Matthew 2:23

Dear Paul,
Shalom. Recently I visited this web site:
https://www.v-a.com/bible/matthew-2.html
There is an interesting translation of Matthew 2:23. The translator wrote on his website as follow:
23. And he came and lived in the town called Nazareth*, so that what the prophets had said, came to be fulfilled, that "Victorious" he shall be called.
__________
*2:23 In Aramaic, pronounced: "Nuss-rat," meaning: "The victorious."
Or, of the town of Nazareth.

Commonly this verse is translated: He shall be called a Nazarene or as you translated:a Nasraya He shall be called. Many believe that Nazarene is a wordplay with the hebrew word Netzer (Branch)See Isaiah 11:1.
For the fist time I read another rendering of the verse...Nuss-rat=The victorious. What you think about this translation? Also from what prophecy of the Tanak Matthew is quoting?

Many thanks,
Massimo Marino

In reply to message #0
 
Shlama Akhi Massimo,

I'm not sure why Victor had chosen this meaning, and I am not familiar with this word being an Aramaic one. I also consulted 2 dictionaries (those of Margouliath and Awraham) and was unable to find anything resembling this word.

The Aramaic word for "victory" or "to overcome" is 'zaka' (ZKA), "victorious" is 'zakaya' (ZKYA), and "victory" is 'zakutha' (ZKWTA).

Examples of words derived from the root 'ZKA' can be found in these passages:

ZKA (imperfect) - Luqa 11:22
ZKWTA - Matti 12:20, Luqa 1:51
ZYKYA - Romans 8:37 (only 1 instance in Peshitta)

My personal opinion is that Matti is quoting from Isaiah chapter 11, where the Hebrew 'Nassir' is rendered into the Aramaic 'Nasraya', which is a word-play on the name of the town on Nazareth.

The term 'Nasraya' probably originated from the now-lost Aramaic Targums of Galilee, and this is probably (in my opinion) the origin of the traditional linking of Isaiah 11:1 with the town of Nasrath.

I hope this helps.

Shlama w'Burkate,
Paul

>Dear Paul,
>Shalom. Recently I visited this web
>site:
>https://www.v-a.com/bible/matthew-2.html
>There is an interesting translation of
>Matthew 2:23. The translator wrote
>on his website as follow:
>
> 23. And he came and
>lived in the town called
>Nazareth*, so that what the
>prophets had said, came to
>be fulfilled, that "Victorious" he
>shall be called.
>__________
>*2:23 In Aramaic, pronounced: "Nuss-rat," meaning:
>"The victorious."
>Or, of the town of Nazareth.
>
>
>Commonly this verse is translated: He
>shall be called a Nazarene
>or as you translated:a Nasraya
>He shall be called. Many
>believe that Nazarene is a
>wordplay with the hebrew word
>Netzer (Branch)See Isaiah 11:1.
>For the fist time I read
>another rendering of the verse...Nuss-rat=The
>victorious. What you think about
>this translation? Also from what
>prophecy of the Tanak Matthew
>is quoting?
>
>Many thanks,
>Massimo Marino

In reply to message #1
 
Shlama all...
My personal opinion is that the intended word in Matti 2:23 is NETZER (branch, for several reasons:

1) Archaeologically speaking, Nazareth did not exist until the first century BC.

2) The verse clearly says that this was according to the PROPHETS, and none of them (Isaiah, Jeremiah,etc) wrote that late.

3) Following up on the last point, the term must be a common messianic theme. "victorious" in Hebrew is NATZACH, and it talks about God being victorious, not the Messiah specifically...somewhere in 1 Chronicles 29 I believe. Hardly a common theme either.

4) However, NETZER is a common theme for the Messiah...Isaiah uses the term in 11:1-2. Another word for "bracnch" (shoot, sampling, sprout) is used by Jeremiah in the same context.

5) Finally, looking at the context of the verse also gives us a clue. It comes right after the geaeology of the Messiah's line...and therefore the original "rough draft" may have related to his status as NETZER DAWID (branch of David). It may then be somehow that this was linked with Nazareth the city at the time of its final composition, because NAZARETH is derived from NETZER and literally means "Sprout City". Therefore, by matti's time it kind of became a play on words. The BRANCH of David from the BRANCH CITY.

What do you all think???

Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth

In reply to message #2
 
Shlama Akhi Andrew,

I agree with every point. It was hard to translate that verse using the knowledge we have today, so I just simply transliterated the name "Nasraya", and intend to include your wonderful explanation in a future commentary on the translation.

Shlama w'Burkate,
Paul

>Shlama all...
>My personal opinion is that the
>intended word in Matti 2:23
>is NETZER (branch, for several
>reasons:
>
>1) Archaeologically speaking, Nazareth did
>not exist until the first
>century BC.
>
>2) The verse clearly says
>that this was according to
>the PROPHETS, and none of
>them (Isaiah, Jeremiah,etc) wrote that
>late.
>
>3) Following up on the last
>point, the term must be
>a common messianic theme.
>"victorious" in Hebrew is NATZACH,
>and it talks about God
>being victorious, not the Messiah
>specifically...somewhere in 1 Chronicles 29
>I believe. Hardly a
>common theme either.
>
>4) However, NETZER is a common
>theme for the Messiah...Isaiah uses
>the term in 11:1-2.
>Another word for "bracnch" (shoot,
>sampling, sprout) is used by
>Jeremiah in the same context.
>
>
>5) Finally, looking at the context
>of the verse also gives
>us a clue.
>It comes right after the
>geaeology of the Messiah's line...and
>therefore the original "rough draft"
>may have related to his
>status as NETZER DAWID (branch
>of David). It may
>then be somehow that this
>was linked with Nazareth the
>city at the time of
>its final composition, because NAZARETH
>is derived from NETZER and
>literally means "Sprout City". Therefore,
>by matti's time it kind
>of became a play on
>words. The BRANCH of
>David from the BRANCH CITY.
>
>
>What do you all think???
>
>Shlama w'burkate
>Andrew Gabriel Roth