YAHSHUA the Branch
Steve Marlowe Presents:
YAHSHUA the Branch
The apostle Matthew, a Jew, a former Roman tax collector, and Gospel writer, was fluent in Hebrew. When he writes in the Gospel According to Matthew, "YAHSHUA came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarean.” (Matthew 2:23). Many researched this at face value, and found nothing. Atheists, Jews, and "Bible skeptics,” believe Matthew got it wrong because nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures is the prophecy that says anything about the Messiah being "called a Nazarean.” Nazarene is based on Greek, and Nazarean is based more on the Hebraic.
In fact, when Matthew wrote, "as the prophets prophesied" in Matthew 2:23, he was following a Midrashic method and style of connecting to different texts and prophecies in exactly the same way as the Jewish rabbis of his day.
The disciples in Matthew's day would surely recognize his method of connecting scriptures the way he did in Matthew 2:23 by knowing the meaning of Nazareth, as related to Netser, or shoot, a branch.
Mirroring the first-century Jewish Midrashic style Matthew makes three prophetic connections that the Messiah would be called a "Nazarean".
Everyone familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures would in the first century know exactly which Old Testament passages Matthew was referring to.
Non-Christian Jews today say "Matthew got it wrong." They are very "un-Jewish" since the interpretation methods of the first-century rabbis were identical to Matthew's throughout his entire gospel.
The fact that Matthew does not give specific details of the origin of the prophecy proves that it was common knowledge that had already been widely preached.
A. YAHSHUA THE BRANCH: The phonic wordplay between "Nazarene" [Greek: Naṣrat] and "branch" and “Nazarean” [Hebrew: nēṣer] Isa 11:1
In "Aramaic Hebrew" was a consonantal text that had no vowels. When you remove the modern vowels from the words for Nazarean and Branch (netser = nsr) the Hebrew consonants of Naṣrat (Nazareth) and nēṣer are phonetically similar. Bible scoffers go so far as to say, Matthew, like the rest of the population, obviously had no working knowledge of Hebrew. In fact, the opposite is true. Matthew knew the scriptures in Hebrew and could make the phonic connection between Nazarean and the Branch. Since Matthew wrote originally in Hebrew, this argument was directed at the Jerusalem elite who had already made the connection as soon as the disciples to the general population began announcing the Messiah to be YAHSHUA the Nazarean (Branch).
The first-century expectation of the Messiah was fueled by a whole series of Bible passages that connect Him linguistically with the "branch and root of David" using the word: "tsemach" Isaiah 4:2; 53:2; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12. But the central and most significant of these "Messiah = Branch" prophecies was Isaiah 11:1: "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch [netser] from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him" (Isaiah 11:1).
It was Matthew's intimate knowledge of Hebrew that allowed him to construct a phonic play on words between the sound of the Greek word for Nazareth (Nazaret), Nazarene (Nazōraios), and the sound of the Hebrew word for Nazarean the Branch (netser) in Isaiah 11. The non-Hebrew-speaking Christians would initially be at a loss, like we are today, to make the connection. They would have asked the Hebrew-speaking "elite Jerusalem" priests if they knew any place in the Old Testament that said the Messiah would be called a Nazarean. Only they would catch the obvious play on words found in the most important messianic text Isaiah chapters 7-11.
The incredible power of this Messianic prophecy is that in 730 BC when Isaiah was living, Hebrew was the language of the general Jewish public but at the time of its fulfillment, Aramaic and Greek were the common languages and Hebrew was functionally among priests and not the masses. When the masses, who did not speak fluent Hebrew, began to announce that the Messiah was YAHSHUA the Nazarean in Aramaic, they unknowingly irked the Hebrew-speaking priestly "Temple Elites" who would hear, "Messiah, YAHSHUA the Branch".
The etymological origin of the name Nazareth is unknown, but archaeological excavation indicates it was an agricultural town with vineyards.
3. The crowds unknowingly went around saying the "Messiah was YAHSHUA the Branch" (Nazarean) which would annoy the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees who spoke Hebrew and heard the crossover connection between the Galilean town of Nazareth and the Hebrew word for Branch almost immediately. The Nazareans as they were called at the time of the apostle Paul (Acts 24:5), of course, all knew about this phonic wordplay which Matthew records as a matter of historical fact.
4. Messianic texts:
Twice in Matthew's nativity narrative he draws from the foremost messianic text of Isaiah 4-11 and applies it to YAHSHUA:
Virgin + God with us: Isaiah 7:14 + 8:10.
Nazarene = Branch: Isaiah 4:2; 11:1.
a. "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch [Hebrew: nēṣer] from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." (Isaiah 11:1-2)
“Behold, a man whose name is Branch [Hebrew: tsemach], for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” (Zechariah 6:12-13)
At the time Matthew wrote his gospel, the idea that YAHSHUA fulfilled the prophecies that the "Messiah would be a Nazarean" was universally understood and widely preached by His disciples.
The Messiah's name was "the branch" Isaiah 11:1; Zechariah 6:12.
So widely was YAHSHUA known as "the branch", that 13 times in the New Testament YAHSHUA is called "the Nazarean". YAHSHUA'S “descriptive name" was "the Nazarean" which to the Jewish leaders sounded like "YAHSHUA the Branch" through a play on words in two languages: "What might be considered most probable is that Matthew is combining the second and third alternatives by means of wordplay, a technique very common in Jewish writing, including the Bible. YAHSHUA is netzer, the Branch." (Jewish New Testament Commentary, D. H. Stern, Mt 2:23, 1996 AD).
At his arrest, twice they said they were looking for "YAHSHUA the Nazarean" and twice YAHSHUA said, "I am He".
The sign above YAHSHUA’S cross read, "YAHSHUA The Branch [Nazarean], The King Of The Jews.”
The tri-lingual sign was written in Aramaic for the common people because only the Elite of the Jerusalem temple priests spoke Hebrew. The sign was in the Aramaic (Jews), Latin (Romans/legislative), and Greek (World/commerce) inscription Pilate put on YAHSHUA’S Cross (John 19:20).
The tri-lingual sign: This is Yeshua, the King of the Jews (according to Aramaic).
This is Iesous, the King of the Jews (according to Greek).
This is Iesus, the King of the Jews (according to Latin).
Apostle Paul who was part of the "Jerusalem Elite" was fluent in Hebrew and was trained by the famous teacher of the Law "Gamaliel" of his day. The "converting words" spoken by YAHSHUA directly to him was, "I am YAHSHUA the Nazarean [the Branch], whom you are persecuting" (Acts 22:8). the apostle Paul was certainly very familiar with the connection between the Messianic "Branch" prophecy of Isaiah 11 and YAHSHUA the Messiah being universally called, "the Branch" (the Nazarean). Paul immediately converted to Christianity and was baptized for the remission of his sins three days later (Acts 22:16).
