Capernaum - Encyclopedia of The Bible (2024)

CAPERNAUM kə pûr’nĭ əm (Καφαρναούμ, Καπερναούμ; כְּפַר נַחוּם; village of Nahum). A city on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee which served as Jesus’ Galilean home base. The city evidently was named after someone called Nahum but there is no proof that this was Nahum the prophet. The name of the city does not occur in Scripture outside of the gospels.

1. The site. There has been a considerable amount of discussion as to the exact location of Capernaum and the evidence available now is still not entirely conclusive. Two main sites have been suggested, namely Tell Hum and Khirbet or Khan Minya. The latter is situated along the NW coast of the Sea of Galilee on the edge of the plain of Gennesaret about five m. from the place where the Jordan enters the Sea being two and a half m. beyond Tell Hum. Josephus speaks of a place of many springs called Capernaum (Wars. III. x. 8) and, in fact, there are springs at ’Ain et-Tin and ’Ain et-Tabgha which lie between Khan Minya and Tell Hum. There is nothing about the distances involved, however, which will enable one to identify the location of Capernaum with one site or the other. Josephus also informs us that, having been injured in a fall from his horse during operations near Julias (=Bethsaida) close to the Jordan, he was carried into a village named Cepharnome or Capernaum (Life, 72). Some have argued that he would have been carried to the nearest site which would have been Tell Hum. Once again, however, the location of Josephus’ accident is not known with sufficient accuracy to build a strong case and, at the same time, both Khan Minya and Tell Hum were prob. close enough to serve the purpose.

A number of medieval writers identify Khan Minya with Capernaum but that evidence is rather too late to be convincing.

It is now generally agreed that Tell Hum has the best claim to represent the site of Capernaum. The Midrash Rabbah (Shir. III. 10) and the Jerusalem Talmud (Ther. XI. 7) speak of “Tanhum” which appears to be a variation of Nahum, and the Arab. Tell Hum may be a corruption of this. Theodosius (a.d. c. 530) and other Christian writers agree with this identification. Eusebius’ Onomasticon places Capernaum two m. from Chorazin and this suits the identification with Tell Hum better as well.

But the most convincing evidence for the identification of Capernaum with Tell Hum is provided by the excavations carried out there.

2. Archeology. The archeological survey failed to find pottery earlier than the Arab. period at Khan Minya but found ample examples of Rom. pottery at Tell Hum. Thus Khan Minya was prob. not inhabited at the time of Christ. Among the ruins of Tell Hum is an octagonal shaped building referred to as Peter’s house but perhaps more prob. is the ruins of a church built on the traditional site of the house of Peter (see Matt 8:14, 15; Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38, 39).

By far the most impressive ruin at the site is that of an ancient synagogue, however. The detailed description of the approach to “the synagogue of our Lord” given by Sylvia in a.d. 385 corresponds remarkably with the features of the street which lead up to the synagogue at the site. The building itself was about sixty-five ft. long and two stories high and, rather than being built of the local black basalt, was of white limestone. It was a very ornate structure displaying a variety of designs and figures some of which must have been offenses against the law of Moses if taken literally. The Midrash Rabbah (Koh. I. 8) speaks of Capernaum as a place of the Minim or “sectaries” and it may be that the synagogue ornamentation was, even in antiquity, considered to be unorthodox. The building is dated to the second or third cent. a.d. though it may well be a safe assumption that it stands on the site of the synagogue of our Lord’s day mentioned in Luke 7:5 and built by a Rom. centurion. Interestingly, one of the pillars bore the inscr. “Alphaeus, son of Zebedee, son of John, made this column; on him be blessing”—a reminder, perhaps, that John and James and the Zebedee family were prominent residents of the town (Matt 4:21; Mark 1:19; Luke 5:10). Also discovered was a carved manna-pot from the traditional place by the lintel of the door. This would have been visible from the reading desk of the synagogue and it may well have been such a view which suggested Christ’s sermon on the bread of life while in the synagogue at Capernaum (John 6:48-59).

3. Capernaum in the gospels. Judging by the gospel accounts, Capernaum was a city of some considerable importance. It was there that Matthew sat at the “tax office” collecting taxes, possibly on the fish caught in the lake, among other things (Matt 9:9). It was the home of a high ranking government official (John 4:46). A Rom. centurion with his detachment of soldiers also lived there. Their residence was long and significant enough for the centurion to have provided a synagogue for the local Jewish congregation. The question our Lord asked of Capernaum, “Will you be exalted to heaven?” seemingly refers to the city’s attitude of pride and his severe condemnation of the place seems to have been fulfilled in the most literal sense as evidenced by the difficulty of discovering and identifying the site now (Matt 11:23; Luke 10:15).

Jesus seems to have made Capernaum His headquarters in Galilee after leaving Nazareth, possibly because it was a larger population center, possibly because several of His disciples had their homes there (Matt 4:13). It was near this place that he called the fishermen (Matt 4:18; Mark 1:16; Luke 5:1) and the taxcollector (Matt 9:9ff.; Mark 2:13ff.; Luke 5:27ff.) into His service. Many “mighty works” were done in Capernaum including the healing of the centurion’s servant (Matt 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10), the nobleman’s son (John 4:46-54), Peter’s mother-in-law (Matt 8:14, 15; Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38, 39) and the paralytic (Matt 9:2-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26). It was prob. also in Capernaum that He raised the daughter of Jairus (Matt 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56). Here he also cast out the unclean spirit (Mark 1:21-34; Luke 4:31-41) and used the little child to teach humility (Matt 18:1-5; Mark 9:33-37; Luke 9:46-50).

Bibliography G. Dalman, Orte und Wege Jesu (1919), 132-149; E. L. Sukenik, Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece (1934), 7-21; C. C. McCown, Ladder of Progress in Palestine (1943), 257-260, 267-272; J. S. Kennard, “Was Capernaum the Home of Jesus?”, JBL, LXV (1946), 131-141; E. F. F. Bishop, “Jesus and Capernaum,” CBQ, XV (1953), 427-437; C. Kopp, The Holy Places of the Gospels (1963), 171-179.