Hey, there. Welcome to the Investigators Guide to the Bible. We ended last time in the hills of Galilee so let’s move west of there to a little town called Nazareth! I have to be honest. When I started this investigation, I never realized how far I would stray from Nazareth, just to bring us right back there. I hope to shatter a few myths about the hometown of Jesus. We’ll talk about prophecy, history, and I’ll give you the inside poop on, well, poop. What more could you ask for? Like and subscribe for new episodes. Share the episode with everyone you know. First one to bring in a hundred subscribers gets a cookie! Ready? “O Little Town of…Nazareth?”
Resources and References so I can pretend I’m really smart:
* Most Bible quotes I used come from the New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2010 This is just my working Bible for most of these episodes. Any Bible you use will be fine for all of the Biblical references.
If you read something that is not a direct quote and think the brilliant thought might be mine, it is safer to assume I messed up the citation. Give credit to the super smart people below.
1. Pixner, Bargil, O.S.B. With Jesus Through Galilee According to the Fifth Gospel. Rosh Pina, Israel: Corazin Publishing, 1992
2. Jensen, Morten Horning. “The Political History in Galilee from the First Century BCE to the End of the Second Century CE,” Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, Volume 1, Editors: David A. Fiensy, James Riley Strange. Montenegro: Fortress Press, 2014
3. Alexandre, Yardenna. “The Settlement History of Nazareth in the Iron Age and Early Roman Period.” ‘Atiquot, Volume 98, pages 25-92. Jerusalem: Ayalon Printing, 2020
4. Crossen, John Dominic and Reed, Jonathan L. Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001
5. Pixner, Bargil, O.S.B. Paths of the Messiah: Messianic Sites in Galilee and Jerusalem. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010
6. Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History, Book 1. Translated by Arthur Cushman McGiffert. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1890.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
7. Charlesworth, James H., and Mordekhai Aviʿam. "Reconstructing First-Century Galilee: Reflections on Ten Major Problems." Jesus Research: New Methodologies and Perceptions: 103-137. United Kingdom: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014
8. Africanus, Julius. “The Epistle to Aristides.” Translator unknown. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
9. Keys, David. “New archaeological evidence from Nazareth reveals religious and political environment in era of Jesus.” The Independent, 17 Apr 2020 (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/jesus-home-town-nazareth-archaeological-discovery-research-a9470716.html, accessed 13 Oct 2022)
10. Leibner, Uzi. Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee. Tubingen, GE: Mohr Siebeck, 2012
11. BiblePlaces.com (No author noted). “Sepphoris.” BiblePlaces website. BiblePlaces, undated. (https://www.bibleplaces.com/sepphoris/, accessed 7 Aug 2025)
12. Jensen, Morten Horning. “The Galilean Cradle of Jesus and His Followers,” Chosen to Follow: Jewish Believers Through History and Today, edited by Jakob Wilms Nielsen and Knut Helge Hoyland, Caspari Center, 2012.
13. Dark, Ken. “The Archaeology of Nazareth in the Early First Century.” The Bible and Interpretation, July 2020. (https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/archaeology-nazareth-early-first-century, accessed 13 Oct 2022)
14. Philo, edited by Fred. C. Conybeare. About the Contemplative Life. New York: Oxford Clarendon Press, 1895
15. Schiffman, Lawrence H. “Philo, Every Good Man is Free XII, 75-87: Description of the Essenes,” Texts and Traditions, Ktav, Hoboken 1998, p.282-284 (The Center for Online Judaic Studies, undated, http://cojs.org/philo-_every_good_man_is_free_xii-_75-87-_description_of_the_essenes/, accessed 9 Dec 2022)
16. Mishnah, Online Version from Sefaria (https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.17b?lang=bi, accessed frequently between 2021 and 2025.)
17. Jensen, Morten Horning. “Herod Antipas in Galilee: Friend or Foe of the Historical Jesus?” Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, 5.1, p. 7-32, 2007.
18. Aslan, Reza. Zealot: The Life and Times Of Jesus of Nazareth. NY: Random House, 2013
19. Safrai, Schmuel. “Jesus and the Hasidim.” Jerusalem Perspective, Numbers 42,43 and 44. Tel-Aviv: Sabinsky Press, 1994
Josephus, Flavius. The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by William Whiston, PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK. Release Date: 10 Jan 2009 [EBook #2850], Updated: 3 Aug 2013 (available at https://archive.org/details/CompleteWorksOfJosephusTranslatedByWilliamWhiston1737)
