Jesus Called a Nazarene Despite Being Born in Bethlehem

Sources

1. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Nazarene — an inhabitant of Nazareth. This appellative is applied to,Jesus in many passages in the New Testament. This name, made striking in so many ways, and which, if first given in scorn, was adopted and gloried in by the disciples, we are told in (Matthew 2:23) possesses a prophetic significance. Its application to Jesus, in consequence of the providential arrangements by which his Parents were led to take up their abode in Nazareth, was the filling out of the predictions in which the promised Messiah is described as a netser i.e. a shoot, sprout, of Jesse, a hum”
2. John “John 7:42 (BBE) — Do not the Writings say that the Christ comes of the seed of David and from Beth-lehem, the little town where David was?”
3. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Jesus — (1.) Joshua, the son of Nun (Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:8; R.V., "Joshua"). (2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus (Col. 4:11). Je'sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish him from others so called, he is spoken of as "Jesus of Nazareth" (John 18:7), and "Jesus the son of Joseph" (John 6:42). This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was originally Hoshea (Num. 13:8, 16), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua (Num. 13:16; 1 Chr. 7:27), or Joshua. After the Exile it assumed the form Jeshua, whence the Greek form Jesus. It”
4. Matthew “Matthew 2:1 (Tyndale) — When Iesus was borne at Bethleem in Iury in the tyme of Herode the kynge. Beholde there came wyse me from the eest to Ierusalem”
5. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: 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 th”
6. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Nazarene — This epithet (Gr. Nazaraios) is applied to Christ only once (Matt. 2:23). In all other cases the word is rendered "of Nazareth" (Mark 1:24; 10:47; 14:67, etc.). When this Greek designation was at first applied to our Lord, it was meant simply to denote the place of his residence. In course of time the word became a term of reproach. Thus the word "Nazarene" carries with it an allusion to those prophecies which speak of Christ as "despised of men" (Isa. 53:3). Some, however, think that in this name there is an allusion to the Hebrew netser, which signifies ”
7. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Bethlehem — House of bread. (1.) A city in the "hill country" of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2), Beth-lehem-judah (1 Sam. 17:12), and "the city of David" (Luke 2:4). It is first noticed in Scripture as the place where Rachel died and was buried "by the wayside," directly to the north of the city (Gen. 48:7). The valley to the east was the scene of the story of Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which she gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to the ”
8. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Nazareth — (the guarded one) the ordinary residence of our Saviour, is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but occurs first in (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, (Mr. Merrill, in "Galilee in the Time of Christ" (1881), represents Nazareth in Christ's time as a city (”
9. Matthew (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Matthew 2 (introduction): Now when Jesus was born,.... Several things are here related respecting the birth of Christ, as the place where he was born, in Bethlehem of Judea; so called to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zabulon, Jos 19:15. Here Christ was to be born according to a prophecy hereafter mentioned, and accordingly the Jews expected he would be born here, Mat 2:4 and so Jesus was born here, Luk 2:4 and this the Jews themselves acknowledge; "Such a year, says a noted (l) chronologer of theirs, Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem Juda, which i”
10. Luke (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Luke 2:7: And she brought forth her firstborn son,.... At Bethlehem, as was predicted; and the Jews themselves own, that the Messiah is already born, and born at Bethlehem. They have a tradition, that an Arabian should say to a Jew (k). "Lo! the king Messiah is born; he said to him, what is his name? Menachem: he asked him, what is his father's name? he replied to him, Hezekiah; he said unto him, from whence is he? he answered, from the palace of the king of Bethlehem. Which is elsewhere (l) reported, with some little variation; the Arabian said to the Jew, "the Redeemer of ”
11. Matthew (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Matthew 2:23: And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth--a small town in Lower Galilee, lying in the territory of the tribe of Zebulun, and about equally distant from the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the Sea of Galilee on the east. Note--If, from Luk 2:39, one would conclude that the parents of Jesus brought Him straight back to Nazareth after His presentation in the temple--as if there had been no visit of the Magi, no flight to Egypt, no stay there, and no purpose on returning to settle again at Bethlehem--one might, from our Evangelist's way of speaki”
12. John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on John 7:41: Shalt Christ come out of Galilee? - As the prophets had declared that the Messiah was to come from the tribe of Judah, and from the family of David, and should be born in the city of Bethlehem, these Jews, imagining that Christ had been born in Galilee, concluded that he could not be the Messiah. Had they examined the matter a little farther, they would have found that he had his birth exactly as the prophets had foretold; but, for want of this necessary examination, they continued in unbelief, and rejected the Lord that bought them. Many still lose their souls nearly”
13. CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on John & Hebrews: 12 others said, Christ cometh not from Galilee, but from the village of Bethlehem.” Others said, “When Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence He is” ( ver. 27 ); and there was a difference of opinion, as might be expected in a confused 1440 1440 al. “not well ordered.” multitude; for not attentively did they listen to His words, nor for the sake of learning. Wherefore He maketh them no answer; yet they said, “Doth Christ come out of Galilee?” And He had praised, as being “an Israelite indeed,” Nathanael, who had said in a more forcible and striking ma”
14. Matthew (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Matthew 2 (introduction): VISIT OF THE MAGI TO JERUSALEM AND BETHLEHEM. (Mat 2:1-12) Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea--so called to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun, near the Sea of Galilee (Jos 19:15); called also Beth-lehem-judah, as being in that tribe (Jdg 17:7); and Ephrath (Gen 35:16); and combining both, Beth-lehem Ephratah (Mic 5:2). It lay about six miles southwest of Jerusalem. But how came Joseph and Mary to remove thither from Nazareth, the place of their residence? Not of their own accord, and certainly not wi”
15. John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on John 7:26: Howbeit, we know this man whence he is,.... They signify, that if the rulers had altered their minds, and had gone into the belief of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah, they should not follow them in it, for this reason; because they knew from whence he came; meaning not so much the place of his birth, which they supposed was Galilee, and Nazareth in Galilee, in which they were mistaken, as the manner of his birth, which they could account for: they pretended to know his extract, that he was the son of Joseph and Mary, that he was begotten in wedlock, and was born as ”
16. John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on John 7:52: 7:52 no prophet ever comes from Galilee! The Jewish leaders were apparently unaware that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea, not in Galilee (see Matt 2:1; Luke 2:1-7).”