When the child-murderer Herod was dead, Joseph the foster-father of Jesus was visited in Egypt by an angel. The glorious messenger reassured him that it was now safe for the little family to return to Israel. And so they came and would have taken up residence in Judea, probably again in Bethlehem the city of Joseph’s royal ancestor. Had Joseph and Mary decided that Judea and Jerusalem would be the proper home for the “Son of the Highest”? Here he could converse with noted rabbis and attend the best traditional schools. Here he could celebrate all the feasts in the shadow of the Temple. Here he could have the “best” opportunities and meet the “best” people.
It was the common feeling of the Pharisees of Judea — among others — that Judea was the “holy place” while Galilee was at best the “court of the Gentiles” — an out-of-the-way, backward place of little consequence, only marginally related to the divine worship. It was simply “the wrong side of the tracks” And so it must have been with some surprise that Joseph heard the divine command turning himself and his dependents toward Galilee.
“And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:23)
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Author: George Booker
Keywords: Nazarene, Galilee, Galilean
Bible reference(s): 1 Kings 9:11-13, 2 Chron. 8:2, Isa. 9:1-2, Mat. 2:23, John 7:41-42, John 7:52
Source: “Nazarene (Matthew 2:23)”, The Agora.
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