He Shall Be Called ‘a Nazarene’
The Renewed Covenant (NT) tells us the Messiah Yeshua (‘J-sus’) would be called a ‘Nazarene’, because He grew up in a town called Nazareth (Natseret, נצרת).
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Matthew 2:23 MGI
23 And he came [and] lived in the city that is called Nazareth, (so) that it would be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: "He shall be called a Nazarene.”
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Eastern Peshitta
ואתא עמר במדינתא דמתקריא נצרת איך דנתמלא מדם דאתאמר בנביא דנצריא נתקרא
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Some students look for this reference in their English translations of the Tanach (OT), but they don’t find it, because the reference is to the Hebrew of Isaiah 11:1, where it was prophesied that a Rod (King David) would come from the stem of Yishai/Jesse (David’s father); and that a Branch (Yeshua) would grow up out of his roots. In Hebrew, the word Branch is ‘Netzer’ (נצר).
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Isaiah 11:1 NKJV
11 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch (Netser) shall grow out of His roots.
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Hebrew Masoretic
(1) וְיָצָא חֹטֶר מִגֵּזַע יִשָׁי | וְנֵצֶר מִשָּׁרָשָׁיו יִפְרֶה
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Although the quotation from Matthew is in Aramaic and Isaiah is in Hebrew, both Nazarene (נצריא) and Netser (נצר) have the same basic root (נצר); just with different vowels. They have slightly different pronunciations, but since the root is the same for both, Matthew could legitimately say He would be called a נצריא.
In Semitic thought, if Yeshua was a Nazarene, His followers would also be Nazarenes. This is why, at Acts 24:5, the priesthood accuses the Apostle Shaul (Paul) not of being a Christian, but of being a ringleader of the teaching of the Nazarenes (i.e., the Nazarene ‘sect’). Notice the root word (נצר) in the last line.
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Acts 24:5-6 MGI
5 “For we have found this man to be one who is corrupt and stirs up sedition among all the Judeans in all the land. For he is the leader of the teaching (i.e., sect) of the Nazarenes.”
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Eastern Peshitta
אשכחן גיד לגברא הנא דאיתוהי משחטנא ומעיר שגושיא לכלהון יהודיא דבכלה ארעא רשא הן גיד דיולפנא דנצריא
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The Christian teaching is that after Shaul believed on Yeshua, he no longer thought of himself as an Israelite; and therefore the Christians teach it is not important to be a literal Israelite. Notice, however, that when the Pharisees accused Shaul of being a ringleader of the teaching (or the sect) of the Nazarenes, Shaul did not say he was no longer an Israelite: he said that though he followed the Way (of Yeshua), he still believed everything that was written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets, just like all other Israelites do.
Ma’asei (Acts) 24:14
14 “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect (KJV: heresy), so I worship the Elohim of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law (of Moses) and in the Prophets.”
In the last chapter we saw how Epiphanius condemned the Nazarenes in his day for behaving as Israelites, by keeping the Law, circumcision, and the ‘Jewish’ rites.
“The Nazarenes do not differ in any essential thing from them (meaning the Orthodox Jews), since they practice the customs and doctrines prescribed by Jewish Law; except that they believe in Christ. They believe in the resurrection of the dead, and that the universe was created by God. They preach that God is One, and that Jesus Christ is His Son. They are very learned in the Hebrew language. They read the Law (meaning the Law of Moses)…. Therefore they differ…from the true Christians because they fulfill until now [such] Jewish rites as the circumcision, Sabbath and others.” [Epiphanius, “Against Heresies,” Panarion 29, 7, pp 41, 402]
Ironically, Epiphanius condemned the Nazarenes in his day for being just like the Apostle Shaul, believing all things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets, exactly as the Apostle Shaul had said. But what does it mean that the Apostle Shaul belonged to the ‘sect’ of the Nazarenes? What is a ‘sect’, in this context?
The word ‘sect’ carries negative connotations today, kind of like the word ‘cult.’ However, there are many different sects within Christianity, including Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Greek and Russian Orthodoxies, the Coptic Church, as well as many different kinds of Protestants. Within Protestantism there are even more teachings or ‘sects,’ such as the Lutherans, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Baptists, the Amish, Pentecostals, many different sorts of Independents, and more. Each of these is a ‘sect’ (or a ‘teaching’), because they have a certain set of beliefs they teach (or emphasize), and these are slightly different than what other sects teach. Hence, their worship differs slightly from all of the other sects, or ‘teachings.’
Likewise, there are a number of different sects within Judaism today. The Orthodox Jews are the biggest teaching, or sect. (The Orthodox are the same as the Pharisees of Scripture, just having changed their name in the Middle Ages.) There are also the Conservative Jews, Reform Jews, Karaite Jews, the Hasidim, and even Messianic Jews, who believe on Yeshua as the Messiah. These are similar (though not identical) to the Nazarenes of the Renewed Covenant, for as we will see, their ‘teaching’ is slightly different than what the Nazarenes taught. What we should notice, though, is that all of these different ‘sects’ or ‘teachings’ still consider themselves part of the Nation of Israel. If you ask an Orthodox Jew (Pharisee) his nationality, he will usually say either, “I am a Jew”, or “I am an Israeli.” While many non-devout Jews call themselves Jews just because they are genetically Jewish, the more zealous Jews will tell you that faith is an essential component of being Jewish; and some will even denounce the non-zealous Jews as being ‘not really’ Jewish, because in their understanding, accurate worship is an essential component of being a ‘true Jew.’
If we understand these things it can really help us to understand the Scriptures better; for it often happens that when Christians read words like ‘gentiles’ and ‘Greeks’ in the Renewed Covenant, they think these words have the same meaning as they do in the secular world. However, words like ‘gentiles’ and ‘Greeks’ actually meant something very different to their First Century Jewish authors; and the only way to understand the true meaning of Scripture is to define these words as their Jewish authors did. For example:
Yochanan (John) 7:34-35
34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."
35 Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?”
If we define the word ‘Greek’ the same way it is used in America today, one might think the Pharisees were wondering if Yeshua would go to the islands of Greece, and teach the ethnic Greeks there. Then when there was a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists (KJV: Greeks) in Acts Chapter Six (below), we might think there was some sort of a racial pride issue, as if Yeshua’s disciples were neglecting the ethnic Greeks.
Ma’asei (Acts) 6:1
6 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists (KJV: ‘Greeks’), because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
The truth, however, is that the Hellenists and Greeks in these passages could not have been ethnic Greeks, because the first non-Jew to be brought into the faith was Cornelius, in Acts Chapter Ten.
Ma’asei (Acts) 10:1-2
10 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
2 a devout man and one who feared Elohim (G-d) with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to Elohim (G-d) always.
If Cornelius was the first non-Jew to be brought into the faith, then the words ‘gentile’ and ‘Greek’ cannot mean the same thing prior to Acts Chapter Ten as they mean to us today. Therefore, who (or what) are the ‘Greeks’ and the ‘gentiles’ of the Renewed Covenant?
The Renewed Covenant did not arise from a vacuum, and it is unreasonable to think we can understand it without understanding what all of the words really mean. Rather, we can understand it much better if we are familiar with Israel’s history.
In 332 BCE, a few hundred years prior to Yeshua’s ministry, Alexander the Great conquered Israel. Since Alexander was a mild ruler, and he allowed the Jews to continue practicing the Hebrew worship, so long as they paid him tribute (i.e., taxes). Yet around 175 BCE, a new ruler named Antiochus Epiphanies arose, and he decreed that his subjects should worship only Greek gods and goddesses, thereby becoming ‘Greek.’ He also declared that anyone practicing the Hebrew faith should be put to death.
1 Maccabees 1:41-50
41 Moreover King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people,
42 And every one should leave his laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king.
43 Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the Sabbath.
44 For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda [Judea], that they should follow the strange laws of the land (i.e., the laws of the Greeks).
45 And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the Sabbaths and festival days:
46 And pollute the sanctuary and the holy people:
47 Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine’s flesh, and unclean beasts:
48 That they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation:
49 To the end they might forget the Torah, and change all the ordinances.
50 And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he should die.
Verses 42 and 43 tell us that many of the Israelites agree to Antiochus Epiphanies’ commandment. Rather than die, they converted to Greek worship, and, thereby became ‘heathens’ in the eyes of the authors of the Book of Maccabees (verse 42).
In Scripture, race or ethnic heritage is not really what makes one an Israelite. Ruth was a Moabitess, and yet she was the grandmother of David.
Ruth 1:4
4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
Ruth became an Israelite when she left Moab and the Moabite worship, and joined herself to the Nation of Israel, choosing to dwell in the Land of Israel, and to worship the Elohim (G-d) of Israel.
Root (Ruth) 1:16-17
16 But Ruth said: "Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your Elohim, my Elohim.
17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. YHWH (the L-rd) do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me."
While there is a genetic component to the worship, in that one is supposed to raise one’s children in the faith, John the Baptist told the Pharisees that their genetics were not the deciding factor in salvation.
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 3:7-9
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion (baptism), he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
9 and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Avraham as our father.' For I say to you that Elohim is able to raise up children to Avraham from these stones!”
In Scripture, it is not one’s genetics, but one’s form of worship that determines whether one is an Israelite, a Greek, or a gentile. “You are as you worship.” That is, how you worship determines who you are; and in Hebraic thought, there is only one true and correct path, although no two people ever really agree on what that is. With this in mind, let us return to the topic of what it meant that the Apostle Shaul belonged to the ‘sect’ (or the ‘teaching’) of the Nazarenes.
There were two main sects recorded in the Renewed Covenant, and they both taught different things. The Pharisees were the predominant sect, and they are the ancestors of the Orthodox Jews of today (as they changed the name in the Middle Ages). There were also the Sadducees (from whom the Karaites come). However, history records that there were also other ‘teachings’ or sects, such as the Essenes in Qumran, the Ebionites (the ‘poor ones’), the Gnostics, and yet others. All of these were ‘sects’ (or teachings, or doctrines) within the Jewish nation at that time; and yet they were all Jews. They were still all part of the literal Nation of Israel.
The Apostle Shaul self-identified as an Israelite.
Qorintim Bet (2nd Corinthians) 11:22
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
He said Elohim had not cast away His people Israel, for he also was an Israelite, even naming his tribe.
Romim (Romans) 11:1
11 I say then, has Elohim cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
The Apostle Shaul still plainly thought of himself as a member of the Nation of Israel, and later we will show that he was still very zealous for the Laws of Moses. Further, when he was taken to Rome (where he was finally beheaded), the Jews in the synagogue in Rome said they wanted to hear this teaching, even though it was not accepted by men. In Aramaic the word is “yulpana” (יולפנא), which means ‘teaching, instruction, or doctrine.’
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Acts 28:22 MGI
“Now we want to hear from you what you think, because we know that this teaching (i.e., sect) is not accepted by men.”
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Eastern Peshitta
צבינן דין דנשמע מנך מדם דמתרעא אנת מטל דיולפנא הנא ידעינן דעל אנש לא מקבל
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In Greek this word is αἱρέσεως, ‘haireseoos’, heresy. However, it can also be translated as an opinion, dogma, or a sect.
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Acts 28:22 NKJV
22 But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere."
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BGT Acts 28:22 ἀξιοῦμεν δὲ παρὰ σοῦ ἀκοῦσαι ἃ φρονεῖς, περὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς αἱρέσεως ταύτης γνωστὸν ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὅτι πανταχοῦ ἀντιλέγεται.
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Even though the Greek-based NKJV says ‘sect’ and the Aramaic Peshitta says ‘teaching’, in practice the two terms are functionally interchangeable, because in Hebraic thought, one’s nationality is determined by one’s belief. In Hebraic thought, if someone believes an incorrect teaching, then they believe a heresy; and indeed, even Shaul warned us about teachings that deviated from the original Nazarene faith.
Galatim (Galatians) 1:6-9
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Messiah, to a different Good News,
7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the Good News of Messiah.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed!
9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed!
History tells us that even in the First Century there were many different versions of the faith in Yeshua. Among these teachings (or sects) were the Ebionites (the Poor Ones), the Essenes of Qumran (who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls) and the Gnostics, whom Shaul warns us about in First Timothy 6:20-21.
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1st Timothy 6:20-21
20 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’,
21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Favor (grace) be with you. Amein.
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BGT 1 Timothy 6:20 Ὦ Τιμόθεε, τὴν παραθήκην φύλαξον ἐκτρεπόμενος τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας καὶ ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως,
BGT 1 Timothy 6:21 ἥν τινες ἐπαγγελλόμενοι περὶ τὴν πίστιν ἠστόχησαν. Ἡ χάρις μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν.
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In verse 20, the word ‘knowledge’ is Gnooseoos, (γνώσεως), which is where we get the word ‘Gnostic.’ In a sense the Gnostics were related to the Christians, because they taught that the only thing needed to be saved was the mere ‘knowledge’ that Yeshua was the Messiah. They taught that the Laws of Moses and physical circumcision were no longer required.
The (Gnostic) Gospel of Thomas
53 His disciples said to Him, “Is circumcision beneficial or not?” He said to them, “If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become completely profitable.”
Scripture tells us that the Creator never does anything until He first reveals it by the mouth of His servants, the prophets.
Amos 3:7
7 Surely YHWH Elohim does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
Nowhere was it ever prophesied that the Laws of Moses or physical circumcision would be done away with at the Messiah’s coming; and in fact the Messiah plainly said the exact opposite:
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 5:17-20
17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled.
19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Even though Yeshua clearly said not to think He had come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, that is the very thing the Gnostics taught.
While the Gnostics taught that the only thing required for salvation was the mere knowledge of who the Messiah was, in the next chapters we will see that the Christians teach something very similar.