Sign in
MATTHEW 2:23 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 2:22Matt 3
“And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”
And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. The final fulfillment citation is unusual — no specific prophetic text matches he would be called a Nazarene. Matthew may be alluding to the cluster of related terms: the netzer (branch) of Isaiah 11:1 from the stump of Jesse, the Nazirite tradition of consecrated service, or the general reputation of Galilee as despised territory. The plural prophets rather than the prophet may suggest a thematic summary rather than a specific citation. Nazareth was a village of no importance — Nathanael's what good can come from Nazareth? in John 1:46 captures the cultural assessment. The king of the universe will be identified with a town that nobody respects — the pattern of divine reversal that Matthew's genealogy already announced.

Church Fathers on Matthew 2:23

Joseph was not disobedient to the angelic warning, but 'he arose, and took the young Child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.'

Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation

patra of Jerusalem, Herod, who was afterwards tetrarch, and Philip. The three first were put to death by Herod; and after his death, Archelaus seized the throne by occasion of his father’s will, and the question of the succession was carried before Aug ustus Caesar. After some delay, he made a distribution of the whole of Herod’s dominions in accordance with the Senate’s advice. To Archelaus he assigned one half, consisting of Idumaea and Judaea, with the title of tetrarch,…

Leo the Great · 5th century

Here is may be asked, How then could his parents go up every year of Christ’s childhood to Jerusalem, as Luke relates, if fear of Archelaus now prevented them from approaching it? This difficulty is easily solved. At the festival they might escape notice in the crowd, and by returning soon, where in ordinary times they might be afraid to live. So they neither became irreligious by neglecting the festival, nor notorious by dwelling continually in Jerusalem.

Augustine · 4th century · De Con. Evan. ii. 10
Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
Matthew 2:23 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy