Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 2:23

"and came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he should be called a Nazarene." — Matthew 2:23 (ASV)

He shall be called a Nazarene — For an account of Nazareth, see the note on Luke 1:26. Here, it is sufficient to address Matthew’s reference to the name as, in itself, the fulfillment of a prophetic thought. Unlike his previous citations, he does not quote any one prophet by name but states more generally that this was spoken through the prophets.

No such words are found in the Old Testament. It is unlikely that the Evangelist would have quoted from any apocryphal prophecy, and there is no trace of such a prophecy ever existing.

The true explanation is found in the impression made on Matthew's mind by the verbal link between the event and the prediction. He had heard people speak with scorn of “the Nazarene,” and yet the very syllables of that word also echoed one of the most glorious prophecies recognized as Messianic: There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Netzer (Branch) shall grow out of his roots (Isaiah 11:1). Thus, in the word of scorn, he found a name that was also a glorious omen.

The town of Nazareth likely took its name from this meaning of the word, referring to the trees and shrubs for which it was known, similar to English place names ending in -hurst or -holt. The general reference to “the prophets” is explained by the fact that the same thought is expressed in Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 33:15, Zechariah 3:8, and Zechariah 6:12, though in those passages the Hebrew word used is Zemach, not Netzer.

A similar line of reasoning is found in the writings of Tertullian and other early Christian writers addressing their pagan opponents. They argued, “You call us Christians, worshippers of Christos, but you pronounce the words Chrestiani and Chrestos. In doing so, you give us a name that in your own language, Greek, means ‘good,’ and thus you unconsciously bear witness to the life we really lead.”

This seems to be the only viable explanation of the passage. It is unlikely that the Evangelist was referring to the scorn with which Nazareth was regarded. Furthermore, any reference to the Nazarite vow is out of the question for two reasons:

1. The two words, Nazarene and Nazarite, are spelled differently in both Greek and Hebrew.
2. Our Lord’s life represented a completely different aspect of holiness from the one expressed by the Nazarite vow.

The Nazarite vow, seen most clearly in John the Baptist, represented a consecration that consists of separation from the world. In contrast, the life of Christ manifested the higher form of consecration found in being in the world but not of it, mingling with the men and women who make up the world in order to purify and save them.