Nazarene
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Nazarene, in the New Testament, a title applied to Jesus and, later, to those who followed his teachings (Acts 24:5). In the Greek text there appear two forms of the word: the simple form, Nazarēnos, meaning “of Nazareth,” and the peculiar form, Nazōraios. Before its association with the locality, this latter term may have referred to a Jewish sect of “observants,” or “devotees,” and was later transferred to the Christians.
The term Nazarene is also applied to a Syrian Judeo-Christian sect of the 4th century ad. Although they accepted the divinity of Christ and his supernatural birth, the Nazarenes also maintained strict observance of Jewish laws and customs, a practice that had been dropped by the majority of Jewish Christians. They used a version of the Gospel in Aramaic called the Gospel According to the Hebrews, or the Gospel of the Nazarenes. Their relation to the Judeo-Christian sect of the Ebionites remains uncertain.
![Christ as Ruler, with the Apostles and Evangelists (represented by the beasts). The female figures are believed to be either Santa Pudenziana and Santa Praxedes or symbols of the Jewish and Gentile churches. Mosaic in the apse of Santa Pudenziana, Rome,A](https://cdn.britannica.com/10/58810-050-09BA4000/Christ-Ruler-Apostles-Evangelists-figures-Santa-Pudenziana-417-ce.jpg)
Arabs and Jews today employ the word Nazarene as a general designation for those of the Christian faith.