Nazareth

6 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

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

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:



  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."
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Nazareth, separated; crowned; sanctified
  

From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:

  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

From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:

  Nazareth, PA -- U.S. borough in Pennsylvania
     Population (2000):    6023
     Housing Units (2000): 2658
     Land area (2000):     1.671277 sq. miles (4.328588 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    1.671277 sq. miles (4.328588 sq. km)
     FIPS code:            52808
     Located within:       Pennsylvania (PA), FIPS 42
     Location:             40.739993 N, 75.311214 W
     ZIP Codes (1990):     18064
     Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
     Headwords:
      Nazareth, PA
      Nazareth
  

From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:

  Nazareth, TX -- U.S. city in Texas
     Population (2000):    356
     Housing Units (2000): 140
     Land area (2000):     0.348287 sq. miles (0.902058 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    0.348287 sq. miles (0.902058 sq. km)
     FIPS code:            50496
     Located within:       Texas (TX), FIPS 48
     Location:             34.543571 N, 102.102183 W
     ZIP Codes (1990):     79063
     Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
     Headwords:
      Nazareth, TX
      Nazareth