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Nazareth - location profile

Location and Setting

• Nazareth was located on the "Nazareth Ridge" that separated the central part of the Plain of Jezreel from the Bet Netofa Valley. The town was sixteen miles west of the Sea of Galilee and four miles southeast of the cosmopolitan city of Sepphoris.
• Galilee normally enjoyed abundant rainfall, in contrast to the central and southern parts of the country. Western breezes brought moisture from the Mediterranean Sea during the rainy season, from October to April . Annual rainfall at Nazareth measured about twenty-five inches, enough to ensure good crops and good pasture.
• Situated some thirteen hundred feet above sea level, Nazareth was relatively inaccessible. Its height and location isolated it from the flow of traffic on the International Coastal Highway on the plain below, as it wound its way from Megiddo to the Sea of Galilee.
• From Nazareth, one could see nearby Sepphoris, four miles to the northwest, perched on its hill. Nine miles north across the Bet Netofa Valley, Cana nestled against one of the hills of Lower Galilee. A short walk to the south brought into view the symmetrical mound of Mount Tabor, rising from the floor of the plain. Beyond it lay the loaf-like Hill of Moreh and farther south, the crescent-shaped Mount Gilboa. Directly west, the hills of the Carmel range shut off a view of the Mediterranean. For the people who lived in Nazareth, every vista could evoke memories of Deborah and Barak, of Gideon, and of Elijah and Elisha.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• The ancient settlement at Nazareth was probably left in ruins about 733 B.C. when Tiglath-Pileser II, the Assyrian conqueror, swept through Galilee. Taking most of the citizens of the Northern Kingdom into exile in Assyria, he replaced them with people from the countries he had conquered. Isaiah’s lament had come to pass, "In the past He humbled the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali," leaving the region to be called "Galilee of the Gentiles" (Isa 9:1). As the Maccabean era opened in 167 B.C., only a few isolated Jewish groups were living in Galilee. The Hasmonean conquest of the region by John Hyrcanus (134-104 B.C.), however, opened the way for a significant immigration of Jews from Babylon and Persia. Further, Hyrcanus and his successors forced Gentiles in the region to convert to Judaism or be expelled. By Jesus’ time, the Jewish population predominated in Galilee, as witnessed by the number of synagogues He encountered during His ministry throughout the territory.
• It is likely that a whole clan of the line of David, from the exiled tribe of Judah, returned from Babylon about 100 B.C. and established the town of Nazareth. This may explain why Joseph and Mary, of the tribe of Judah, were to be found so far from Judea. In referring to His reception in Nazareth, Jesus described the citizens of the town as being "His own relatives and .. . His own household" (Mark 6:4). (Archaeologists have found no evidence of the site’s being inhabited during the Persian and early Hellenistic periods, from the eighth to the second centuries B.C.)
• Archaeological research suggests that at the time of Jesus, the population of Nazareth was about 120-150. Probably most of these people would have been related to the one clan, descendants of the group that had returned from Babylon one or two generations earlier.
• Isaiah’s prophecy, "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit" (11:1), identifies Jesus, the coming Messiah as a "shoot" (Hebrew netzer, from the verb "to shine" or "blossom"). Isaiah was not referring to the name of the village (Nazareth) in which the Messiah would live (it did not exist until some six hundred years later). Rather he was relating Messiah to the line of David (Cf. Matt 22:41-46; Rom 1:3). Although Mark writes of Jesus’ coming from Nazareth (1:9), implying that this was His town of origin, Matthew connects Nazareth with the genealogical significance of Nazareth. He writes, "And came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’" (2:23).
• The significance of the name of the village, then, is twofold. It expresses Jesus’ credential as a descendant of David, and therefore from the royal line with the right to rule Israel in a restored kingdom (Cf Acts 1:6). He is a "Nazarene," in the sense that He is the "shoot," the netzer, predicted by Isaiah. Since Nazareth was also the village where He lived most of His life, it also became the means of distinguishing this "Yeshua" from the many others in the land. Not knowing the significance of Isaiah’s use of netzer, Pilate expressed more than he knew when he wrote on the tablet above the cross "Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews."
• The size of the village and the origin of the clan at Nazareth adds a deeper dimension to the events surrounding the conception and birth of Jesus. The angel’s announcement to Mary and his explanation and encouragement to Joseph took place in a very small community that lived in a rather remote village. The return of this family of three, with a toddler, must have evoked a special joy, for the few families there would not likely have produced many babies. In each of these crisis times, Mary’s pregnancy and the couple’s return with the toddler, it must be remembered that this village was not populated by hostile strangers. Rather, the residents were a kind of extended family, one that probably could be judgmental but also supportive.
• The small size of the village of Nazareth when Jesus lived there also becomes an important factor in our understanding of reactions to His teaching in its synagogue (Luke 4:16-30). Every one present, of every age, would have known Jesus well. In fact, it may be assumed that several of them may have been related to Him through Mary. A realization of this context helps us to appreciate more fully the significance of Jesus’ reading of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Himself (61:1,2) in what may have been the only synagogue in the village. The rejection by His own clan, and their dragging Him out to the edge of the ridge to throw Him down to His death, must have been a very traumatic event for all involved, especially for His mother and brothers and sisters, as well as the towns people who knew Him so well.
• Later in His ministry, Jesus returned to Nazareth, this time with His disciples (Matt 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-6). Again the challenge was for Him to perform miracles there, as He had done elsewhere, thereby giving Nazareth the prestige other towns such as Capernaum enjoyed. And again, the real issue was the person of Jesus. Was He only a physical descendant of David, or did the angel’s announcement to Mary, in effect, validate His divinity? Jesus’ sad reaction to His neighbors in Nazareth, whom He knew and loved so well, was "He marveled at their unbelief" (Mark 6:1).

Bibliography

1. Alden, R.L. "Nazareth" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
2. Bimson, John J., ed. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1995.
3. Longenecker, Richard N. and Merrill C. Tenney, eds. New Dimensions in New Testament Study. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1974.
4. Pixner, Bargil. With Jesus through Galilee According to the Fifth Gospel. Rosh Pina: Corazin Publishing, 1992.