Greek word · G3479

Ναζαρηνός

nazarēnos

Nazarene

'Nazarene', from Nazareth. Mark always uses this form (1:24; 10:47; 14:67; 16:6). Matthew, John and Acts mostly use Ναζωραῖος (Nazōraios).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 30, 2026

What it means

Ναζαρηνός, -οῦ, ὁ

(on the Semitic form, see Dalman, Gr., 141 n.)

a Nazarene: Mark 1:24 10:47 14:67 16:6, Luke 4:34 24:19.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: 'Nazarene', from Nazareth. Mark always uses this form (1:24; 10:47; 14:67; 16:6). Matthew, John and Acts mostly use Ναζωραῖος (Nazōraios).
Against the English: 'Of Nazareth' (BSB, KJV) is accurate. 'You Nazarene' (WEB) keeps the form of address and lets a possible sneer come through.
Used elsewhere in the period: Nazareth was a small farming village of perhaps a few hundred people. It is never named in the Old Testament, Josephus, or the Mishnah (the early rabbinic law code) (compare John 1:46, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'). Some scholars suspect a play on 'Nazirite', the consecrated person of Numbers 6, because some Greek texts of Judges call Samson 'holy of God'. That remains speculative.

Range of meaning: 'Nazarene,' someone from Nazareth (BDAG). Mark always uses this form (1:24; 10:47; 14:67; 16:6). Matthew, Luke, John and Acts mostly use Nazōraios.
Against the English: BSB, KJV, NIV and ESV say 'of Nazareth'. WEB, YLT and NASB say 'the Nazarene'. Both are accurate. 'The Nazarene' keeps the sense of a label people used for him.
Used elsewhere in the period: Nazareth was a small Galilean village with no fame and no mention in the Old Testament, Josephus or the Mishnah (compare John 1:46, 'Can anything good come from Nazareth?'). Later Jewish and early Christian sources use 'Nazarenes' as a name for Jesus' followers (Acts 24:5, using the Nazōraios form).

Range of meaning: 'From Nazareth, Nazarene.' It is a normal Greek adjective of origin, formed from the place name (Nazara/Nazareth), a small village in lower Galilee.
Against the English: KJV/YLT turn it into a phrase ('Jesus of Nazareth'), which explains the meaning but loses the feel of a label. BSB/NASB keep 'the Nazarene'. WEB and some modern versions keep the Greek order, 'the Nazarene, Jesus', and NIV adds 'that Nazarene', bringing out a possible sneer.
How it drifted: Some readers connect 'Nazarene' with 'Nazirite' (the vow of Numbers 6) because the two words sound alike. Mark's form Nazarēnos is simply the word for a person from Nazareth and has nothing to do with the Nazirite vow.
Used elsewhere in the period: Mark always uses this form: 1:24 (a demon), 10:47 (Bartimaeus hears it is 'Jesus the Nazarene'), 14:67, 16:6 (the young man at the tomb: 'Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified'). Matthew, John and Acts mostly use the related form Ναζωραῖος. Nazareth was an insignificant village, never mentioned in the Old Testament, Josephus, or the Mishnah. Compare John 1:46: 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'

Mark · 4

Mark 1:24 Ναζαρηνέ; of Nazareth?

“What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Here: Names his hometown, an insignificant Galilean village. Next to 'Holy One of God' it makes a sharp contrast: the man from nowhere and the one who belongs to God. It may also carry a note of contempt.
Mark 10:47 Ναζαρηνός of Nazareth

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Here: A plain label of origin from a small, obscure Galilean village. It is the crowd's ordinary way of naming him, and it contrasts sharply with the royal title the blind man shouts back.
Mark 14:67 Ναζαρηνοῦ Nazarene

and saw him warming himself there. She looked at Peter and said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.”

Here: Names Jesus by his small Galilean home village. In the high priest's Jerusalem household it marks him as a provincial outsider, and it may carry a note of contempt.
Mark 16:6 Ναζαρηνὸν Nazarene

But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.

Here: Names him by his obscure home village. This is Mark's usual form (1:24; 10:47; 14:67). It ties the risen one to the real, local man the women followed from Galilee.

Luke · 2

Luke 4:34 Ναζαρηνέ; of Nazareth?

“Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Here: Identifies him by his hometown, the village that had just thrown him out (4:29). The demon pins him down by his everyday identity before it names his deeper one.
Luke 24:19 Ναζαρηνοῦ, of Nazareth,

“What things?” He asked. “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people.

Here: The usual way of telling this Jesus apart from others with the same name, by his obscure Galilean village. People said it of him in public (cf. Luke 4:34; 18:37).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.