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.
Ver. 23. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth] Hence an opinion among the people that he was born there, Joh 7:42 and so could not be the Messiah, as the Pharisees on that ground persuaded: "For can any good come out of Nazareth?" John 1:46. The devils also, though they confessed him "the Holy One of God," Mar 1:24-25 yet they cunningly call him "Jesus of Nazareth," to nourish the error of the multitude that thought he was born there, and so not the Christ. When one commended the Pope's legate at the Council of Basil, Sigismund the Emperor answered, Tamen Romanus est, Nevertheless he is a Roman. So, let the devil speak true or false, fair or foul, yet he is a devil still, beware of him. Satan aliquando verax, saepius mendax, semper fallax.
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets] For the Book of Judges was written by various prophets, in several ages. And there be very grave authors of the opinion that Ezra (that skilful scribe) either himself alone, or with the help of his colleagues, godly and learned men like himself, inspired by the Holy Ghost, compiled and composed those books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, out of divers annals preserved by the Churches of those ages wherein those things were acted.
He shall be called a Nazarene] That great votary whereof Samson and the rest of his order were but types and shadows. The very name signifieth one separate and set apart from others, as Joseph was "separate from his brethren," Genesis 49:26. And it is ascribed to three, sorts of men, usually set above others (as divines have well observed): 1. To such as are set apart to singular sanctimony, as the high priest, whose crown is called Nezer, Exodus 29:6; Exodus 2:1,25. To such as in dignity and authority are set above others, as kings, whose diadem is called Nezer, 2Sa 1:10; 2 Samuel 3:1,39. To such as were separated by some religious vow, as to the order of the Nazarites, whose hair increasing on their heads, as an external sign of their vow, was called Nezer,Numbers 6:5. As for our Saviour, it is not likely that he nourished his hair; because the apostle saith (in that age) it was uncomely for men to have long hair, 1 Corinthians 11:14. It was enough for him that he was a Nazarite in the truth and substance of that law; and a singular comfort it is to us, that although we have broken our vows and so deeply gashed our consciences, as Jacob did; Genesis 28:20; Gen 31:13 yet so long as it is of infirmity and forgetfulness, not of obstinace and maliciousness, this famous Nazarite, this arch-votary, hath expiated our defaults in this kind; and through him we are in God's sight, as Jerusalem's Nazarites, Lam 4:7 "Purer than the snow, and whiter than the milk." And therefore, since God thinks not the worse of us, let us not think the worse of ourselves for the involuntary violation of our vows.