NAZARETH

Village in the Roman province of Galilee, the home of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Always small and isolated, Nazareth is not mentioned in the OT, the Apocrypha, intertestamental Jewish writings, or the histories of Josephus. The town lies just north of the plain of Esdraelon in the limestone hills of the southern Lebanon range. It is situated on three sides of a hill. This location forms a sheltered valley with a moderate climate favorable to fruits and wildflowers. Trade routes and roads passed near Nazareth, but the village itself was not on any main road. Nazareth is about 15 miles (24.1 kilometers) west of the Sea of Galilee and 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) east of the Mediterranean. Jerusalem lies about 70 miles (112.6 kilometers) south. Archaeological remains indicate that the ancient town was higher on the western hill than the present village (cf. Lk 4:29). In the time of Christ, Nazareth, along with the entire region of south Galilee, lay outside the mainstream of Jewish life, providing the background for Nathanael’s wry remark to Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46).

Nazareth is first mentioned in the NT as the home of Mary and Joseph (Lk 1:26-27). Sometime after Jesus was born at his parents’ ancestral town of Bethlehem (about 80 miles, or 128.7 kilometers, to the south), Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth (Mt 2:23; Lk 2:39). Jesus grew up there (Lk 2:39-40, 51), leaving the village to be baptized by John in the Jordan River (Mk 1:9). When John was arrested, Jesus moved to Capernaum (Mt 4:13). Though Jesus was often identified by his boyhood city as “Jesus of Nazareth” (see Mk 10:47; Jn 18:5, 7; Acts 2:22), the NT records only one subsequent visit by Jesus to Nazareth. On this occasion, Jesus preached in the synagogue and was rejected by the townspeople (Lk 4:16-30; cf. Mt 13:54-58; Mk 6:1-6). Jesus’ followers were also derisively called “Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5).

Nazareth remained a Jewish city until the time of the emperor Constantine (d. AD 327), when it became a sacred place for Christian pilgrims. A large basilica was built in Nazareth about AD 600. Arabs and Crusaders alternately controlled the village until 1517, when it fell to the Turks, who forced all Christians to leave. Christians returned in 1620, and the town became an important Christian center.