Luke 1:26

The sixth month. [The Annunciation, Luke 1:26-38. See The Nativity; a Suggestive Chronology of Christ’s Birth.] That is, the sixth month after the appearance of Gabriel to Zacharias (v. 11), and Elizabeth’s conception (v. 24), as specifically stated by the angel (see v. 36).

Gabriel. See on vs. 11, 19.

Nazareth. An obscure Galilean town not mentioned in the OT or the Talmud, or included by Josephus in a list of 204 towns of Galilee (see on Matt. 2:23). The childhood and youth of Jesus, the period on which the Scriptures are comparatively silent, were spent in a locality concerning which historical records are largely silent. Here, in a small community, Jesus was free from the rabbinical influence of larger Jewish centers, and also from pagan Greek culture that pervaded “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matt. 4:15). The common attitude of the Jews toward Nazareth is reflected in the retort of Nathanael to Philip: “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46), and of the Pharisees to Nicodemus, “Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet” (John 7:52). See illustration facing p. 512.

The fact that Luke locates both Mary and Joseph as living in Nazareth and specifically calls it “their own city” (ch. 2:39) is evidence of the historical accuracy of the gospel narrative. Had he, or others from whom he had received his information (vs. 1-3), invented the story, they would have sought to have Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem throughout the narrative of Christ’s conception and birth, rather than in a city of Galilee, particularly in view of the unfavorable reputation of Galilee in general and of Nazareth in particular. The fact that Matthew does not mention Nazareth in connection with events preceding the birth of Jesus (see Matt. 1:18-25) bears witness also to the independent nature of the evidence recorded in the two Gospels. Had there been collusion between the various gospel writers, with an intent to deceive, they would have taken greater care to give their accounts at least the semblance of superficial similarity — which is not the case. Luke’s explanatory statement that Nazareth was “a city of Galilee” may be evidence, as some think, that Luke was writing for nonresidents of Palestine, who would be unfamiliar with so obscure a town.