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He shall be called a Nazarene


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Matthew 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Which prophets?


As your probably alluding to, there is no OT scripture that says "he shall be called a Nazarene"(see John 7:52) . Some think that it might be a obscure reference to Isaiah 11:1 and the "rod" coming out of the stem of Jesse due to the hebrew word for "rod". I personally think that that view is improbable answer and I think it is more likely a similar situation to that where Enoch is quoted in the book of Jude, quotations not found elsewhere in scripture. Likely a situation where a specific statement within a book was inspired but the whole book was not and therefore the book quoted from was not preserved as scripture. Another possibility is that this was something simply "spoken" by some of the prophets and not written down. I also think that is a little unlikely since there wouldn't seem to be a reason to mention it if it was not recorded somewhere where the initial target audience of the book of Matthew would have been exposed to it.
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As your probably alluding to, there is no OT scripture that says "he shall be called a Nazarene"(see John 7:52) . Some think that it might be a obscure reference to Isaiah 11:1 and the "rod" coming out of the stem of Jesse due to the hebrew word for "rod". I personally think that that view is improbable answer and I think it is more likely a similar situation to that where Enoch is quoted in the book of Jude, quotations not found elsewhere in scripture. Likely a situation where a specific statement within a book was inspired but the whole book was not and therefore the book quoted from was not preserved as scripture. Another possibility is that this was something simply "spoken" by some of the prophets and not written down. I also think that is a little unlikely since there wouldn't seem to be a reason to mention it if it was not recorded somewhere where the initial target audience of the book of Matthew would have been exposed to it.


I looked at Barn’s New Testament Notes and Spurgeon’s Sermon #1632 Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 1, Volume 27 (www.spurgeongems.org 1). Barnes mentioned Isaiah 11:1 and Spurgeon references Isaiah 11 and Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15. The references are to “branch” not rod (not a major point to be discussed between us.)

I would say the Spurgeon sermon is worth a read and Barnes worth a glance over.

My personal conclusion, for what its worth, is: That the prophets spoke of a Messiah who would be separated unto God, “Branch of righteousness.” In other words, the life led by Jesus Christ, very God, while clothed in humanity, was a life separated to the performance of the Savior of man; he honored the Godhead and so, his self. Further that he “made himself of no reputation.”

Between Isaiah 11 and 53, Jeremiah 23 and 33, and Philippians 2:5-11, I’m satisfied with my conclusion until the Lord sets me straight.
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This reminds me of a similar problematic scripture...Matthew 27:9-10. Many scoffers try to use these verses to disprove the Bible.

Matthew 27:9-10
9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, AND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER, THE PRICE OF HIM THAT WAS VALUED, WHOM THEY OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID VALUE;
10 AND GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER'S FIELD, AS THE LORD APPOINTED ME.

However, no such prophecy is given in the books written by Jeremiah. There is; however, a very similar prophecy given in the book of Zechariah...

Zechariah 11:12-13
12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

Now, notice they are similar, but not the same. Jeremiah does mention the potter in some of his writings; however, nothing is written like what is attributed to him in Matthew 27:9-10. So, the scoffer says, "See, you can't trust the Bible. It says in Matthew that Jeremiah gave the prophecy, but it's actually found in Zechariah."

Again, the prophecy contained in Matthew is "similar" to Zechariah's...but that's all. Just because the prophecy isn't written down in Jeremiah's books doesn't mean that he didn't "speak" the prophecy...which is what Matthew 27:9 says..."which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet. It doesn't say that it was "written" by Jeremy the prophet.

In these cases, it's best to just let the Bible say what it says and believe what it says. ;)

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From Things Hard To Be Understood (Way of Life Literature, David W. Cloud):

Things Hard to be Understood
Matthew 2:23

“And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.” – Matthew 2:23

“The Words here are not found in any of the books of the Old Testament, and there has been much difficulty in ascertaining the meaning of this passage. Some have supposed that Matthew meant to refer to Judges 13:5, to Samson as a type of Christ; others that he refers to Isaiah 11:1, where the descendant of Jesse is called ‘a Branch;’ in the Hebrew Natzer. Some have supposed that he refers to some prophecy which was not recorded, but handed down by tradition. But these suppositions are not satisfactory.

“It is much more probable that Matthew refers not to any particular place, but to the leading characteristics of the prophecies respecting him. The following remarks may make this clear: 1st. He does not say ‘by the prophet,’ as in Matthew 1:22; 2:5,15, but ‘by the prophets,’ meaning no one particularly, but the general character of the prophecies. 2nd. The leading and most prominent prophecies respecting him were, that he was to be of humble life; to be despised and rejected. See Isaiah 53:2-3,7,9,12; Psalm 22. The character of the people of Nazareth was such that they were proverbially despised and contemned, John 1:46; 7:52. To come from Nazareth, therefore, or to be a Nazarene, was the same as to be despised, or to be esteemed of low birth; to be a root out of dry ground, having no form or comeliness. This was what had been predicted by all the prophets” (Barnes).

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  • 2 months later...

It was spoken by the prophets not written by the prohets.


That is the same conclusion I reached and I believe we have our "...loins girt about with truth..." until the Savior corrects us.
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  • 4 years later...
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On 12/1/2011 at 10:51 PM, No Nicolaitans said:

This reminds me of a similar problematic scripture...Matthew 27:9-10. Many scoffers try to use these verses to disprove the Bible.

Matthew 27:9-10
9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, AND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER, THE PRICE OF HIM THAT WAS VALUED, WHOM THEY OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID VALUE;
10 AND GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER'S FIELD, AS THE LORD APPOINTED ME.

However, no such prophecy is given in the books written by Jeremiah. There is; however, a very similar prophecy given in the book of Zechariah...

Zechariah 11:12-13
12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

Now, notice they are similar, but not the same. Jeremiah does mention the potter in some of his writings; however, nothing is written like what is attributed to him in Matthew 27:9-10. So, the scoffer says, "See, you can't trust the Bible. It says in Matthew that Jeremiah gave the prophecy, but it's actually found in Zechariah."

Again, the prophecy contained in Matthew is "similar" to Zechariah's...but that's all. Just because the prophecy isn't written down in Jeremiah's books doesn't mean that he didn't "speak" the prophecy...which is what Matthew 27:9 says..."which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet. It doesn't say that it was "written" by Jeremy the prophet.

In these cases, it's best to just let the Bible say what it says and believe what it says. ;)

Jeremiah 32:6-12 ¶ And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that wasin Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open: And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yahweh also sent Jeremiah to the potter's HOUSE. He did not buy a field from the potter. The potter was not buying and selling people. I did not quote those verses, its rather long and doesn't apply to Matthew 27:9-10.

Are there any scrolls where Matthew quoted Zechariah but a typo occurred when men copied the scrolls by hand? 

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1 hour ago, MountainChristian said:

Jeremiah 32:6-12 ¶ And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that wasin Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open: And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yahweh also sent Jeremiah to the potter's HOUSE. He did not buy a field from the potter. The potter was not buying and selling people. I did not quote those verses, its rather long and doesn't apply to Matthew 27:9-10.

Are there any scrolls where Matthew quoted Zechariah but a typo occurred when men copied the scrolls by hand? 

I don't know. If there are, I wouldn't trust them. ;););)

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