nazareth

3 definitions found

nazareth - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Nazareth
      n 1: a historic town in northern Israel that is mentioned in the
           Gospels as the home of Joseph and Mary

nazareth - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Nazareth
  separated, generally supposed to be the Greek form of the Hebrew
  _netser_, a "shoot" or "sprout." Some, however, think that the
  name of the city must be connected with the name of the hill
  behind it, from which one of the finest prospects in Palestine
  is obtained, and accordingly they derive it from the Hebrew
  _notserah_, i.e., one guarding or watching, thus designating the
  hill which overlooks and thus guards an extensive region.
  
    This city is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It was the
  home of Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:39), and here the angel
  announced to the Virgin the birth of the Messiah (1:26-28). Here
  Jesus grew up from his infancy to manhood (4:16); and here he
  began his public ministry in the synagogue (Matt. 13:54), at
  which the people were so offended that they sought to cast him
  down from the precipice whereon their city was built (Luke
  4:29). Twice they expelled him from their borders (4:16-29;
  Matt. 13:54-58); and he finally retired from the city, where he
  did not many mighty works because of their unbelief (Matt.
  13:58), and took up his residence in Capernaum.
  
    Nazareth is situated among the southern ridges of Lebanon, on
  the steep slope of a hill, about 14 miles from the Sea of
  Galilee and about 6 west from Mount Tabor. It is identified with
  the modern village en-Nazirah, of six or ten thousand
  inhabitants. It lies "as in a hollow cup" lower down upon the
  hill than the ancient city. The main road for traffic between
  Egypt and the interior of Asia passed by Nazareth near the foot
  of Tabor, and thence northward to Damascus.
  
    It is supposed from the words of Nathanael in John 1:46 that
  the city of Nazareth was held in great disrepute, either
  because, it is said, the people of Galilee were a rude and less
  cultivated class, and were largely influenced by the Gentiles
  who mingled with them, or because of their lower type of moral
  and religious character. But there seems to be no sufficient
  reason for these suppositions. The Jews believed that, according
  to Micah 5:2, the birth of the Messiah would take place at
  Bethlehem, and nowhere else. Nathanael held the same opinion as
  his countrymen, and believed that the great "good" which they
  were all expecting could not come from Nazareth. This is
  probably what Nathanael meant. Moreover, there does not seem to
  be any evidence that the inhabitants of Galilee were in any
  respect inferior, or that a Galilean was held in contempt, in
  the time of our Lord. (See Dr. Merrill's Galilee in the Time of
  Christ.)
  
    The population of this city (now about 10,000) in the time of
  Christ probably amounted to 15,000 or 20,000 souls.
  
    "The so-called 'Holy House' is a cave under the Latin church,
  which appears to have been originally a tank. The 'brow of the
  hill', site of the attempted precipitation, is probably the
  northern cliff: the traditional site has been shown since the
  middle ages at some distance to the south. None of the
  traditional sites are traceable very early, and they have no
  authority. The name Nazareth perhaps means 'a watch tower' (now
  en-Nasrah), but is connected in the New Testament with Netzer,
  'a branch' (Isa. 4:2; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 3:8; 6:12; Matt. 2:23),
  Nazarene being quite a different word from Nazarite."

nazareth - U.S. Gazetteer (1990) :

  Nazareth, PA (borough, FIPS 52808)
    Location: 40.73989 N, 75.31301 W
    Population (1990): 5713 (2546 housing units)
    Area: 4.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
    Zip code(s): 18064
  Nazareth, TX (city, FIPS 50496)
    Location: 34.54143 N, 102.10366 W
    Population (1990): 293 (107 housing units)
    Area: 0.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
    Zip code(s): 79063