The Nazarene: The Prophecy that Never Was

Matthew ends the story of the birth of Jesus with a prophecy that He will be called a “Nazarene.” But here’s the big problem: the village of Nazareth wasn’t settled until hundreds of years AFTER the Old Testament was written. But, this isn’t a mistake or a contradiction. It’s just Matthew showing off.

Is it possible that a single verse could completely undermine Matthew’s credibility? After what we saw in the previous episode, it’s hard to believe. Matthew is proving himself to be an adept biblical scholar. He uses traditional Jewish techniques to show that Jesus is the perfection of Israel. That He came to earth to be a “Light to the Nations” – even though Israel failed miserably at this. Then, in the next sentence he seems to completely blow it. He claims that Jesus grew up in Nazareth as a fulfillment of a prophecy that He would be a “Nazarene.” Not a single prophet made this claim. What are we going to do now?

Let’s open up this Pandora’s Box:

He came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

Matthew 2:23 NET

Looking for Clues

On the surface this looks pretty clear. Joseph, Mary and Jesus returned to Israel after hiding in Egypt. Then, instead of going to Bethlehem, they went to Nazareth in the Galilee, probably to avoid being noticed by Herod the Great’s son. All of this was because the Old Testament prophets wrote that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

Here are some words we should notice: 1. Nazareth; 2. Prophets; 3. Fulfilled and 4. Nazarene. Let’s look closely at each of these.

Nazareth

The problem here is that there is no written record of any village in Nazareth before the 4th century AD. In fact, one theory suggests that the village was settled after the New Testament was written. Supposedly, this was done to validate the Gospels. Thankfully, archaeology helps us here.

Over the past 70 years archaeologists have found the origins of a village, on the site of historical Nazareth, that dates back to at least the 1st Century. They’ve even found coins with inscriptions of Roman rulers and other datable items. That’s the good news. Now for the bad.

It is almost certain that the village wasn’t settled until within less than 200 years before Jesus’ birth, at the earliest. That means there can’t be any Old Testament prophecies about Jesus being from this village.

Prophets

Now, we come to our second clue: Jesus grew up in Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets. Matthew isn’t quoting any Old Testament verses. He isn’t suggesting a single prophet. Matthew’s just alluding to an idea. He’s hinting. And this is where we start to witness Matthew’s brilliance.

Most scholars agree that the name “Nazareth” comes from the Hebrew word, nezer. Nezer means “branch” (a very specific type of branch but that comes later). There are four different prophecies where the Messiah is described as a branch:

Jeremiah 23:5

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a Righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

English Standard Version

Jeremiah 33:15

In those days and at that time I will cause a Righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Zechariah 3:5

Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch.

English Standard Version

Zechariah 6:12

And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD.

English Standard Version

Your Bible probably has the word “Branch” capitalized – like it’s a proper noun. Biblical and linguistic scholars agree: the Branch in these four verses are all talking about the Messiah. The prophecies say that this Branch will come from David. He will be a King (Jeremiah 23:5), High Priest (Jeremiah 33:15), Servant (Zechariah 3:5) and Human (Zechariah 6:12).

These ideas might seem very familiar to you. Lots of us have been taught that each of the four Gospels portray Jesus in a specific role. John’s Gospel shows Jesus as our High Priest. Luke’s Gospel as a Man. Mark’s Gospel shows Jesus as the Servant. And Matthew’s Gospel shows Jesus as the King – the Messiah.

But now we have a different problem. The Hebrew word for Branch in each of these four verses isn’t nezer. It’s tsemach.

Fulfilled

The word fulfilled is going to become very important in a few episodes. We usually translate it to mean “completed.” And it does sort of mean that. The Greek word here is pleroo. What we really need to do is define this through an image in our minds. Picture a glass of water. It’s only half filled. But, someone comes a long and fills it all the way to the brim. The glass is now completely full. It is filled to the fullest. This is the meaning of the word fulfilled.

Nazarene

So, this is where we need to use our sanctified imagination. We don’t have a lot of information about Nazareth. But, what we can do is speculate why its founders named it what they did. We already saw that this village was named after the Hebrew word nezer.

This is a very specific type of branch. It comes from an olive tree. Olive trees are fascinating. They live for thousands of years. And they can even be cut down to the stump and look like they’re gone forever. But hundreds of feet away, an olive shoot from the original tree’s root system will spring up. It will look like it’s a new tree, but it comes from the one removed long ago.

This is important: a nezer is a shoot from an olive tree that unexpectedly springs up years later and far away from the original tree.

Isaiah 11:1-5

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

English Standard Version

The Branch of the Prophets is the Nezer from Isaiah 11. He is the King who rules righteously and perfectly.

The Picture Becomes Clearer

Matthew’s Gospel gives Jesus’ lineage through Joseph. And Luke’s Gospel (Luke 3:23-28) gives Jesus’ lineage through Mary, directly to Adam, who Luke calls a “son of God.” Both genealogies tell the same story, up until King David. At this point they branch off (pun intended) through two different sons: Matthew’s through Solomon and Luke’s through another son of David, Nathan.

How did two lines of King David’s descendants end up in this newly established village in the Galilee?

Here’s the theory: this village was settled by families who traced their lineage back to King David. They may have recently returned to Israel from the Exile in Babylon. Or, it could be they transitioned into the Galilee because of the persecution by Greek rulers during the Intertestamental Period. We don’t know for sure.

What we do know is that years after the family of King David was removed from the throne in Jerusalem, their sons and daughters established a village far away from Judea. And they named it Nazareth – nezer – a branch from the Stump of Jesse sprung up preparing the way for the coming Messiah.

Matthew is never quoting a single verse in the Old Testament. He’s not mistakenly claiming that Isaiah or Jeremiah or Daniel prophesied that Jesus would grow up in the town of Nazareth.

Matthew’s claim is much more unbelievable. He’s saying that Jesus – the Branch the Prophets wrote about – had arrived.

And He grew up in a town specially prepared for Him.

He is the Messiah, after all.