NAZARENO (NAZOREAN). - Title attributed to Jesus and to Christians in the New Testament. The form N. (Ναζαρηνός) is found in Mk 1:24; 10:47; 14:67; 16:6; Lk 4:34; 24:19; the form Nazoreo (Ναζωραῖος) in Mt 2:23 (Vulg. Nazaraeus); 26:71; Lk 18:37; Jn 18:5, 7; 19:19; Acts 2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 6:14; 22:8; 26:9. In Acts 24:5 sqq., Paul is accused as “leader of the sect of the Nazoreans.” Nazareth (v.), where Jesus dwelt for the greater part of His private life.
According to Mt 2:23, “Joseph (with Jesus and Mary) went to dwell at Nazareth, a city of Galilee, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that He should be called a Nazoreo.” Since in the prophetic books this quotation is not found verbatim, some, with Chrysostom (PG 57, 180 sqq.), think that St. Matthew is alluding to a lost prophecy. Others, with U. Holzmeister (in Verbum Domini, 17 [1937], pp. 21-26), hold that St. Matthew is alluding to Is 11:1, where the Messiah is called nēser (flower, shoot). This word would share the same root as Nazareth, pronounced with an s by the Arabs (en-Nāṣirah) and by the Syrians in their Gospel versions (Nāṣrat). In rabbinic writings, Jesus of Nazareth is called han-Nōsērī, and Christians han-Nōsērīm (with an s). The plural “by the prophets” may be understood as “of a kind” (standing for the singular) or as including other passages where the Messiah is called a shoot or sprout (semah: Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).
Since Nazareth was a despised locality (Jn 1:46), some think that St. Matthew is alluding generally to prophecies that present the Messiah as one despised (Is 53; Ps 21, etc.). Thus M.-J. Lagrange, F. Prat, A. Durand, D. Baldi. Others, insisting, believe that St. Matthew is alluding to prophecies that present the Messiah as a nāṣir (Nazirite [V. nazireate], consecrated, sanctified, prince: cf. Judg 13:5-7; 16:17; Am 2:11-12; Gen 49:26, etc.). This would be the definitive opinion of St. Jerome, according to S. Lyonnet, in Biblica, 25 (1944), pp. 196-206.
E. Zolli (Christus, Rome 1946, p. 45) holds that the term derives from an Aramaic root nēṣar meaning “to preach.” He thus understands the (reconstructed Aramaic) text of Mt 2:23: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken: ‘Among the prophets He, the N. [preacher par excellence], shall be called.’” Christians would be called “N. N.” in the sense of “preachers, proclaimers.”
Nazareth – The Virgin’s Fountain ('Ajn Sitti Marjam)