Matt 2:23 reads:
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.
One may wonder about the prophets (plural)
if, as some commentators claim, Matthew is hearkening back to Isa 11. The
answer is that such horticultural imagery is found among many prophetic works,
not just Isaiah but Jeremiah (23:1-8; 33:14-18); Zechariah (3:6-10; 6:9-15) and
even is reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the following work:
10 [And] yhwh [de]clares to you that 2 Sam 7:12-14 « he will build you a house. I will raise up
your seed after you and establish the throne of his kingdom 11 [for ev]er. I will be a father to him and he will
be a son to me.» This (refers to the) «branch of David», who will arise with
the Interpreter of the law who 12 [will rise up] in Zi[on in] the [l]ast days,
as it is written: Amos
9:11 « I
will raise up the hut of David which has fallen», This (refers to) « the hut of
13 David which has fall[en », w]hich he will
raise upto save Israel. Blank (4QFlor III, 10-13 in
The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, eds. Florentino García Martínez and
Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar [Leiden: Brill, 1997], 1:353)
