Matthew 2:23 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Matthew 2:23
← 2:22 3:1 →
Francesco Conti's Return to Nazareth (1735).
Book	Gospel of Matthew
Christian Bible part	New Testament

Matthew 2:23 is the twenty-third (and the last) verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The young Jesus and the Holy Family have just returned from Egypt and in this verse are said to settle in Nazareth. This is the final verse of Matthew's infancy narrative.

Matthew ends the verse arguing that Jesus' life in Nazareth fulfilled a messianic prophecy, which he quotes: "He will be called a Nazarene." However, no such prophecy is found in the Old Testament, or any other extant source. Because of this, the verse has been much studied, and various theories have been advanced attempting to explain the enigmatic quote.

Content

The original Koine Greek, according to Westcott and Hort, reads:

καὶ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς πόλιν λεγομένην

Ναζαρέτ, ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τῶν

προφητῶν ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται.

In the Authorized King James Version of the Bible the text 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.

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

and came and lived in a city

called Nazareth; that it might be

fulfilled which was spoken through the

prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

For a collection of other versions, see BibleHub Matthew 2:23.