Wall of the Synagogue at Capernaum
After the marriage in Cana of Galilee He, with members of His family and with His disciples, went down to Capernaum. Here He lived after leaving Nazareth. It was an important center of travel on the highway between Rome and Greece in the West, and Damascus and the Euphrates in the East. There was a custom house at Capernaum and Matthew was a collector of customs. It had a garrison also, because a centurion, a Roman officer of rank, lived here. The best authority regards Tell Hum as the site of Capernaum. The view we see is of large stones which are said to have been part of the synagogue which stood in this city. A new monastery has just been erected here. The place is thickly set in briars and weeds, and it is with difficulty that we manage to get our horses through the fields down to the place of the ruins. In 1887 the writer sailed from Tiberias to Tell Hum when the sun was near its setting. We remained for a time at this place of ruins. Lizards crawled over prostrate columns; we see a few wild flowers, bits of green moss clinging to the stones and tall stalks of oleander, with buds ready to blossom. A dead silence reigns over the broad plain that stretches out toward the Jordan where it enters the north end of Genezareth. The sun goes to his setting. And this is all we could recall of the visit to that Capernaum over which in its days of prosperity our King and Master cried, “Woe unto thee, Capernaum!” The archaeologists say that the ruins at Capernaum indicate work “more massive and in a higher style” than at any place in Galilee where such ruins appear.
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