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'''Nazarene''' is a title applied to [[Jesus]] (''c.'' 4 BC- ''c.'' AD 30), who grew up in [[Nazareth]], a town in [[Galilee]], now in northern [[Israel]].<ref name="Britannica">"Jesus was a Galilean from Nazareth, a village near Sepphoris, one of the two major cities of Galilee". ("Jesus Christ." ''Encyclopædia Britannica,'' Chicago, 2009.)</ref> The word is used to translate two related terms that appear in the Greek [[New Testament]]: ''Nazarēne'' and ''Nazōraios''. The phrases traditionally rendered as "Jesus of Nazareth" can also be translated as "Jesus the Nazarene."<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|18:37|ESV}}</ref> So the title "Nazarene" may have a religious significance, in addition to denoting a place of origin.

'''Nazarene''' is a title applied to [[Jesus]] (''c.'' 4 BC- ''c.'' AD 30), who grew up in [[Nazareth]], a town in [[Galilee]], now in northern [[Israel]].<ref name="Britannica">"Jesus was a Galilean from Nazareth, a village near Sepphoris, one of the two major cities of Galilee". ("Jesus Christ." ''Encyclopædia Britannica,'' Chicago, 2009.)</ref> The word is used to translate two related terms that appear in the Greek [[New Testament]]: ''Nazarēne'' and ''Nazōraios''. The phrases traditionally rendered as "Jesus of Nazareth" can also be translated as "Jesus the Nazarene."<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|18:37|ESV}}</ref> So the title "Nazarene" may have a religious significance, in addition to denoting a place of origin.

Nazarene is anglicized from Greek ''Nazarēne'', a word applied to Jesus in the New Testament.<ref>See {{bibleverse||Mark|1:24|ESV}} and {{bibleverse||Luke|4:34|ESV}}</ref> It is a reference not only to the city of Nazareth, but also to a Hebrew word for "branch" used in Isaiah.<ref>''Ne·tser'' (נֵ֫צֶר, n-ts-r), pronounced ''nay'·tser'', meaning "branch", "flower", or "offshoot" it is derived from ''na·tsar'' [http://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/5342.htm Strong number 5342]. Brown, Michael L., ''Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus'', Volume 4, Baker Books, 2006.</ref><ref>Stephen Goranson, "Nazarenes," Anchor Bible Dictionary, 4: 1049-1050; James F. Strange, "Nazareth," Anchor Bible Dictionary, 4: 1050-1,051</ref>

Nazarene is anglicized from Greek ''Nazarēne'', a word applied to Jesus in the New Testament.<ref>See {{bibleverse||Mark|1:24|ESV}} and {{bibleverse||Luke|4:34|ESV}}</ref> It is a reference not only to the city of Nazareth, but also to a Hebrew word for "branch" used in Isaiah.<ref>''Ne·tser'' (נֵ֫צֶר, n-ts-r), pronounced ''nay'·tser'', meaning "branch", "flower", or "offshoot" it is derived from ''na·tsar'' [http://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/5342.htm Strong number 5342]. Brown, Michael L., ''Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus'', Volume 4, Baker Books, 2006.</ref><ref>Stephen Goranson, "Nazarenes," Anchor Bible Dictionary, 4: 1049-1050; James F. Strange, "Nazareth," Anchor Bible Dictionary, 4: 1050-1,051</ref>

[[Jerome]] (''c.'' 347 – 420) linked "Nazarene" to a messianic prophecy by Isaiah. He claimed that it was the Hebrew reading of a word modern scholars read as ''ne·tzer'' (branch).<ref>"For in the place where we read and translate, ''There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots,'' in the Hebrew idiom it is written thus, ''There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse and a Nazarene shall grow from his root.''" (Jerome, Letter 47:7).</ref> The text from Isaiah is:

[[Jerome]] (''c.'' 347 – 420) linked the word to a messianic prophecy by Isaiah. He claimed that it was the Hebrew reading of a word modern scholars read as ''ne·tzer'' (branch).<ref>"For in the place where we read and translate, ''There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots,'' in the Hebrew idiom it is written thus, ''There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse and a Nazarene shall grow from his root.''" (Jerome, Letter 47:7).</ref> The text from Isaiah is:

{{cquote|There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.<ref name="Isaiah111"/>}} In ancient Hebrew texts, vowels were not indicated. So a wider variety of readings was possible in Jerome's time. Here branch has the metaphoric meaning "descendant" (of [[Jesse]], father of King [[David]]). [[Eusebius]], a 4th-century Christian polemicist, also argued that Isaiah was the source of "Nazarene." This prophecy by Isaiah was extremely popular in New Testament times and is also referred to in [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] and [[Revelation]].<ref>Bauckham, Richard, ''Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church'', p. 65. See {{bibleverse||Romans|15:12|ESV}} and {{bibleverse||Revelation|5:5|ESV}}.</ref>

{{cquote|There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.<ref name="Isaiah111"/>}} In ancient Hebrew texts, vowels were not indicated. So a wider variety of readings was possible in Jerome's time. Here branch has the metaphoric meaning "descendant" (of [[Jesse]], father of King [[David]]). [[Eusebius]], a 4th-century Christian polemicist, also argued that Isaiah was the source of "Nazarene." This prophecy by Isaiah was extremely popular in New Testament times and is also referred to in [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] and [[Revelation]].<ref>Bauckham, Richard, ''Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church'', p. 65. See {{bibleverse||Romans|15:12|ESV}} and {{bibleverse||Revelation|5:5|ESV}}.</ref>