SPECIAL TOPIC: JESUS THE NAZARENE

There are several different Greek terms that the NT uses to speak of
Jesus.

A. NT Terms

1. Nazareth – the city in Galilee (cf. Luke 1:26; 2:4,39,51;
4:16; Acts 10:38). This city is not mentioned in contemporary sources, but has
been found in later inscriptions.
For Jesus to be from Nazareth was not a compliment (cf. John 1:46). The sign
over Jesus’ cross which included this place name was a sign of Jewish contempt.

2. Nazarēnos – seems to also refer to a geographical location
(cf. Luke 4:34; 24:19).

3. Nazōraios – may refer to a city, but could also be a play
on the Hebrew Messianic term “Branch” (netzer, BDB 666,
KB 718 II, cf. Isa. 11:1;
synonym, BDB 855, Jer. 23:5; 33:15; Zech. 3:8; 6:12; alluded to in Rev. 22:16). Luke
uses this of Jesus in 18:37 and Acts 2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 6:14; 22:8; 24:5; 26:9.

4. Related to #3 nāzir (BDB 634, KB 684), which means “consecrated one
by means of a vow.”

B. Historical usages of the term outside the NT.

1. It denoted a Jewish (pre-Christian) heretical group
(Aramaic nāsōrayyā).

2. It was used in Jewish circles to describe believers in
Christ (cf. Acts 24:5,14; 28:22, nosri).

3. It became the regular term to denote believers in the
Syrian (Aramaic) churches. “Christian” was used in the Greek churches to denote
believers.

4. Sometime after the fall of Jerusalem, the Pharisees
reorganized at Jamnia and instigated a formal separation between the synagogue
and the church. An example of the type of curse formulas against Christians is
found in “the Eighteen Benedictions” from Berakoth 28b-29a, which calls the
believers “Nazarenes.”

“May the Nazarenes and heretics disappear in a moment; they shall be erased from
the book of life and not be written with the faithful.”

5. It was used by Justin Martyr, Dial. 126:1, who used
Isaiah’s netzer (Isa. 11:1) of Jesus.

C. Author’s opinion

I am surprised by so many spellings of the term, although I know this is not
unheard of in the OT as “Joshua” has several different spellings in Hebrew. The
following items cause me to remain uncertain as to its precise meaning:

1. the close association with the Messianic term “Branch”
(netzer) or the similar term nāzir (one consecrated by means of a vow)

2. the negative connotation of the region of Galilee of the Gentiles

3. little or no literary contemporary attestation to the city of
Nazareth in Galilee

4. it coming from the mouth of a demon in an eschatological
sense (i.e., “Have you come to destroy us?”).

For a full bibliography of studies of this word group, see Colin Brown (ed.),
New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 2, p. 346 or
Raymond E. Brown, Birth of the Messiah, pp. 209-213, 223-225.