Matthew 2:23 - Exposition

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth . En-Nasira , now of from five thousand to six thousand souls, in the hills on the northern edge of the Plain of Esdraelon, not mentioned in the Old Testament or by Josephus. "Nazareth is a rose, and, like a rose, has the same rounded form, enclosed by mountains as the flower by its leaves". Observe the (:) in the Revised Version, showing that the following "fulfilment" is not to be considered as part of Joseph's intention. Dwelt ; settled down after the exile life (cf Acts 7:4 ). That ( ὅπως ). The purpose lay in the Divine overruling of Joseph's action, ὄπως with πληρωθῇ , Matthew 8:17 and Matthew 13:35 only. In each case it is used with reference to general statements, i.e. it marks a less close connection than that implied by ἵνα . It might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. He shall be called (Revised Version, that he should be called ; ὅτι κληθήσεται ; cf. also the Geneva) a Nazarene . The Revised Version expresses the fact that the quotation is not of words, but of substance, for although the recitative ὅτι is found in St. Matthew ( Matthew 7:23 ; Matthew 9:18 ; Matthew 14:26 ; Matthew 27:43 , Matthew 27:47 ) and even before verbal citations from Scripture after γέγραπται ( Matthew 4:6 ) and ἀνέγνωετε ( Matthew 21:16 , contrast 42), yet it does not occur after the formula τον κ .τ.λ . By the prophets. Not "in the prophets" ( Acts 13:40 ), which might have preferred (yet cf. Hebrews 1:1 ) only to the book containing their writings, and then would not in itself have implied more than one passage there. The present phrase ( διὰ τῶν προφητῶν ) suggests personality rather than writing, and implies either that two or more prophets were the agents by whom the words were spoken, or, better, that in some way the whole company of the prophets (cf. Acts 3:25 ; Hebrews 1:1 ) spoke the message now summarized. In this way the phrase will indicate that even if the following words are found in the utterances of only one prophet, they also represent a phase of teaching common to all. A Nazarene. Those interpretations which connect this with רזן ( nzr ) ,

(a) generally (cf. Psalms 69:7 );

(b) specifically as "Nazarite" ( ריזן , ναζηραῖος , so Tyndale to Rheims); or