Why does Matthew call Jesus a Nazarene?

Matthew explains that because Jesus grew up in Nazareth, this fulfills the prophetic notion that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. There are several reasons to suggest that Matthew is summarizing a prophetic theme with this quote.

First, it is interesting to note that, in fact, no prophet says that Jesus would be called a Nazarene, and none so much as mentioned the town of Nazareth.³ Second, when Matthew states that Jesus being called a Nazarene fulfills the prophets (τῶν προφητῶν), he uses prophet in the plural form. This is the only time that Matthew will state that a prophecy is fulfilled that finds it origins in the plural, the prophets.⁴ Third, Matthew leaves out the customary participle λέγοντος (literally, saying) that normally precedes a direct quote from a prophet. For example, in Matthew 2:17 he writes, “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah [λέγοντος, saying].” Often the participle λέγοντος is not included in translations since it tends to be redundant in the translation (as can be seen in the example from Matthew 2:17), and yet it indicates a specific quote. Matthew does not include the participle in Matthew 2:23.⁵

All of these grammatical features suggest that Matthew is not intent on quoting a specific prediction but sees that a general prophetic theme is fulfilled when Jesus family moves to Nazareth. What that theme might be will be considered in argument 2.

Counterargument:

It is possible that Matthew quotes from a prophetic tradition that is no longer available to us. There are books mentioned in the Old Testament that are not included in the canon of Scripture (see Numbers 21:15; 1 Kings 11:41; 1 Kings 14:19; 1 Kings 15:7). Matthew might have had in mind an older prophetic work that was either carried along by oral tradition, or that was lost to the ages, of which Matthew’s original audience would have been familiar. We also know that there were prophetic schools in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 19:20; 2 Chronicles 18:5). If the saying comes from one of the prophetic schools, this explains why Matthew uses the plural form τῶν προφητῶν (the prophets).

Response to counterargument:

While it is possible that Matthew quotes from prophetic tradition that is no longer extant, this counterargument has its weaknesses. First, while there were groups of prophets in the Old Testament, there is no extant book in the Old Testament that is attributed to a prophetic group. Rather, even when there is evidence that later redactors helped shape a prophet’s material, prophetic books are attributed to individuals. Second, the fact that Matthew leaves out the participle λέγοντος (saying) suggests that he does not have a direct quote in mind.

Explanation:

One can detect a general theme from the Old Testament that indicates the Messiah would be despised and of humble stature. For example, Isaiah 11:1 states that the Messiah would be born from the royal line that had become a hacked-down stump.⁶ Also, Isaiah 49:7 states that the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, would be deeply despised and abhorred by the nations. Then there are the messianic psalms, such as Psalm 22:1–31, where the psalmist describes himself as a worm who has been scorned and despised by the people. All of these prophetic allusions predict that the Messiah would be rejected by the people. Thus, we have a theme in the prophets that suggests the Messiah would be lowly and despised.

Interestingly, we know that Nazareth has a similar aura. Nazareth was a small, insignificant town near the Sea of Galilee, and is never mentioned in the Old Testament. Archaeological data suggests that it likely was not inhabited by more than five hundred people.⁷ Added to this, there are references from the New Testament that allude to the low stature of Nazareth. For example, in John 1:1–51, Philip finds Nathanael to tell him that he has found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael responds in v. John 1:46 saying, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? In other words, Nazareth is not the sort of place where anything good comes, never mind the Saviour of the world.

Another example is in John 7:1–53. There the people suggest that Jesus is the Christ, but the Pharisees object on the grounds that the Scripture makes no indication than a prophet would come out of Galilee. In context, the insinuation is that Galilee, where Nazareth was located, is not prominent in Jewish thought.

Finally, in Acts 24:1–27, Paul is accused by a Jewish official named Tertullus. He calls Paul the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Once again, the comment is clearly derogatory.

All of this suggests that the town of Nazareth was quite small and insignificant in Jewish thought. That Jesus, the Saviour who would be rejected and sentenced to the cross, was born in Nazareth, fulfills the prophetic prediction that the Messiah would be of humble stature, and despised.⁸

Counterargument:

While it is true that the prophets predict that Jesus would be of humble stature, they also predict that the Messiah would be a triumphant leader. For example, in Isaiah 9:6–7 the Messiah is described as one who will be called Mighty Counsellor, Wonderful God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government, and he will establish the throne of David with righteousness and peace. Also, Ezekiel 37:24 predicts that God’s servant David, who is the Lord’s anointed, would be king over God’s people. The point is, Matthew’s audience would not necessarily connect Jesus’ humble origins in Nazareth with the prophetic prediction that the Messiah would be despised, because they expected a strong Messiah.

Response to counterargument:

First, the notion that Jesus was from Nazareth fulfills not only the fact that the Messiah was despised, but also the fact that he was humble. And there are several Old Testament prophecies that connect both the kingship and humbleness of the Messiah. For example, Micah 5:2 states that out of Judah, although she is a humble tribe, shall come a ruler whose birth was from ancient of days. In Zechariah 9:9 we read that the king who is endowed with salvation is humble and comes riding on a donkey.

Added to this, we are not to read Matthew through the lens of his original audience’s expectations. Rather, we are to read Matthew on his own terms and try to determine what he means. If his original audience expected the Messiah to be a kingly ruler, this further corroborates the notion that Matthew wants them to perceive Jesus’ humble origins. In fact, Matthew repeatedly returns to the humble origins of Jesus throughout his Gospel.

Possible weaknesses:

The one weakness of this view is that the phrase Matthew uses to convey the theological theme of humbleness is quite vague. If Matthew wanted to convey the fact of Jesus’ being born in Nazareth with the prophetic prediction that the Messiah would be of humble origins, one expects him to be more direct. Still, this weakness can be overcome when we consider the statement against the background of Matthew’s original audience. Since they lived at the time, we should expect that Matthew’s original audience knew what was represented by the fact that Jesus was called a Nazarene. While the phrase is foreign to our ears, it is not a stretch to think that this phrase carried a precise meaning with Matthew’s original audience.

Explanation:

Since Matthew does not quote the prophets directly, he likely notices a connection between the Greek term for Nazarene and a Hebrew term that relates to the Messiah.¹¹ The Greek adjective Ναζωραῖος contains the related consonants as the Hebrew term נֵצֶר, which means branch. This Hebrew term is also used in the messianic passage of Isaiah 11:1, which states that a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and the נֵצֶר (branch) from its root will bear fruit. Likely Matthew refers to this passage because of its messianic overtones to point out that the shoot of Jesse would come from humble origins.¹²

Counterargument:

There are two problems with this interpretation. First, if Matthew alludes to Isaiah 11:1 this does not account for his use of the plural for prophets.

Second, Matthew says that Jesus is the one who is called a Nazarene. In other words, the Greek term Ναζωραῖος refers to Jesus. Thus, if Matthew deploys a paronomasia by relating the Greek term Ναζωραῖος with the Hebrew term נֵצֶר (branch) to refer to Jesus in Matthew 2:23, we should expect the term to refer to Jesus in its original setting as well. Instead, although Isaiah 11:1 has messianic overtones, the term that refers to Jesus is not נֵצֶר (branch) but חֹטֵר (branch). The term נֵצֶר refers to the branches that grow from the root, which is the Messiah.

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this counterargument is that it overlooks the fact that Isaiah 11:1 is an instance of Hebrew parallelism. In this case, Isaiah restates the first clause in a new way, so that both נֵצֶר (branch) and חֹטֵר (branch) refer to the same subject. Further, even if Matthew’s wordplay does not refer to Isaiah 11:1, there are other options on the table. For example, he might refer to Jesus as a Nazarene because of a wordplay on Nazirites. The Nazirites were children who were specially dedicated to God (Numbers 6:1–27). Famous examples include Samson (Judges 13:5, Judges 13:7) and Samuel (1 Samuel 11:1). Of course, we know that Jesus’ dedication to God was blameless.

Response to response to counterargument:

Matthew has been connecting the typology of Israel with the early years of Jesus, so it is hard to see why he would suddenly compare Jesus with Samuel or Samson.¹³ Further, while Jesus was dedicated to God, he was not a Nazirite. The Bible makes no mention of whether he ever cut his hair, and we know that he drinks wine with the disciples, a practice that would have been otherwise forbidden.

Possible weaknesses:

While it is possible that Matthew uses wordplay when he says that Jesus would be called a Nazarene, this is no strong case on hand that does justice to the view. The examples offered are too subtle, and it is easy to discount them for not having enough textual support to back them up.