Nazareth

Nazareth, the city from which Jesus’s mother came (Luke 1:26) and where Jesus grew up (Matt. 2:23; 13:54; Luke 2:4, 51; 4:16). Nazareth was an insignificant agricultural village nestled in the hills four miles from Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee. 

A Hebrew inscription found at Caesarea lists Nazareth as one of the villages in which priestly divisions (cf. Luke 1:8–9) were resident after the Jewish revolt. Some scholars allege that this notice suggests a degree of piety attributed to Nazareth, which has not produced any archaeological remains with pagan symbolism. Indeed, the few remains found include Jewish stone vessels, simple pottery, and perhaps a ritual bath.

Based on rock-cut tombs surrounding the village and scant remains in the center of the modern city around the Church of the Annunciation, it appears that Nazareth could not have had a population of more than five hundred in Jesus’s time. Like most of Galilee, the site was settled by Jews in the second century bce who were preoccupied with farming. Little evidence of houses has been discovered; no roof tiles, frescoes, mosaics, or even plastered floors have been found from the first century, and luxury items are absent. The typical dwelling probably consisted of a small group of rooms around a central courtyard; some people may have made use of caves in the slopes. Thus, Nazareth was by all indications a simple peasant village, and even the rebuilding of nearby Sepphoris by Herod Antipas does not seem to have elevated its socioeconomic level.*

Nazareth —

• Jesus spends eighteen years in Nazareth Lk 2:51–52
• Jesus spends his childhood in Nazareth Lk 2:40
• The people of Nazareth refuse to believe (Matthew, Mark) Mt 13:53–58, Mk 6:1–6
• Jesus is rejected at Nazareth (Luke) Lk 4:16–30
• Jesus returns from Egypt to Nazareth Mt 2:21–23, Lk 2:39
• Gabriel appears to Mary Lk 1:26–38
• Caesar decrees a census Lk 2:1–5

Recreation of the Old City of Nazareth

Well

Olive Press

Model of a Synagogue 

Modern Day View of Nazareth

*Perkins, Pheme/Reed, Jonathan L. “Nazareth.” Edited by Mark Allan Powell. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated). New York: HarperCollins, 2011.