Meaning of Nazareth?

[StephenGoranson]

nazireon--why that spelling?

[rgprice]

nazireon--why that spelling?

See: viewtopic.php?p=161332#p161332

[StephenGoranson]

Replacing Mark with Judges?

[rgprice]

Replacing Mark with Judges?

Saying that is the intended meaning in Mark.

[StephenGoranson]

You say you know what Mark really intended. Huh.

[rgprice]

I'm saying the reading that makes the most sense to me is that Nazarene means "the-God-the-child from the [womb]" or to put it another way, "the Holy One of God".

If we read Mark as saying:

23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus [the-God-the-child from the womb]? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus [the-God-the-child from the womb], who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

That makes the most sense. It makes much more sense in the full context of the story than:

23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus [who grew up in Nazareth]? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus [who grew up in Nazareth], who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

[MrMacSon]

The Hebrew Judges 13.5

.A nazarite to ĕ·lō·hîm [God] shall be the child from the womb

The LXX version of Judges 13.5

.the sanctified nazireon shall be the God-[the]child from the womb

Even though Benton's Septuagint Translation, "the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb," doesn't capture ἡγιασμένον - [h]ēgiasmenon - sanctified (or consecrated - it still captures the essence of what would very likely have been a key foundational concept for reifying the NT Jesus

Yes, I think that it was intended to mean "nazirite", and this is actually made quite obvious in Mark 1. Mark 1 actually explains what it means for the reader:

23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

We are being told that "the Nazarene" means "the Holy One of God". That this means Jesus is one who was destined to be the Son of God from birth makes sense.

We are being told that, to the author of G.Mark, at least, Jesus fulfilled Judges 13.5 as a special nə·zîr/nazarite (נְזִ֧יר) or nazireon (ναζιραῖον) and as a special child : a God-child ...

... the "a son of Man" and the "the Son of Man" things play into that: The 'the "the"' thing here is intentional: ie. the Son of Man was [almost certainly] an intentional, definitive definitive article

[MrMacSon]

Mark 1:24 is, of course, preceded by Jesus coming into Galilee "proclaiming the gospel of God, saying 'the time has been fulfilled' and has drawn near the kingdom of God" (vv.14-15)

After calling his first disciples, Simon and his brother Andrew, promising to make them fishers of men, and then calling fishermen James and his brother John (vv.16-20) ...

... they go into into Capernaum and into a synagogue

They are astonished at his teaching as authority, not as the scribes. The man with the unclean spirit is said to have called him 'Jesus Nazarene' (Ἰησοῦ Ναζαρηνέ), and as rgprice has pointed out, "the Holy [One] of God" in v.24 (though ὁ Ἅγιος τοῦ Θεοῦ might more literally be, "the Holy the God" or "the Holy of (or even as) God")

He drove the unclean spirit out of that man, of course, and "all were astonished" and intrigued by "this new teaching with authority" (τοῦτο διδαχὴ καινή κατ’ ἐξουσίαν): "He commands and they [the unclean spirits] obey him").

He heals Simon's mother-in-law. And then many others (vv.29-34)

The demons - really daimones - δαιμόνια - 'pagan' spirits - could not speak because they know him to be Christ.

Mark 1:2 tells us the author is using the Hebrew scriptures (or aversion of them):

"As it has been written in the Isaiah the prophet"

---

Καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν τῷ Ἠσαΐᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ

---

Kathōs gegraptai en tō Ēsaia tō prophētē

"Behold, I send my messenger [John] before thy face [briefly, to] prepare the way of [the] Lord"

[MrMacSon]

What's the bet that Mark 1:9, "it came to pass in those days came Jesus of Nazaret (Ναζαρὲτ) of Galilee," is a later gloss?

[rgprice]

What's the bet that Mark 1:9, "it came to pass in those days came Jesus of Nazaret (Ναζαρὲτ) of Galilee," is a later gloss?

It has all the hallmarks. It is the only mention of Nazaret in the whole text. It occurs near the beginning of the text. It is the only usage that requires a place name. But beyond that, there are compelling reasons to conclude that Mark 1:1 is a later addition as well. It is the only use of "Jesus Christ" in the entire text. It gives away the identity of the main character, which the writes works to make a mystery throughout the rest of the narrative. Evidence of one addition makes others all the more likely.

Not to mention that neither Matthew nor Luke say that Jesus came "from Nazareth" in the corresponding passage. So if 1:9 is a later addition, then of course "the Nazarene" would have no context related to a place name, and would really only possibly make sense as meaning "Jesus the one deemed holy from birth".

Thanks MrMacSon, your input on this has been helpful.