The Bible & archaeology

Capernaum

In a delightful position on the north western shore, overlooking the beautiful Sea of Galilee, we find the remains of the ancient city of Capernaum, or Kefar Nahum, which means the ' Village of Nahum'.  The name is not found in the Old Testament but it is mentioned by the 1st century historian Josephus, who describes the place and its situation by the lake.

 

Archaeologists are agreed that the city was established in the 2nd century BC.  All that is left today of what was a fairly large town in the time of Jesus, is a ruined synagogue surrounded by the remains of a number of houses and an early Christian church. (The picture shows a reconstruction of the synagogue found in Capernaum.)

 

Some feel that the archaeological remnants of ancient Capernaum have been totally spoiled by the modern structure that has been built over the early church site there.  A Spanish pilgrim named Etheriae wrote that she visited this site in AD 383 and was shown around a church made from the original walls of the Apostle Peter's house.  She also describes seeing a synagogue built with fine stones.   This was no doubt the ruined one seen there now but then in it's prime.  Plaster fragments with 131 inscriptions containing the names of Jesus and Peter indicate that by the end of the first century the place had already become a place of Christian worship.

 

Jesus preached in Capernaum

The gospel records reveal to us that Jesus made Capernaum the centre of his preaching in northern Israel.  They also indicate that he was rejected in his home town of Nazareth:

‘And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali.’ [Matthew 4.13 NKJV]  

These last words also tell us that Capernaum was a regional border town.  Other records tell us that in 1st century times under Roman occupation it was a busy place, located beside the Via Maris, a main highway with a Customs house to collect taxes from the traders and merchants passing through it.  It also had a garrison of soldiers to keep peace and order. 

 

For the Jewish population there was the synagogue as the centre of worship.  The ruins of the one that stands there now are from the fourth century AD, but the foundations of the building which existed at the time of Christ can just be seen at ground level. 

 

Capernaum was also a thriving fishing port. Many of the houses have been positively identified as fishermen's dwellings, mainly by the fishing hooks found buried in the floors. It was from among this particular group of Capernaum's citizens that Jesus decided to recruit his first disciples:

‘Now Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”...And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother… And he called them.’ [Matthew 4.18-21 NKJV] 

So we see in this city of Capernaum, the beginnings of the bringing together of a group of faithful men.  These followers of Jesus then travelled out from the city with Jesus, preaching about the kingdom of God for the next three and a half years.  It was in Capernaum that Jesus also called another disciple:

‘Then he went out again by the sea; And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's post and said to him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him.’ [Mark 2.13,14 NKJV]    

Levi, also called Matthew, was obviously a wealthy and influential citizen of Capernaum.  We find that just after this calling he invited Jesus to his house:

“Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.” [Luke 5.29 NKJV]  

This ‘great number of tax collectors’ helps us to visualise the size, wealth and importance of Capernaum.  This gathering together by Levi of many other leading inhabitants in Capernaum, with Jesus as the principal guest, caused a stir in the city and most certainly brought Jesus to the people's notice.

 

Jesus began to teach in the Capernaum synagogue on the Sabbaths and on one occasion healed a mentally sick man.  Luke tells us that the people ‘were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about him went out into every place in the surrounding region’ [Luke 4.36,37 NKJV].

 

A generous and faithful soldier

Another important person in Capernaum was one of the Roman soldiers, a centurion, possibly the commander of the unit stationed there.  He had a servant who was dying and the healing powers of this extraordinary man Jesus had come to his notice.  This was a man who had carried out his military duties on behalf of the Roman occupying power but had also managed to integrate well into Capernaum's society.  The synagogue in Capernaum had been built by the centurion's generosity and love of the Jewish people and it would seem he had a good understanding of the Jewish faith and their Scriptures.  This man was able to recognise more readily than many of the Jewish population of the city, the authority and power of Jesus.  He felt unworthy to even approach Jesus, so he asked some of his friends, the Jewish elders, to speak to Jesus, begging him to heal the stricken servant. 

 

Here was a man, a Roman soldier, whose word was probably not disobeyed by anybody in Capernaum, displaying humility and a recognition of Jesus that caused even him to marvel, saying to the crowd: 

‘I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel’ [Luke 7.9 NKJV].  

This man's faith in Jesus was such that he knew that Jesus only had to say a word and his servant would be healed and that is just how it happened.  This joyful response of Jesus to the centurion's faith, highlights the differences between this Gentile and the Jewish inhabitants of Capernaum, a contrast that led to their eventual condemnation by Jesus.

 

He performed a number of other miracles in the city, healing many who were sick and troubled, which led to the conversion of many who followed him.  But as time went by they found his teaching hard to follow.  At one of his teaching sessions in the Capernaum synagogue, many of them complained:

“This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” and we read that ‘From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more’ [John 6.60,66 NKJV].  

The city of Capernaum had been privileged to have living in it, for a while, the most wonderful man who has ever walked this earth.  They had witnessed the power given to him by God and his righteousness. The citizens of Capernaum had their day of opportunity but they threw it all away and earned this condemnation from Jesus:  

‘And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you’ [Matthew 11.23,24 NKJV]. 

Sodom was completely destroyed as God had decreed and these words of Jesus were fulfilled in the following centuries as this once prosperous and vibrant city was swept up in the troublous times that followed.  So Capernaum faded into obscurity and became virtually uninhabited, with nobody really sure of its exact location until recent years.