What is the earliest evidence that Nazareth was called Nazareth?

[dbz]

...text-critical considerations actually strongly argue for Mark and Luke consistently having used the unrelated word “Nazorian,” and all manuscripts ever attesting “Nazarene” are later scribal emendations to solidify the historicizing myth of his origin and get rid of the original esoteric meaning of what a “Nazorian” actually was.

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--Carrier (15 November 2023). "How Textual Criticism Can Help or (Sorry) Hurt Your Cause". Richard Carrier Blogs.

My speculation:

• Just as all gMark manuscripts attesting “Nazarene” are later scribal emendations, so to is "Sea of Galilee" later scribal emendations for "Γαλιλαίαν τῶν ἐθνῶν" (Galilee of the Gentiles) where the narrative is clearly not reliant on a sailing/nautical event.

E.g. Mark 7:31
Καὶ πάλιν ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τῶν ὁρίων Τύρου Καὶ Σιδῶνος ἦλθεν πρὸς τὴν Γαλιλαίας τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ὁρίων Δεκαπόλεως
Kaí pálin exelthón ek tón oríon Týrou Kaí Sidónos ílthen prós tín Galilaías tón ethnón aná méson tón oríon Dekapóleos
And again, going out from the borders of Tire and Sidon, he came to the Galilee of the Gentiles through the middle of the borders of the Decapolis

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Variations in word order for "Sea of Galilee" :

• "θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας"
• "Γαλιλαίας τῆς θάλασσαν"

Variations in spelling:

• "θαλάσση" for "θάλασσαν"
• "Γαλιλαία" with or without an extra "ι"

[Kunigunde Kreuzerin]

From my dissertation pp107-8:

"....If we allow the possibility that Julius Africanus misunderstood his source, the original reference could have been to the continued existence of partisans or followers (desposynoi) [[[the term discussed above]]] of the two most famous messianic claimants of the time, Jesus the Nazarene and Shimon called Bar Kochba. [/108]

Thanks Stephen. Your explanation also seems to assume some messianic sense of Julius Africanus' place names (and to suggest a different interpretation of this circumstance.)

The Onomasticon by Eusebius

The chronologically next interesting mention of Nazareth can be found in the Onomasticon by Eusebius, which is also available in a Latin translation by Jerome. Eusebius used the spelling "Nazareth" (as notably in Luke and Acts). The additional comment that the place is actually called "Nazara" came from Jerome, not Eusebius. (I checked this in the Greek Codex Vaticanus Gr. 1456.) Eusebius wrote:

Nazareth, from which the Christ is called Nazorean and we, who are now called Christians, were of old called Nazarenes. Today it is still located in the Galilee opposite Legeon about fifteen milestones to the east near Mt. Tabor.

Ναζαρέθ· ὅθεν ὁ Χριστὸς Ναζωραῖος ἐκλήθη, καὶ Ναζαρηνοὶ τὸ παλαιὸν ἡμεῖς οἱ νῦν Χριστιανοί. καὶ εἰς ἔτι νῦν ἐστιν ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ ἀντικρὺ τῆς Λεγεῶνος ὡς ἀπὸ σημείων ιεʹ πρὸς ἀνατολάς, πλησίον τοῦ ὄρους Θαβώρ

This localization is quite interesting because it can be said that today's Nazareth is actually opposite Legeon (= Lejjun, Megiddo, Maximianopolis) on the other side of the Jezreel Valley and not far from Mount Tabor.

JezreelValley2.jpg (71.82 KiB) Viewed 1149 times

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René Salm finds that questionable.

It is questionable from this, however, whether even Eusebius knew exactly where Nazareth was. This can be suspected because, first of all, the route from Legio (at the foot of Mt. Megiddo) was paved by the Romans towards the turn of the era and led to the major town of Diocaesarea (Sepphoris)—not to Mt. Tabor. Diocaesarea is only a couple of miles from Nazareth and one would think that Eusebius would surely signal “Nazareth close to Diocaesarea.” Secondly, Nazareth is located a full five miles away from Mt. Tabor.

Locating Nazareth with reference to Mt. Tabor, however, is interesting theologically. Mt. Tabor was—in early traditions—the site of the Transfiguration (e.g. Origen). The canonical gospels, however, portray that event as having occurred on a mountain near Caesarea Philippi (i.e., Mt. Hermon) farther to the north. Despite the explicit canonical tradition, the stronger non-canonical tradition has won the day in favor of Mt. Tabor, which has always been the acknowledged site of the Transfiguration.

As far as I know, however, the famous "Via Maris" led via Megiddo (Legeon) and from there continued in two main routes, on the one hand southeastwards over Beth-shan and on the other hand northeastwards around Mount Tabor. It therefore does not seem questionable to me to localize Nazareth in relation to Legeon and Mt. Tabor. While Eusebius in the Onomasticon also named some places and their distance from Diocaesarea (Sepphoris), he more often used Legeon or Mt. Tabor as reference point.

Legeon
Another Arbela lies in the Great Plain nine mile north from Legeon.
Aiphraim (Aefraim). City of (tribe of) lot of Issachar. There is a village Aphraia called Aphraia six miles north of Legeōn.
Baithakath (Bethacath). (Village of Samaria) to which Jehu went. There is a village of Samaria (located not more than) fifteen Miles from (the city of) Legeōn in the great plain.
Gabathōn. There is a city called Gabe sixteen miles from Caesarea and another village Gabatha on the boundary of Diocaesarea near the great plain of Legeon.
Thanak (Thaanac). City which Josue besieged and captured (killed) its king. It was given to the tribe of Manasse. Separated to the Levites. Now it (there is a village of this name in the fourth mile) is four miles from Legeon.
Thaanach. The tribe of Manasse did not possess it since they did not expel the heathen from it. Here Debora fought Sisara. Also separated to the Levites. It is now a large village three miles from Legeon.
Ianoun (Ianum). (In) tribe of Juda. A village Ianoua is now three miles south of Legeōn.
Iezrael. (In) tribe of Manasse. Another. There is even now a most famous (very great) village Esdraela in the great plain located between Scythopolis and Legeon.
Itaburion. Aquila and Symmachus (translated) "Thabor." In Oseo. (It is also Mt. Thabor.) Located in the Great plain east of Legeon.

Mt. Tabor
Aksaph (Acsaf). This king Josue also fought. It is reported there is a village (called) Chasalous in the plain below Mt.Thabor eight miles from Diocaesarea.
Aendōr. Which is "in Jezrahel" where the children of Israel prepared for battle. There is now a large town Endor four miles south of Mt.Thabor.
Dabeira (Dabira). City given to (in tribe of) Dan whose king Josue killed. There is another Jewish village on Mt.Thabor in the region of Diocaesarea.
Thabōr. Border of Zebulon. There is a (high and wonderfully rounded) mountain near (in the middle) of the plain (of Galilee) ten miles East of Diocaesarea. It is also the border of the tribes of Issachar and Nephthali.
Itaburion. Aquila and Symmachus (translated) "Thabor." In Oseo. (It is also Mt. Thabor.) Located in the Great plain east of Legeon.
Kisōn. Wadi near Mt.Thabōr where Sisara was fought.
Naein (Naim). Village (city) in which the son of the widow was raised from the dead (The Lord raised). It is today twelve (two) miles south of (Mount) Thabor near Aendor.
Sounēm (Sunem). Lot of (in tribe of) Issachar. There now is a village Soulēm (shown) five miles south of Mt.Thabor.
Sion (Seon or Soen). Lot of (in tribe of) Issachar. Now (there is shown a village) is beside Mt.Thabor.
Sarōn. (Which) Isaia (mentions saying), "Sarōn became a swamp" and the territory from Mt.Thabor to Lake Tiberias is now called Sarōnas
Cheselath Thabor. Lot of (in tribe of) Zabulon.
Chaselath tou Thabōr.
Border of Zabulon. Noted above Chessalous (we spoke of it above under the name Chsalus).

Diocaesarea
There is a village called Araba in the district of Diocaesarea [which was formerly called Safforinia] and another about three miles west of Scythopolis.
Aksaph (Acsaf) This king Josue also fought. It is reported there is a village (called) Chasalous in the plain below Mt.Thabor eight miles from Diocaesarea.
Azanōth Boundary of Nephthali. (Now there is also) a village in the plain in the region of Diocaesarea.
There is a city called Gabe sixteen miles from Caesarea and another village Gabatha on the boundary of Diocaesarea near the great plain of Legeon.
Dabeira (Dabira) There is another Jewish village on Mt.Thabor in the region of Diocaesarea.
Thabōr.501 There is a (high and wonderfully rounded) mountain near (in the middle) of the plain (of Galilee) ten miles East of Diocaesarea. It is also the border of the tribes of Issachar and Nephthali.
There is (shown) another Oullama twelve miles east of Diocaesarea

However, it seems clear that the Onomasticon provides a localization of Nazareth that almost corresponds to the place we know today as Nazareth. A place called Nazareth was known to Eusebius. Either it was the place we now know as Nazareth or it was not far away.

One might note that today's Nazareth lies more to the northeast and probably not exactly fifteen roman miles away from Lejjun. But that seems like nitpicking to me.

Thoughts?

[dbz]

One might note that today's Nazareth lies more to the northeast and probably not exactly fifteen roman miles away from Lejjun. But that seems like nitpicking to me.

• Nitpicking is called for.

.
Salms doubts Eusebius and believes that Empress Helena located Nazareth.

Placing Nazareth on the map
[...]

... If the Empress herself took an interest in it, it would have been the simplest thing for a renaming to have taken place. No one there would have been literate, in all likelihood. Maybe this satellite of Sepphoris didn’t even have a name.

Or maybe this satellite (@Coordinates: 32°42′N 35°18′E) of Sepphoris (@Coordinates: 32°44′N 35°16′E) did have a homophone name or similar enough sounding name for a not to critical Empress Helena.

[StephenGoranson]

Thanks, KK.
I don't have all my Nazareth-related literature at hand, but, off the top of my head, provisionally:
Archaeologists do not agree with Salm's claim that Nazareth was uninhabited circa 1 to 70. Because: mikvah, pottery, etc.
Legio is near Megiddo, though not atop the hill, but in the plain.
If there is a plausible alternate site for Nazareth, I'm not aware of it, despite considerable time in the area during digs at Sepphoris.
If there is a plausible alternate name for Nazareth, I'm not aware of it.
Yes, I agree that Eusebius' measurements cannot be expected to be perfect.
Helena, afaik, was more interested in Judaean sites than those in Galilee.

[dbz]

Given Herod Antipas' extensive development efforts and Josephus' references to the city's central role. It is possible that Sepphoris became an administrative capital somewhere between the early and the late 1st century CE.

When a village approximately 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) from the city-center of Sepphoris—perhaps named Ναζαρὲτ/Nazarét—was first inhabited is irrelevant to the Markan author (who is possibly writing in the 2nd century CE).

The only datum the Markan author was concerned about was that the word Nazarét was a location in the "Galilaía tón ethnón" and that it could be related to/like Nazōraios (Ναζωραῖος).

For the Markan author's purpose Nazarét being 1.7 miles or 17 miles from Sepphoris is irrelevant.

That the Markan author does not explicitly mention Sepphoris, is explicable, if he was referring to the city itself as symbolic of "Galilaía tón ethnón". Or he knew Sepphoris was to close to Nazarét and did want to send a mixed message per Mark 6:4: “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own household.” And thus never deigns to cite Sepphoris.

Kilometre distance	"Legio". Wikipedia. "Coordinates: 32°34′20″N 35°10′13″E"	"Nazareth". Wikipedia. Coordinates: 32°42′07″N 35°18′12″E	"Mount Tabor". Wikipedia. Coordinates: 32°41′14″N 35°23′25″E
"Legio". Wikipedia. "Coordinates: 32°34′20″N 35°10′13″E"		12.1	34.2
"Nazareth". Wikipedia. Coordinates: 32°42′07″N 35°18′12″E	12.1		17.7
"Mount Tabor". Wikipedia. Coordinates: 32°41′14″N 35°23′25″E	34.2	17.7

galilee_map with Jezreel.jpg.png (88.92 KiB) Viewed 1082 times

[Charles Wilson]

If there is a plausible alternate site for Nazareth, I'm not aware of it, despite considerable time in the area during digs at Sepphoris.

Leibner, in Settlements in Galilee... examines Lists of Cities found in the Monumental Synagogues of Galilee and finds no listing for Sepphoris, implying that the city had not been built yet. This would make the tying Sepphoris to a "Nazareth" very problematic for purposes of a "History", much like the location of a "Golgotha".

Existence is not a Predicate and "Sayin' it's so don't make it so."
"Nawt-sar-et" might simply be another made-up name.

CW

[Kunigunde Kreuzerin]

One might note that today's Nazareth lies more to the northeast and probably not exactly fifteen roman miles away from Lejjun. But that seems like nitpicking to me.

• Nitpicking is called for.

I don't think that matters at all.

If we assume that today's Nazareth already existed or was inhabited under this name or a very similar name at the time of Jesus, or at least was inhabited again after the Jewish War, then we can assume that Eusebius' note refers to this Nazareth with high probability. Case closed.

But if we assume that some Christians chose some place in Galilee and claimed that place to be the Nazareth of the Gospels and named it "Nazareth", then Eusebius' note shows that this process of creating a real Nazareth is at least nearly complete. Whether other Christians then changed location again and moved a few miles further ("Let's move a bit to this nice spring of water!") doesn't matter at all. The place Eusebius meant is then at least a "protho-Nazareth" in the process of a Christian creation of the holy land.

imho there would only be a real difference if Eusebius' note would be an interpolation or if it would be a theological localization that did not refer to a real place at all. René Salm seems to want to assert the latter. One would then have to assume that later Christians, following in the literary footsteps of Eusebius, looked for a place in this area in order to identify it as Nazareth.

... for a not to critical Empress Helena.

Helena, afaik, was more interested in Judaean sites than those in Galilee.

Stephen might be right. It appears that there is no reliable source for the claim that Empress Helena was ever in "Nazareth". Just very late pious claims.

The dating of Eusebius' Onomasticon is extremely controversial, but it would in any case predate Helena's journey.

[StephenGoranson]

Sepphoris certainly existed in Hellenistic and Roman times.

[Kunigunde Kreuzerin]

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The famous pilgrim of Bordeaux (c. 333 CE) was not in Nazareth and did not mention it.

Epiphanius and Joseph of Tiberias

Epiphanius mentioned in his Panarion that the former "city" of Nazareth was in his time a village (in agreement with Julius Africanus). He also reported a story about a certain Joseph of Tiberias according to which Emperor Constantine gave Joseph permission to build churches in Jewish towns in Galilee which didn't yet have a Greek, Samaritan or Christian community, namely Tiberias, Diocaesarea, Sepphoris, Nazareth and Capernaum. Nothing is reported about actual building activities in Nazareth or other information about Nazareth. (Epiphanius used the spelling "Nazaret" as notably in Mark and John). Our own Stephen Goranson wrote about it in his dissertation, which is well worth reading.

https://people.duke.edu/~goranson/Josep ... berias.pdf

Since Epiphanius' report is stylistically a narrative, one may question the veracity of this or that detail. Stephen discussed the main points in his dissertation. T.C.G. Thornton (The Stories of Joseph of Tiberias) wrote:

Whatever our opinions about the veracity of some of his stories may be, he was clearly a good raconteur. His stories impressed Constantine and later impressed Epiphanius, and still make interesting reading today.

Ultimately the Panarion does not provide any information that might be important to the discussion here.

Panarion 1.29 - a village (c. 375 CE)

6:8 ... because of his upbringing in the city of Nazaret - now a village - in Joseph's home (ἐν τῇ πόλει αὐτὸν Ναζαρὲτ - κώμῃ δὲ τὰ νῦν οὔσῃ -)


Panarion 1.30 - about Joseph of Tiberias and the Jewish community of Nazareth (c. 325 - 337)

11:7 He went to court, made friends with the Emperor Constantine, and told him his whole story …
11:9 … Josephus asked nothing of the emperor but this very great favour—permission by imperial rescript to build Christ's churches in the Jewish towns and villages where no one had ever been able to found churches, since there are no Greeks, Samaritans or Christians among the population.
11:10 This rule of having no gentiles among them is observed especially at Tiberias, Diocaesarea, Sepphoris, Nazareth and Capernaum.
12:1 After receiving the letter and the authorization along with his title, Josephus came to Tiberias …

[StephenGoranson]

Charles Wilson: Sepphoris is mentioned as inhabited early in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (i.e., before 100 BCE) in Josephus, Antiquities xiii, 12, 5 (338).

dzb: Sepphoris may have been made the capital of Galilee by Herod Antipas before he made Tiberias the capital, in, I think, the 20s.