Difference between revisions of "Nazareth"

<p> '''Naz'areth.''' ''(the guarded one).'' The ordinary residence of our Saviour, is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but occurs first in &nbsp;Matthew 2:23. It derives its celebrity from its connection with the history of '''Christ''' , and in that respect has a hold on the imagination, and feelings of men, which it shares only with [[Jerusalem]] and Bethlehem. It is situated among the hills which constitute the south ridges of Lebanon,just before they sink down into the plain of Esdraelon. </p> <p> (Mr. Merrill, in "Galilee in the Time of '''Christ''' ," (1881), represents Nazareth in '''Christ's''' time as a city, (so always called in the New Testament), of 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, of some importance and considerable antiquity, and not so insignificant and mean as has been represented. - Editor). Of the identification of the ancient site there can be no doubt. The name of the present village is ''en-Nazirah'' the same, therefore, as of old. </p> <p> It is formed on a hill or mountain, &nbsp;Luke 4:29, it is within the limits of the province of Galilee, &nbsp;Mark 1:9, it is near Cana, according to the implication in &nbsp;John 2:1-2; &nbsp;John 2:11, a precipice exists in the neighborhood. &nbsp;Luke 4:29. The modern Nazareth belongs to the better class of eastern villages. It has a population of 3000 or 4000; a few are Mohammadans, the rest Latin and Greek Christians. (Near this town, Napoleon once encamped, (1799), after the battle of Mount Tabor). </p> <p> The origin of the disrepute in which Nazareth stood, &nbsp;John 1:47, is not certainly known. All the inhabitants of Galilee were looked upon, with contempt by the people of Judea, because they spoke a ruder dialect, were less cultivated and were more exposed, by their position, to contact with the heathen. But Nazareth labored under a special opprobrium [Reproach, mingled with contempt or disdain.], for it was a Galilean, and not a southern Jew, who asked the reproachful question, whether "any good thing" could come from that source. </p> <p> Above the town are several rocky ledges, over which a person could not be thrown without almost certain destruction. There is one very remarkable precipice, almost perpendicular and forty or fifty near the Maronite church, which may well be supposed to be the identical one, over which his infuriated fellow townsmen attempted to hurl '''Jesus''' . </p>

<p> '''Nazareth''' (''năz'a-r'' ''ĕth'' ), ''separated?'' &nbsp;Matthew 2:23. [[A]] city of Galilee, famous as the home of Jesus during his childhood and youth until he began his public ministry. It was about 14 miles from the Sea of Galilee, and 66 miles north of Jerusalem in a straight line. It is one of the most beautiful sites in the Holy Land. Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, nor by any classical author, nor by any writer before the time of Christ. It was for some unknown reason held in disrepute among the Jews of Judæa. &nbsp;John 1:46. It was situated in a mountain, &nbsp;Luke 4:29, within the province of Galilee, &nbsp;Mark 1:9, and near Cana, as &nbsp;John 2:1-2; &nbsp;John 2:11 seems to imply. There was a precipice near the town, down which the people proposed to cast Jesus. &nbsp;Luke 4:29. It is mentioned 29 times in the New Testament. At Nazareth the angel appeared to Mary: the home of Joseph, &nbsp;Luke 1:26; &nbsp;Luke 2:39, and to that place Joseph and Mary returned after their flight into Egypt. &nbsp;Matthew 2:23. The hills and places about the town possess a deep and hallowed interest to the [[Christian]] as the home of Jesus during his childhood and youth, until he entered upon his ministry, and had preached in the synagogue, and was rejected by his own townspeople. Even after Capernaum became "his own city" he was known as "Jesus of Nazareth," &nbsp;Matthew 13:54-58; &nbsp;Mark 6:1-6; &nbsp;Acts 2:22; &nbsp;Acts 3:6; &nbsp;Acts 4:10; &nbsp;Acts 6:14, and his disciples were called "Nazarenes." The town is now called En-Nâsirah, or Nasrah, and has from 6000 to 7000 population, though the Turkish officials estimate it at 10,000. The brow of the hill over which the enraged Nazarenes threatened to cast Jesus is probably near the Maronite church, though tradition places it at the "Mount of Precipitation," two or three miles south of the town. </p>