NAZARENE năz’ ə rēne (Ναζαρηνός, G3716, and Ναζωραῖος, G3717, prob. meant one from Nazareth). A NT term exclusively, which identified Jesus both by self-designation and by the remarks of others, acknowledging His long residence at Nazareth.
Matthew wrote (2:23) “that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” What was meant by this is far from certain, since Nazareth was not mentioned in the OT, and there is no specific prophecy that says this in so many words. Several lines of interpretation have been followed. It has been suggested that Matthew knew a prophecy unrecorded in the OT which has been lost. Calvin said that this was a reference to the law of the Nazirites (Num 6:1-21), but it seems that “Nazirite” and “Nazarene” came from different Heb. roots. Most interpreters have thought that he had in mind Isaiah 11:1 in which the Messiah was referred to as a “branch” or a “shoot” out of the roots of Jesse (Heb netser, “branch” or “shoot”). Others have said that Matthew meant only that the Messiah would be a despised person (Isa 53) and not a prominent or accepted individual. Nazarenes apparently were despised by their neighbors in the 1st cent. (John 1:46). Others have understood this only as a positive statement which pointed to a negative truth, namely that the Messiah would not be called a Bethlehemite, the place of His nativity, in order to avoid hostility. He, therefore, would be called something else, in fact, a Nazarene.
The opprobrium which attached to Nazareth prob. came because of the processes which mixed its population, which in turn brought about a rough dialect by the people who were outsiders. It seems also from history that its people were given to sedition and rebellion, which may further have brought them under censure.
This name, given to Jesus in the beginning as a simple designation of His residence, was attached to Him through all His ministry, and in the end came to bear something of the reproach associated with the locality. Among the people it was said that “Jesus of Nazareth” passes by (Mark 10:47; Luke 24:19). The gospels record also that the unclean spirits identified Jesus with this term (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34). The angels announced the Resurrection by referring to Him with it (Mark 16:6).
In the last days of Jesus’ ministry the term was applied to Him in scorn and derision. It became for the Jews a means of expressing their hostility toward Jesus and their increasing bitterness over Him. The watchmen at the high priest’s house revealed that quality of rejection (Matt 26:71; Mark 14:67). The hatred of Jesus’ enemies caused this term to accompany Him to the grave, having caused it to be written by Pilate and nailed to the cross (John 19:19).
The term continued beyond the days of Jesus’ earthly life as a designation for His followers. An entire Christian community was called “the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). Likewise the followers of Jesus continued after His ascension to refer to Him as “Jesus of Nazareth” (2:22; 3:6; 10:38).