Thayer's
STRONGS NT 3478: ΝαζαρέτΝαζαρέτ ((so
Rec.st everywhere; Lachmann also in
Mark 1:9;
Luke 2:39, 51;
Luke 4:16;
John 1:45f (46f);
Tdf. in
Mark 1:9;
John 1:45f (46f);
Tr text in
Luke 1:26;
Luke 2:4;
Luke 4:16;
John 1:45f (46f);
Tr marginal reading in
Mark 1:9;
Luke 2:39, 51; and
WH everywhere except in four passages soon to be mentioned),
Ναζαρέθ (so
Rec.elz ten times,
Rec.bez six times,
T and
Tr except in the passages already given or about to be given;
L in
Matthew 2:23;
Matthew 21:11 (so
WH here);
Luke 1:26;
Acts 10:38 (so
WH here)),
Ναζαραθ (
L in
Matthew 4:13 and
Luke 2:4, after codex Delta but with
little other attestation (Hort)),
Ναζαρά (
Matthew 4:13 T Tr WH;
Luke 4:16 T WH)),
ἡ, indeclinable, (and
τά Ναζαρά,
Origen and Julianus Africanus in
Eusebius,
h. e. 1, 7, 14; cf. Keith, Jesu von Naz. i., p. 319f. (English translation, ii., p. 16) and ii., p. 421f. (English translation, iv., p. 108), who thinks Nazara preferable to the other forms (but see
WHs Appendix, p. 160{a};
Tdf. Proleg., p. 120;
Scrivener, Introduction, chapter viii. § 5; Alford, Greek Testament, vol. i. Proleg., p. 97)),
Nazareth, a town of lower Galilee, mentioned neither in the O. T., nor by
Josephus, nor in the Talmud (unless it is to be recognized in the appellation
נֵצֶר בֶּן, given there to Jesus Christ). It was built upon a hill, in a very lovely region (cf. Renan, Vie de Jesus, 14{me} edition, p. 27f. (Wilbour's translation (N. Y. 1865), pp. 69ff; see also Robinson, Researches, etc. ii., 336f)), and was distant from Jerusalem a three days' journey, from Tiberias eight hours (or less); it was the home of Jesus (
Matthew 13:54;
Mark 6:1); its present name is en Nazirah, a town of from five to six thousand inhabitants (cf. Baedeker, Palestine and Syria, p. 359):
Matthew 2:23;
Matthew 4:13;
Matthew 21:11;
Mark 1:9;
Luke 1:26;
Luke 2:4, 39, 51;
Luke 4:16;
John 1:45f (46f);
Acts 10:39. As respects the Hebrew form of the name, it is disputed whether it was
נֵצֶר 'a sprout', 'shoot' (so, besides others, Hengstenberg, Christol. des A. T. ii., 124f. (English translation, ii., 106f); but cf. Gieseler in the Studien und Kritiken for 1831, p. 588f), or
נֹצְרָה, 'protectress', 'guard' (cf.
2 Kings 17:9; so
Keim, as above), or
נִצֶרֶת, 'sentinel' (so Delitzsch in the Zeitschr. f. Luth. Theol. for 1876, p. 401), or
נְצֹרֶת 'watch-tower' (so Ewald in the Götting. gelehrt. Anzeigen for 1867, p. 1602f). For a further account of the town cf. Robinson, as above, pp. 333-343; Tobler, Nazareth in Palästina. Berl. 1868; (Hackett in
B. D. under the word
).