ISB ~ Matthew 2 v23

Nazareth:An obscure Galilean village nowhere mentioned in the OT. It was insignificant in the eyes of many Jews (cf. Jn 1:46).

He shall be called a Nazarene:No OT prophecy corresponds to this exact wording. Matthew apparently paraphrases the message of several prophets into a summary statement about the Messiah.

• The paraphrase is based on a word association between Jesus’ home of Nazareth and the Hebrew word netser, translated as “branch” in Is 11:1. Isaiah used the image of a branch growing from a stump to signify hope for the kingdom of David. The great Davidic tree (dynasty) had been cut off since the Exile, but the sprouting branch indicated that God would raise up another king from the hopeless situation. Later prophets used this same image to signify the Messiah-king (Jer 23:5, 33:14-16) who would build the Temple (Zech 3:8, 6:11-13). See notes on Mt 1:17 and 16:18.