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What is a Nazarean?

john313

john313

warrior-poet
Nazarean, nazorean, nazarene, nasaraeans, or however one wishes to spell it. i have typically heard that Nazarene means only "from Nazareth", but it appears this church father who was a "strong defender of orthodoxy", according to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphanius_of_Salamis), has a different meaning.
Epiphanius explains in his book Panarion: "Nasaraeans, meaning, "rebels," who forbid all flesh-eating, and do not eat living things at all. They have the holy names of patriarchs which are in the Pentateuch, up through Moses and Joshua the son of Nun, and they believe in them- I mean Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the earliest ones, and Moses himself, and Aaron, and Joshua. But they hold that the scriptures of the Pentateuch were not written by Moses, and maintain that they have others." [size=-1]- Panarion 19.1[/size]
http://essenes.net/panarion.htm
Was Jesus a Narorean as described by Epiphanius?
 
john313

john313

warrior-poet
also:
"Ebionites are very like the Cerinthians and Nazoraeans; the sect of the Sampsaeans and Elkasaites was associated with them to a degree. They say that Christ has been created in heaven, also the Holy Spirit. But Christ lodged in Adam at first, and from time to time takes Adam himself off and puts him back on-for this is what they say he did during his visit in the flesh. Although they are Jews they have Gospels, abhor the eating of flesh, take water for God, and, as I said, hold that Christ clothed himself with a man when he became incarnate. They continually immerse themselves in water, summer and winter, if you please for purification like the Samaritans." [size=-1]- Panarion 30[/size]​
 
michel

michel

Administrator Emeritus
Staff member
Acts 24:5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:

Note :(This is the only place in the Bible where Christians are called Nazarenes, no doubt to capitalize on the common prejudicial proverb: "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). In fact, the charges presented by Tertullus were intentionally loaded with prejudicial language--"pestilent," "sedition," "ringleader," "sect," "profane"--intended obviously to prejudice Felix against Paul.)

Matthew 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Note:(No one prophet is mentioned here, but rather "the prophets" in general. As far as known, the despised town of Nazareth did not even exist in the days of the prophets, so it may be that this is a generic summary of the teaching of the prophets that the Messiah would be "despised and rejected of men" (Isaiah 53:3). Some have suggested that this refers to Isaiah 11:1, where He is called a "rod" (Hebrew netzer) out of the "stem" (or, apparently dead stump) of Jesse's family tree. However, see the note on Zephaniah 1:14, which, slightly modified, would yield a reading very closely akin to Matthew's quote):)

 
C

CanuckRasta

Member
We Rastas also use the word Nazarite. It is common to take the Nazarite Vow or the Vow of the Nazarene.

The Vow is Numbers ch. 6.

One Love
CanuckRasta
 
chuck010342

chuck010342

Active Member
CanuckRasta said:
We Rastas also use the word Nazarite. It is common to take the Nazarite Vow or the Vow of the Nazarene.

The Vow is Numbers ch. 6.

One Love
CanuckRasta
Click to expand...

thats what I was thinking too. The vow of the Nazarite was used by Samson and Samuel, it might refer to Jesus as well.
 
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