Mark 6:1

| Mark 6 |

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

6 b He went away from there and came to c his hometown, and his disciples followed him.

Matthew 2:23

| Matt 2 |

23 And he went and lived in a city called f Nazareth, g that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Luke 4:23

| Luke 4 |

23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, m ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did n at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”

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Matt. 1:1–2:23 The Arrival in History of Jesus the Messiah. Matthew's introduction echoes the language of Genesis. The word rendered “genealogy” (1:1) is Greek genesis (“beginning, origin, birth, genealogy”), and this is also the title of the Greek translation of Genesis, implying that it is a book of “beginnings.” “The book of the genealogy” appears to function not only as a heading for the genealogy itself (1:2–17) but also as a title for the entire story to follow: a new beginning with the arrival of Jesus the Messiah and the kingdom of God (cf. note on Gen. 2:4).

Matt. 2:13–23 OT Prophecies Are Fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah. Matthew explains how Jesus' personal history repeats certain aspects of Israel's national history.

Matt. 2:23 Nazareth, in the lower Galilean hills halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee, was a relatively small village (population estimates vary from 200 to 1,600). Luke 1:26–27 and 2:39 indicate that Joseph and Mary had earlier come from Nazareth. He shall be called a Nazarene. Matthew is not quoting any specific OT prophecy but is referring to a general theme in the OT prophets (plural). Thus Matthew is saying that the OT prophets foretold that the Messiah would be despised (see Ps. 22:6; Isa. 49:7; 53:3; cf. Dan. 9:26), comparable to the way in which the town of Nazareth was despised in the time of Jesus (cf. John 1:46; 7:41, 52). Matthew may also have intended a wordplay connecting the word “Nazareth” to the OT messianic prophecy in Isa. 11:1, since “Nazareth” sounds like the word for “branch” in Hebrew, which was a designation for the Messiah. “Nazarene” has no evident connection with the OT “Nazirite” vow (Num. 6:2; Judg. 13:5), which is spelled differently, has no messianic significance, and has no connection with the town of Nazareth.