What Does Netzarim Mean?

Netzarim is the plural form of the Hebrew word Netzar, which means sprout. The name Netzarim is used as to describe those who follow the faith once delivered to the disciples of Yahushua the Messiah. In the Tanakh, we can see multiple prophecies which show that Yahushua was the Messiah and that give us a better definition of what a Netzar is.

Yahushua (commonly called Jesus) was from the city of Nazareth. In Mattityahu 2:23, it says:

"And he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene."

Jewish skeptics use this as proof that Yahushua was not the Messiah, because nowhere in the Nevi'im did anybody say that the Messiah would be a Nazarene. However, it does imply this in multiple verses of the Old Testament. In Yeshayahu 11:1:

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Yishai; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." Yirmeyahu 23:5 says:

The days are coming,” declares YHWH,

“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,

a King who will reign wisely

and do what is just and right in the land.

Yirmeyahu 33:15 says:

"'In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land."

Branch is capitalized because it represents the Messiah, the one who will come out of the Root of David. In Yirmeyahu 33:15, it says the Righteous Branch will sprout from David's line. Remember, the word for sprout in Hebrew is Netzar. If we rewrite these verses with the Hebrew, we will see this:

"A shoot will come out from the stump of Yishai, from his roots (David) a Branch (Yahushua) will bear fruit.

The days are coming, declares YHWH, "when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch."

In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line (the Netzar); he will do what is just and right in the land.

These three verses show that from the Stump of Yishai and the Root of David, a Branch will sprout out. In Mattityahu, it should say "that he would be called a Netzar, or Netzarim." Yahushua is the righteous branch, and we are the sprouts who come from that branch, or, his followers: the Netzarim.