What is a Nazarene, who are the Netzarim, and what is the sect Paul calls “The Way”?
In my search for more information concering these and a million other questions I had concerning scripture writings I came across the following information. I could not have said it better myself, and the author included sources which is really important to me, as it should be to all “Berean” type study.
I contacted the author, Chris W. Clark and am reprinting this article with his permission. Chris authors the Hebrew Roots Help Desk, an excellent resource for further study.
Nazarenes
“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.” – Matthew 2:23
“For we have found this man (Paul) a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes” – Acts 24:5
Epiphanius (Fourth century “church father”) writes of the ancient Nazarenes:
“But these sectarians… did not call themselves Christians–but “Nazarenes,”… However they are simply complete Jews. They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do… They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion– except for their belief in Messiah, if you please! For they acknowledge both the resurrection of the dead and the divine creation of all things, and declare that God is one, and that his son is Yeshua the Messiah. They are trained to a nicety in Hebrew. For among them the entire Law, the Prophets, and the… Writings… are read in Hebrew, as they surely are by the Jews. They are different from the Jews, and different from Christians, only in the following. They disagree with Jews because they have come to faith in Messiah; but since they are still fettered by the Law–circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rest– they are not in accord with Christians…. they are nothing but Jews…. They have the Goodnews according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew. For it is clear that they still preserve this, in the Hebrew alphabet, as it was originally written.” (Epiphanius; Panarion 29)
Jerome (4th Century “church father”) described these Nazarenes as those “...who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old Law.” (Jerome; On. Is. 8:14).
Jerome makes an amazing admission concerning the Nazarenes in a letter to Augustine:
“The matter in debate, therefore, or I should rather say your opinion regarding it, is summed up in this: that since the preaching of the gospel of Christ, the believing Jews do well in observing the precepts of the law, i.e. in offering sacrifices as Paul did, in circumcising their children, as Paul did in the case of Timothy, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath, as all the Jews have been accustomed to do. If this be true, we fall into the heresy… [of those who] though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old. …In our own day there exists a sect among the Jews throughout all the synagogues of the East, which is called the sect of the Minæans, and is even now condemned by the Pharisees. The adherents to this sect are known commonly as Nazarenes; they believe in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary; and they say that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again, is the same as the one in whom we believe. But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other. I therefore beseech you, who think that you are called upon to heal my slight wound, which is no more, so to speak, than a prick or scratch from a needle, to devote your skill in the healing art to this grievous wound, which has been opened by a spear driven home with the impetus of a javelin. For there is surely no proportion between the culpability of him who exhibits the various opinions held by the fathers in a commentary on Scripture, and the guilt of him who reintroduces within the Church a most pestilential heresy. If, however, there is for us no alternative but to receive the Jews into the Church, along with the usages prescribed by their law; if, in short, it shall be declared lawful for them to continue in the Churches of Christ what they have been accustomed to practice in the synagogues of Satan, I will tell you my opinion of the matter: they will not become Christians, but they will make us Jews (Jerome; 75)
(1) “Minæans” apparently Latinized from Hebrew MINIM (singular is MIN) a word which in modern Hebrew means “apostates” but was originally an acronym for a Hebrew phrase meaning “Believers in Yeshua the Nazarene.”
Jerome repeats Augustine, saying of the Nazarenes: “since the preaching of the gospel of Christ, the believing Jews do well in observing the precepts of the law, i.e. in offering sacrifices as Paul did, in circumcising their children, as Paul did in the case of Timothy, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath, as all the Jews have been accustomed to do.” (Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine)
Jerome responds saying of the Nazarenes “though believing in Christ, [they] were anathematized by the [church] fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old.” (ibid)
In other words; Augustine and Jerome tell us that the Nazarene belief supporting Torah observance (the law) began with “the preaching of Christ” and was kept by Paul, but that the church “fathers” of Christianity declared this Torah observance to be an error and a heresy.
So according to the Church Fathers, Nazarene Judaism began with Messiah and Paul, and Gentile Christianity began when Nazarene Judaism was rejected as error by the church “fathers”. *
Source: http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/who-are-the-nazarenes
Source: http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/jerome-s-confession-we-made-it-all-up
*Publisher’s note: Nazarene Judiasm here is considered the same as what Paul called the sect known as The Way (Romans considered it a sect of Judaism), Not to be confused with Rabbinic Judaism which includes extra biblical traditions or doctrines of men.
Netzarim
The prophet Isaiah says, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch (Netzer) shall grow out of his roots.” – Isaiah 11:1
A “Netzer” is a type of Branch – a shoot from an olive tree that grows out of its original root system but springs up at a later time from the stump, or somewhat distant from the trunk. Netzar is more properly translated shoot or sprout. The Hebrew for Tsemach (H#6780) is most commonly translated Branch, which is used to mention the coming of Messiah
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.” – Jeremiah 23:5-6
“In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.” – Jeremiah 33:15
“Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.” – Zechariah 3:8
“And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:” – Zechariah 6:12
“In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.” – Isaiah 4:2
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;” – Isaiah 11:1-2
Jeremiah 23:5-6, Jeremiah 33:15; Zechariah 3:8, Zechariah 6:12; Isaiah 4:2, Isaiah 11:1-2
“Nazarenes” or “Netzarim” is a title used to identify the foundational group of disciples (Apostles) of the Messiah. The singular of “Netzarim” is the Hebrew (#5342) “Netzer” – Greenness, a shoot, Figuratively a descendant- Branch /Wiki- Netzarim, twigs that shoot off from a branch of a tree (Hebrew from the root “neitzer” (נצר) meaning “a shoot”).
From the Hebrew (#5341) root “Natzar“- to guard , in a good sense (to protect, maintain, obey…) or a bad one (to conceal, …) : besieged, hidden thing, keep Exodus 34:7 (er,ing), monument, observe, preserve (r), subtil, watcher (man)
The Way
The Way was the name first given to the early believers in Yeshua as Messiah. He himself said that He was “The Way, The Truth and The Life”. The following verses support the truth of the meaning of The Way.
“But this I confess unto thee, that after The Way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:” – Acts 24:14
“And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest The Way of God in truth…” – Mark 12:14
“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into The Way of peace.” – Luke 1:79
“As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye The Way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” – Luke 3:4
“And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest The Way of God truly:” – Luke 20:21
“He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight The Way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” – John 1:23
“And whither I go ye know, and The Way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know The Way? Jesus saith unto him, I am The Way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” – John 14:4-6
“The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us The Way of salvation.” – Acts 16:17
“This man was instructed in The Way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him The Way of God more perfectly.” – Acts 18:25-26
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known The Way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” – 2 Peter 2:20-22
Mark12:14; Luke1:79,3:4,20:21; John 1:23,14:6; Acts 16:17, Acts 18:25-26, Acts 24:14; 2 Peter 2:20-22
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“May YeHoVaH lead us, guide us, walk beside us and give us eyes to see and ears to hear His Truth.” – Chris W. Clark [Return to My Journey from A to Zebra and Beyond Textbooks]
