Nazareth

Location

Nazareth lies in Lower Galilee, roughly 15 miles west of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, on a low ridge in the hill country above the Jezreel Valley. In the first century Nazareth was a small agricultural village of perhaps two to four hundred people, not named in the Old Testament, Josephus, or the Talmud.

Biblical importance

Nazareth is the village where the angel Gabriel announced the birth of Christ to Mary (Luke 1:26-38), where Joseph the carpenter lived (Matthew 13:55), where Christ grew up (Luke 2:39-52), and from which he began his public ministry (Mark 1:9, John 1:45). The name 'Jesus of Nazareth' identified him for his contemporaries (John 19:19) and remains one of the oldest continuous names of Christ in the church.

Historical timeline

• c. 6-4 BC — Christ is conceived in Nazareth (Luke 1:26-38); the Holy Family flees to Egypt and returns via Nazareth (Matthew 2:23).
• c. AD 8-12 — Christ, at twelve, is found in the Temple; he returns to Nazareth and is subject to his parents (Luke 2:41-51).
• c. AD 27-30 — Christ leaves Nazareth to begin his public ministry (Mark 1:9).
• c. AD 29 — Christ preaches in the synagogue at Nazareth and is rejected by his townsmen (Luke 4:16-30).
• AD 570 — The Piacenza Pilgrim describes a church at the traditional site of the Annunciation.
• AD 614 — Persian invasion damages Christian sites in Galilee.
• Crusader period (12th c.) — A large church is built over the traditional site of the Annunciation.
• AD 1263 — The Crusader church is destroyed by the Mamluks.
• AD 1730 — A smaller Franciscan church is built on the site.
• AD 1969 — The current Basilica of the Annunciation is consecrated over the ruins of the earlier churches.

Important biblical events

• Luke 1:26-27 (KJV) The angel Gabriel is sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph.
• Luke 1:28-38 (KJV) The Annunciation — Gabriel greets Mary and announces the incarnation.
• Matthew 2:23 (KJV) The Holy Family dwells in Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
• Luke 2:39-40 (KJV) The Holy Family returns to Nazareth after the Presentation; the child grows and waxes strong in spirit.
• Luke 2:51-52 (KJV) Christ returns to Nazareth from Jerusalem after the finding in the Temple and is subject to his parents.
• Mark 1:9 (KJV) 'And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.'
• Luke 4:16-30 (KJV) Christ reads from Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth; his townsmen are filled with wrath and lead him to the brow of the hill to cast him down headlong.
• John 1:45-46 (KJV) 'Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?'
• Matthew 13:53-58 (KJV) Christ is rejected in his own country; a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
• John 19:19 (KJV) The title on the cross reads: JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
• Acts 10:38 (KJV) 'How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.'
• Acts 24:5 (KJV) Paul is accused of being 'a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.'

Important Christian events

• The Basilica of the Annunciation covers what tradition identifies as the site of Mary's house.
• The Church of St Joseph, adjacent to the Basilica, marks the traditional location of Joseph's carpentry workshop.
• The Synagogue Church (Greek Catholic) is traditionally identified with the location of the synagogue where Christ read Isaiah 61 (Luke 4).
• Nazareth's first-century identity as a small Jewish village has been broadly confirmed by twentieth- and twenty-first-century archaeological work.

Related Scripture

• Isaiah 11:1 (KJV) 'And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch [nezer] shall grow out of his roots.' Tradition connects the name of Nazareth to this branch.
• Isaiah 53:2 (KJV) 'He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground.'
• Luke 1:35 (KJV) 'The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.'
• Matthew 21:11 (KJV) 'This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.'

Related biblical people

• Mary, the mother of the Lord.
• Joseph the carpenter.
• The angel Gabriel.
• The townsmen of Nazareth — 'his own country' who received him not (John 1:11, Luke 4:24).

Related Journeys

• Journey — the ministry of Jesus (future)
• Journey — Advent (future)

Historical churches

• Basilica of the Annunciation (Franciscan, consecrated 1969, over earlier Byzantine, Crusader, and pre-modern churches).
• Church of St Joseph (Franciscan, twentieth century) — adjoining the Basilica.
• Synagogue Church (Melkite Greek Catholic).
• Church of St Gabriel (Greek Orthodox) — over the traditional water source of the village.

Historic monasteries

• Nazareth has no historic monastery of the first millennium comparable to Mar Saba or the great Judean foundations. Franciscan and Salesian communities are present in modern Nazareth.

Museums and archaeological collections

• The Basilica of the Annunciation itself preserves the excavated remains beneath the modern floor.
• The Nazareth Village project (a re-creation of a first-century village) is located adjacent to the modern city.

Pilgrimage today

Nazareth has been a pilgrimage destination since the fourth century (Egeria). CrossAIHub does not recommend a tour operator; visitors should plan with a trusted parish or diocese.

Related liturgical seasons

• The Annunciation — 25 March, nine months before Christmas.
• Advent — preparing for the Nativity.
• Christmastide — commemorating the events of Christ's youth.

Images (public-domain, to be added)

Historic maps (public-domain, to be added)

Further reading

• Egeria, Travels (late fourth century) — the earliest continuous pilgrim account.
• Jerome, On the Site and Names of Places (Onomasticon), fourth century.
• The KJV: Luke 1-2, Luke 4:16-30, Matthew 13:53-58, John 1:45-46.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Bethlehem
• Jerusalem
• Matthew 6
• Joshua 24
• Cana — the wedding of John 2
• Shiloh — the earlier sanctuary town of the same central highlands
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.