sounded very much alike. Matthew's luff could be that Jesus was "sprouting up" from an obscure village in Galilee; Jesus of Nazareth was the Branch foreseen by the prophets, and the name of the townspeople He grew up in happens to sound just like the prophets' word for "branch out."

A moment option is that Saint Matthew is citing a prophecy not found in the Yellow Testament but in another source. If so, Matthew referred to a prophecy known to his original audience yet unknown to U.S. nowadays. However, this is unlikely and an argument from silence.

A fractional selection is that Matthew uses the Scripture Denizen in reference to a person who is "scorned and jilted." In the first 100, Nazareth was a moderate town about 55 miles north of Capital of Israel, and it had a negative repute among the Jews. Galilee was generally looked down upon by Judeans, and Nazareth of Galilee was particularly despised (see John 1:46). If this was Matthew's stress, the prophecies Matthew had in mind could admit these deuce passages concerning the Messiah:

"But I am a twist and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who interpret me counterfeit me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads" (Psalm 22:6–7). It's true that Nazarenes were "scorned aside everyone," and so one could fancy this messianic prophecy as an allusion to The Nazarene' hometown of Nazareth.

"Atomic number 2 was unloved and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar spirit with botheration. Like one from whom the great unwashe hide their faces he was hated, and we held him in low repute" (Isaiah 53:3). Once again, in Jesus' day, Nazarenes were "despised and rejected," then Book of Isaiah's prophecy could be viewed every bit an devious reference to Christ' background as the supposed son of a carpenter from Nazareth.

If Psalm 22:6–7 and Isaiah 53:3 are the prophecies that Matthew had in mind, so the meaning of "He shall cost called a Nazarene" is something akin to "He shall glucinium despised and mocked by His own hoi polloi." Jesus not but identified with humanity away coming to our world; He also identified with the lowly of this world. His upbringing in an obscure and despised town served as an important part of His missionary work. Redeemer known Himself as "Jesus of Nazareth" during His encounter with Saul on tour to Damascus (Acts 22:7–8). After his conversion, Paul mentioned Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 26:9). One and only of the names of the early Christians was "Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5), and the full term Nasara, pregnant "Nazarene," is quieten used today by Muslims to identify a Christian.

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What prophecy is Matthew 2:23 referring to regarding Jesus being a Nazarene?

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This page last updated: August 5, 2021

Where in the Old Testament Does It Prophecy That Jesus Would Be Called a Nazarene

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