“He will be called a Nazarene”
Matthew 2:23
Cultural referenceInterpretationNarrator
And he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: 'He will be called a Nazarene.' (Matthew 2:23 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A prophecy citation, except that no Old Testament verse says this, which unsettles modern readers.
The cultural key
Matthew says 'the prophets' (plural), signaling a theme rather than a quotation. Most likely a wordplay on netzer, 'branch' (Isaiah 11:1's messianic shoot from Jesse's stump), and/or a nod to Nazareth's reputation as a despised backwater ('Can anything good come out of Nazareth?', John 1:46).
Recovered meaning
The Messiah would be the promised Branch, and he would come from a town nobody respected. The label 'Nazarene' carried both.