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.
All Commentaries on Matthew 2:23 Go To Matthew 2
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
And he came and dwelt, &c. S. Mark 1:24, following the Latins, has ÎαζαÏηνὸς; the other Evangelists write ÎαζαÏαίος. Adrichomius (Descr. Terræ Sanctæ, p241 , Numbers 73) gives the following account of Nazareth, which he has collected out of S. Jerome, Eusebius, Brochard, and others:—"Nazareth, which is interpreted a flower, is a fair and flourishing city of Galilee, not far from Capharnaum. It is built upon a mountain, which it girds like a crown. It is two leagues from Mount Tabor, and three days" journey from Jerusalem. Here Blessed Mary, the Flower of Virgins, was born; here Christ, our Lord and Saviour, our glory and our crown, like a flower of the field, as Jerome says, was conceived and brought up in all virtues, and lived for four-and-twenty years. Hence this was His own and His father"s city; hence, also, He was called Nazarenus, or Nazaræus, and a Galilæan; hence, too, we who now are called Christians were anciently called Nazarenes and Galilæans, as terms of reproach."
"Moreover," says Rabanus, "Galilee is interpreted migration, Nazareth a flower, because the more earnestly the Church passes over to heavenly things, the more she abounds in the flowers of virtues.
That it might be fulfilled—a Nazarene. The name of Nazareth does not once occur in the Old Testament. Hence we are unable to tell whether it were written in Hebrew with zain or tsade. If with the former, Nazareth means sanctified, separate, consecrated; if with tsade, full of flowers, or guarded.
The question arises, by what prophet, when, and wherefore was Christ called a Nazarene? There are several opinions; two are most probable:?
1. Christ was called a Nazarene, in Hebrew nazir, or nozeri, written with zain, meaning separate, holy, consecrate, crowned, religious, because Christ, as Prayer of Manasseh , being separated from every other thing, was hypostatically and wholly united to the WORD. For the word nazar signifies to separate, to consecrate, to crown. Wherefore the religious, under the old law, who separated themselves from wine and from the world, and consecrated themselves to God, were called Nazarites. (See Numbers 6:2, seq.) But that Christ would be holy, and consecrated to God, all the prophets foretold, especially Daniel 19:24: "The Holy of Holies—i.e, Christ—shall be anointed." (Vulg.) Thus, too, Samson, who was a type of Christ, was a Nazarite. (Judg. xiii7.) Song of Solomon , too, was Joseph. ( Genesis 49:2.) And as Joseph, after his imprisonment, was made lord of Egypt, so Christ, after His death, was made lord of the universe. So S. Ambrose and Ruperti.
These Nazarites, however, are called in Greek ÎαζαÏαίοι, written with alpha (Nazaræi); but Christ is always called ÎαζωÏαίος, (Nazoraeus), written with omega, to distinguish him from the Nazarites, because he was not a Nazarite by vow, like them, but was called Nazaræus, from his country, Nazareth. Christ drank wine, which was forbidden to the Nazarites by their vow. The above is the explanation of S. Jerome on this passage, and of Eusebius (lib7 , de Demonstrat. c2 , Dem5), where he cites Leviticus 21:12, concerning the Aaronic priest, who was a type of Christ: "Neither shall he go forth out of the holy place, because the oil of the holy anointing of his God is upon him." Instead of holy, as qualifying anointing, the Hebrew has nezar, i.e, consecration, or sanctification with the oil of the anointing of his God. The index of Hebrew words usually found at the end of our Bibles, and Paul of Burgos, think that the passage which is here cited is Psalm 131:18: "Upon him shall my sanctification flourish." (Vulg.Heb. nizri, which S. Jerome translates his diadem.) Whence also the golden plate affixed to the pontifical tiara, on which was inscribed, Holiness to the Lord, is called nezor, i.e, a crown or diadem of holiness. ( Exodus 29:6.) It was a type, yea, an index of Christ of Nazareth, holy and crowned. To this the Apostle alludes ( Hebrews 2:9): "We see Jesus, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour." On which see my comment.
Eusebius says, the LXX translate nazer by holy; Aquila has separation; Symmachus, untouched. From these, therefore, the name Nazaraeus signifies either holy, or separate, or untouched. But some of the ancient priests, who were anointed with the prepared oil, which was called by Moses nazer, were named Nazarites from this word nazer. But our Saviour and Lord, by His own nature possessing in Himself holiness and separation, neither having need of any human anointing, still obtained the title of a Nazarite among men; not as though He were so called from any oil named nazer, but from the city Nazareth, where He was brought up among His own relations, forasmuch as He was a man. Christ, therefore, was a Nazarite, i.e, separated from other men, sanctified, consecrated, and crowned High Priest, Legislator, Teacher, Redeemer, and Sanctifier of the Universe.
The letter which is employed favours this opinion. The Evangelists always wrote Nazaræus, or Nazarenus, with the letter z, which is the one which occurs in the Hebrew nezer and nazir. For if Nazarene is derived from × ×¦×¨ nezer, with tsade, so as to signify flourishing, it ought to be written Nasarene with an s. In all other names the Hebrew letter tsade is represented by an s (in the Vulg.), as in Bosra, Asor (see Joshua , chaps. xii. and xv, where some suppose Asor to be Nazareth), Melchisedech, Sabaoth, &c. On the other hand the Hebrew zain is translated by our z, as appears from Zabulon, Zacharias, Beelzebub, &c.
Let us add, it is more worthy the dignity of Christ that He should be called Nazarene, with the letter zain, i.e, holy, than Nasarene, with tsade, that Isaiah , flourishing. For × ×–×¨ nazer, i.e, holiness, the consecration and crown of Christ, quà Prayer of Manasseh , was the hypostatic union, or rather the actual Godhead of the WORD, which crowned, sanctified, separated to Itself, united, and consecrated the whole Humanity of Christ. Lastly, it is in favour of this opinion that S. Matthew says, "which was spoken by the prophets," not by the prophet; "by which he shows," says S. Jerome, "that he was not quoting the words of one passage of Scripture, but the sense of several."
2. It is the opinion of others that Christ is called a Nasarene from × ×¦×¨ neser, with tsade—i.e, flourishing, from flower—or, rather, germinating, from germ. For both Aquila and Theodotion, according to S. Jerome, render neser in Isaiah 11:2 by germen. In Isaiah xi1 , the Vulg. has, "A flower shall rise up out of his root," translating the Hebrew neser by flower. Nazarene, therefore, is the same as flourishing or germinating, growing into a great and glorious tree, and producing abundant fruit.
The first reason is that Christ is elsewhere called צמה tsemach—i.e, germen, which the Vulg. renders Oriens, the dawn, or daystar, as though arising out of the earth. (See Zechariah 6:12; Zechariah 3:8.) For Christ sprung from the Virgin as an undefiled germen, or plant, and pure from every stain of sin. So He flourished with every virtue, and scattered the odour of His sweetness far and wide. Whence S. Ambrose (lib. de Spirit. Sanct, c5) says, "When a flower is plucked, it does not lose its smell; when it is bruised, it increases it." Song of Solomon , when Christ was bruised in His Passion, He the more manifested the power of His Divinity and His grace.
The second reason is that in the inscription placed on the Cross of Christ, which is preserved in the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, in Rome, × ×¦×¨×™ notseri is written with tsade, not zain. So says Pagninus, from ocular inspection. Song of Solomon , too, the Syrian and Arabic versions write Nazarene with tsade. And the modern Jewish Rabbis call Christians Notserim—i.e, Nazarenes, writing the word with tsade.
I myself have often seen the title of the Cross at Rome and carefully inspected it, but the letters are so worn away that I have never been able to see that the Hebrew inscription has tsade. On the contrary, zain, not tsade, seemed to me to be the letter. Bosius (lib. I de Cruce triumph.) has a perfectly exact impression of the superscription of the Cross. Examine it, and you will agree with me. Besides, this title was written by Pilate the Roman governor, or his Roman servants, who had little knowledge of Hebrew, and could not tell whether Nazarene were spelt with a tsade or a zain, and certainly would not care for the distinction between them. Various commentators, as Rabanus, Salmeron, Jansen, &c, write Nazarene with a tsade, and translate it flourishing, but most of them seem to have been influenced by Pagninus, who said that he had found notseri spelt with a tsade on the title of the Cross.
Both opinions may be conjoined and reconciled with each other by saying that if you look strictly to the letters you will find × ×–×¨ nezer with zain—that is to say, holiness, consecration, crown; yet that there is an allusion to netser with tsade—i.e, a shoot, a flower—for these two letters are somewhat akin both in form and sound, and are occasionally interchanged both with one another and with some other Hebrew letters, as appears in the conjugation Hispael. (See Bellarmine"s Hebrew Grammar.) Wherefore the Psalmist conjoins the two ( Psalm 131:18), saying: "My sanctification (nazer) shall flourish (nazarene) upon him." (Vulg.) So also S. Jerome says, "Nazaræus is interpreted holy." All Scripture testifies that the Lord shall be holy. We are able also to use, in another sense, what is written in the same words in the Prophet Isaiah according to the Hebrew verity, "Behold a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a Nazarene shall arise out of his root." Lastly, as in their letters, so also in their significations these two words are closely connected; for He who is Nazarenus—i.e, separated from earthly pleasures—is likewise Nasaræus—i.e, flourishing with virtues. Hence some derive the Greek άγιος, holy from α̉, not and γή the earth; for he who is separated from the earth, cultivates heavenly things, and is holy.
Matthew adds this, because Nazareth was a small and despised town. Hence the name of Nazarene seemed both to Jews and Gentiles vile and mean, so that on account of it many were kept back from Christ, and from acknowledging Him as Messiah. Whence Nathanael said to Philippians , "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" And Julian the Apostate was wont, in contempt, to call Christ "the Galilan," and "the Nazarene." When he was struck by a dart from heaven, and was about to die, he cried, "Thou hast conquered, O Galilan, thou hast conquered."
Matthew , therefore, here shows that the name of Nazarene was a glorious one, forasmuch as it had been spoken of by the prophets, and assigned to Christ many ages previously.
The sense then is as follows—although Christ was born in Bethlehem He was conceived and brought up in Nazareth, a city small and obscure, that He might the better elude Herod and his posterity when they sought to slay Him, and that He might give us an example of humility and contempt of the pomps of the world. Whence He was called a Nazarene from the city of Nazareth, but so that not only the name Nazarene, but what was signified by the name, that Isaiah , holiness, should apply to Him. So there was in reality fulfilled what Isaiah and the prophets foretold concerning Christ, that He was nazir, holy, and noseri, or Nasaræus, flourishing with all virtue and grace.
Consequently, the name of Nazarene, which the Jews and others gave to Christ by way of reproach, is most illustrious, yea, a note and mark of the true Messiah; for by this very title the prophets indicated and glorified Messiah.
Tropologically, Christ is a Nazarene, i.e, separated from the world and consecrated to God, flourishing with all virtues, and the origin, father, and prince of the Nazarenes, that Isaiah , the religious, who despise the world, and dedicate themselves wholly to God, that they may flourish in virtues, according to those words in Lam. iv7. "Her Nazarites were fairer than snow, whiter than milk; they were more ruddy than ancient ivory, brighter than sapphires." (Vulg.) Where see my Comment.
Salmeron adds, Nazarene is the same as Samaritan, i.e, a keeper (for × ×¦×¨ natsar, is to keep, to guard) namely of men; according to those words of Job , "What shall I do unto thee, O thou keeper of men?" (Vulg.) And Psalm 121, "Behold He shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel." Song of Solomon , too, Francis Lucas says, Nazarene, that Isaiah , keeper, preserver, defender. By Nazareth, therefore, the Blessed Virgin is represented, of whom Christ the Nazarene was born. For she was kept from original sin, from the shame of conception, from the corruption and pain of child-birth, and from turning to dust after death. For the body of the Virgin was not resolved into ashes after her death, as is the lot of other bodies; but it was, together with her soul, taken up into heaven. These things are true, but rather symbolical than literal.
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