A Nazoræan, i.e. inhabitant of Nazareth; by extension, a Christian
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Nazoraios identifies Jesus as the Nazarene, the One associated with Nazareth, and in Acts it can also appear in the hostile label Nazarenes for His followers. The term is not a measure of worth, ethnicity, or moral status.
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Full entry for Ναζωραῖος (G3480) · Open the biblical lexicon
Nazoraios identifies Jesus as the Nazarene, the One associated with Nazareth, and in Acts it can also appear in the hostile label Nazarenes for His followers. The term is not a measure of worth, ethnicity, or moral status.
The BSB source-word alignment has 13 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Nazareth (10), a Nazarene (1), Nazarenes (1), of Nazareth (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:23. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (7), John (3), Matthew (2), Luke (1).
Nazoraios identifies Jesus as the Nazarene, the One associated with Nazareth, and in Acts it can also appear in the hostile label Nazarenes for His followers. The term is not a measure of worth, ethnicity, or moral status. It names public identification: the child raised in Nazareth, the Jesus sought in arrest, the crucified King named on Pilate's notice, the risen Lord proclaimed by the apostles, and the name once opposed by Paul.
Matthew's fulfillment statement should be handled with care, since he says the prophets spoke this fitting pattern rather than giving a simple one-verse quotation. Pastorally, the word helps teachers show the humility, public specificity, rejection, and vindication bound to Jesus of Nazareth.
Nazoraios moves from Matthew's Nazareth fulfillment statement to Gospel identification of Jesus and Acts proclamation in His name. It also appears as a hostile label for Christians in Acts 24.
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 connects Jesus' life in Nazareth with what was spoken through the prophets, requiring careful fulfillment language.
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. Jesus said, “I am He.” And Judas His betrayer was standing there with them.
Those arresting Jesus identify Him as Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus answers with sovereign clarity.
Pilate also had a notice posted on the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Pilate's notice publicly names Jesus of Nazareth as King of the Jews at the cross.
Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know.
Peter proclaims Jesus of Nazareth as attested by God through miracles, wonders, and signs.
Then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
Peter declares healing by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, crucified by the people and raised by God.
We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,
Tertullus uses Nazarenes as a sect label in an accusation against Paul, showing hostile public usage.
So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Paul recalls opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth before his conversion.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. a Nazoræan, i.e. inhabitant of Nazareth; by extension, a Christian
:--Nazarene, of Nazareth.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
15 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Nazarene
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 13 lexical occurrence verses.
Ναζωραῖος is built from this root:
Identifies Jesus with prophetic themes of humility and rejection.Matthew 2:13–23
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The core insight of Nazoraios is that God tied the glory of Christ to an identifiable and often despised public name. Jesus is not presented as a mythic figure without location or history. He is Jesus of Nazareth, arrested under that name, crucified under that notice, raised and proclaimed by that name, and opposed under that name. The label can be spoken by enemies, officials, apostles, or former persecutors, but the passage controls its force.
Teachers should resist both shame and speculation. Nazareth does not diminish Jesus; the risen Lord fills that public name with the saving work God has done in Him.
Acts.4.10
Nazoraios is a proper noun or adjectival identifier associated with Nazareth. The term's force depends on whether the speaker identifies Jesus, accuses His followers, or proclaims His name.
Scripture often shows God working through places and people others overlook. Nazoraios belongs to that pattern when the crucified and risen Christ is publicly known as Jesus of Nazareth.