Nazareth

In the Bible, this city is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It was the home of Joseph and Mary. Here Jesus grew up from his infancy to manhood; and here he began his public ministry in the synagogue

Nazareth is situated among the southern ridges of the Lebanon Mountains[?], on the steep slope of a hill, about 14 miles from the Sea of Galilee and about 6 west from Mount Tabor[?]. The modern city lies lower down upon the hill than the ancient one. The main road for traffic between Egypt and the interior of Asia passes by Nazareth near the foot of Tabor, and thence northward to Damascus. It has a population of 60,000. The majority of Nazarenes are Jewish, but a large minority are Palestinian Christians. The city also contains a smaller minority of Palestinian Muslims.

The name Nazareth means 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 Israel 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.

Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 -- Please update as needed

EXTERNAL LINKS

• The History of the Ancient Near East

http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Nazareth