In talking to our Jewish friends about Yeshua one of the things that might come up is Matthew 2:23, “Then he went to settle in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.” The reason that it comes up is because they struggle to find the prophecy that it speaks of fulfilling in the prophets.

This is an honest issue however, it is brought on by our English versions that were, of course, translated from the Greek. This is important because with this verse one must have a background in the Hebrew language and mindset. This verse is perhaps one of the strongest arguments that Matthew may have been written in Hebrew originally and definitely to the Jewish people.

Let me explain what I mean. Translating this verse from the Greek to the English you really don’t get the proper understanding of what is being said here. The prophets do not speak of the Messiah as being a Nazarene the way we understand it. It is the Hebrew word that Nazarene represents that gives this significance and the proper understanding.

The prophecy that it comes from is found in Isaiah 11:1 where Isaiah says this, “Then a shoot will grow from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from out of his roots will bear fruit.” The word being spoken of in Matthew is the word for “branch” in this verse. The Hebrew word here is “netser”. This is the Hebrew word that was used in the naming of the Hebrew village, Natzeret.

It is also important to know what this type of branch is. This word for branch means a shoot that grows up away, sometimes quite a distance away, from the original tree. It can also spring up many years later, yet it is connected to the original tree.

Yeshua sprung up many years after Jesse and to grow up in Nazareth rather than Bethlehem means that he is also coming up a distance away as well, yet he is connected to the tree of Jesse. In both ways Yeshua fulfills the definition of this type of branch. How awesome is that! Therefore, the prophet Isaiah did say that He would be a Netser, a Natzeret.

Isn’t God’s Word awesome!