Capernaum – Captive

Capernaum

ka-per'-na-um (Kapernaoum (Textus Receptus), Kapharnaoum (Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Bezae; etc.)): The woe spoken by the Master against this great city has been fulfilled to the uttermost (Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15). So completely has it perished that the very site is a matter of dispute today. In Scripture Capernaum is not mentioned outside the Gospels. When Jesus finally departed from Nazareth, He dwelt in Capernaum (Matthew 4:13) and made it the main center of His activity during a large part of His public ministry. Near by He called the fishermen to follow Him (Mark 1:16), and the publican from the receipt of custom (Matthew 9:9, etc.). It was the scene of many "mighty works" (Matthew 11:23; Mark 1:34). Here Jesus healed the centurion's son (Matthew 8:5, etc.), the nobleman's son (John 4:46), Simon Peter's mother-in-law (Mark 1:31, etc.), and the paralytic (Matthew 9:1, etc.); cast out the unclean spirit (Mark 1:23, etc.); and here also, probably, He raised Jairus' daughter to life (Mark 5:22, etc.). In Capernaum the little child was used to teach the disciples humility, while in the synagogue Jesus delivered His ever-memorable discourse on the bread of life (John 6:1–71). From the notices in the Gospels we gather that Capernaum was a city of considerable importance. Some think that the words "shalt thou be exalted," etc. (Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15), mean that it stood on an elevated site. Perhaps more naturally they refer to the excessive pride of the inhabitants in their city. It was a customs station, and the residence of a high officer of the king (Matthew 9:9; John 4:46, etc.). It was occupied by a detachment of Roman soldiers, whose commander thought the good will of the people worth securing at the expense of building for them a synagogue (Matthew 8:5; Luke 7:5). It stood by the sea (Matthew 4:13) and from John 6:17 ff (compare Matthew 14:34; Mark 6:53), we see that it was either in or near the plain of Gennesaret.

Josephus twice mentions Capernaum. It played no great part in the history of his time, and seems to have declined in importance, as he refers to it as a "village." In battle in el-BaTeichah his horse fell into a quagmire, and he suffered injury which disabled him for further fighting. His soldiers carried him to the village of Capernaum (this reference is however doubtful; the name as it stands is Kepharnomon which Niese corrects to Kepharnokon), whence he was removed to Tarichea (Vita, 72). Again he eulogizes the plain of Gennesaret for its wonderful fruits, and says it is watered by a most fertile fountain which the people of the country call Capharnaum. In the water of this fountain the Coracinus is found (BJ, III, x, 8). Josephus therefore corroborates the Biblical data, and adds the information as to the fountain and the Coracinus fish. The fish however is found in other fountains near the lake, and is therefore no help toward identification.

The two chief rivals for the honor of representing Capernaum are Tell Chum, a ruined site on the lake shore, nearly 2 1/2 miles West of the mouth of the Jordan; and Khan Minyeh fully 2 1/2 miles farther west, at the Northeast corner of the plain of Gennesaret. Dr. Tristram suggested `Ain El-Madowwerah, a large spring enclosed by a circular wall, on the western edge of the plain. But it stands about a mile from the sea; there are no ruins to indicate that any considerable village ever stood here; and the water is available for only a small part of the plain.

In favor of Tell Chum is Eusebius, Onomasticon, Which places Chorazin 2 miles from Capernaum. If Kerazeh is Chorazin, this suits Tell Chum better than Khan Minyeh. To this may be added the testimony of Theodosius (circa 530), Antoninus Martyr (600), and John of Wurtzburg (1100). Jewish tradition speaks of Tankhum, in which are the graves of Nahum and Rabbi Tankhum. Identifying Kerr Nahum with Tankhum, and then deriving Tell Chum from Tankhum, some have sought to vindicate the claims of this site. But every link in that chain of argument is extremely precarious. A highway ran through Tell Chum along which passed the caravans to and from the East; but the place was not in touch with the great north-and-south traffic.

There is also no fountain near Tell Chum answering the description of Josephus. Of recent advocates of Tell Chum, it is sufficient to name Schurer (HJP, IV, 71) and Buhl (GAP, 224 f). In this connection it may be interesting to note that the present writer, when visiting the place recently (1911), drew his boatman's attention to a bit of ruined wall rising above the greenery West of the lagoon, and asked what it was called. Kaniset el Kufry, was the reply, which may be freely rendered, "church of the infidels." This is just the Arabic equivalent of the Jewish "church of the minim."

For Khan Minyeh it may be noted that Gennesaret corresponds to el-Ghuweir, the plain lying on the Northwest shore, and that Khan Minyeh stands at the Northeast extremity of the plain; thus answering, as Tell Chum cannot do, the description of the Gospels. The copious fountains at eT-Tabigha, half a mile to the East, supplied water which was conducted round the face of the rock toward Khan Minyeh at a height which made it possible to water a large portion of the plain. If it be said that Josephus must have been carried to Tell Chum as being nearer the scene of his accident--see however, the comment above--it does not at all follow that he was taken to the nearest place. Arculf (1670) described Capernaum as on a "narrow piece of ground between the mountain and the lake." This does not apply to Tell Chum; but it accurately fits Khan Minyeh. Isaac Chelo (1334) says that Capernaum, then in ruins, had been inhabited by Minim, that is, Jewish converts to Christianity. The name Minyeh may have been derived from them. Quaresimus (1620-26) notes a Khan called Menieh which stood by the site of Capernaum. Between the ruined Khan and the sea there are traces of ancient buildings. Here the road from the East united with that which came down from the North by way of Khan Jubb Yusif, so that this must have been an important center, alike from the military point of view, and for customs. This is the site favored by, among others, G. A. Smith (HGHL, 456 f; EB, under the word) and Conder. Sanday argued in favor of Khan Minyeh in his book, The Sacred Sites of the Gospel, but later, owing to what the present writer thinks a mistaken view of the relation between Tell Chum and the fountain at eT-Tabigha, changed his mind (Expository Times, XV, 100 ff). There is no instance of a fountain 2 miles distant being called by the name of a town. Tell Chum, standing on the sea shore, was independent of this fountain, whose strength also was spent in a westward direction, away from Tell Chum.

The balance of evidence was therefore heavily in favor of Khan Minyeh until Professor R. A. S. Macalister published the results of his researches. He seems to be wrong in rejecting the name Tell Chum in favor of Talchum; and he falls into a curious error regarding the use of the word tell. No one who speaks Arabic, he says, "would ever think of applying the word Tell, `mound,' to this flat widespread ruin." In Egyptian Arabic, however, tell means "ruin"; and Asad Mansur, a man of education whose native language is Arabic, writes: "I do not understand what the objectors mean by the word `tell.' In Arabic `tell' is used for any heap of ruins, or mound. So that the ruins of Tell Chum themselves are today a `tell' " (Expos, April, 1907, 370). Professor Macalister is on surer ground in discussing the pottery found on the rival sites. At Khan Minyeh he found nothing older than the Arabian period, while at Tell Chum pottery of the Roman period abounds--"exactly the period of the glory of Capernaum" (PEFS, April and July, 1907). If this be confirmed by further examination, it disposes of the claim of Khan Minyeh. Important Roman remains have now been found between the ruined Khan and the sea. It is no longer open to doubt that this was the site of a great Roman city. The Roman period however covers a long space. The buildings at Tell Chum are by many assigned to the days of the Antonines. Is it possible from the remains of pottery to make certain that the city flourished in the time of the Herods? If the city at Tell Chum had not yet arisen in the days of Christ, those who dispute its claim to be Capernaum are under no obligation to show which city the ruins represent. They are not the only extensive ruins in the country of whose history we are in ignorance.

W. Ewing

Caph

See KAPH.

Capharsalama

kaf-ar-sal'-a-ma, kaf-ar-sala'-ma (Chapharsalama): The site of an indecisive skirmish between Judas Maccabeus and Nicanor, an officer of the king of Syria and governor of Judea. The situation cannot be precisely fixed but it must have been in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, for Nicanor, after losing 5,000 men, retired with the remainder to "the city of David" (1 Macc 7:26-32). The first part of the word, "Caphar," means village or hamlet; the last part has been identified with Siloam and also with Khirbet Deir Sellam, about 12 1/2 miles West of Jerusalem.

Caphenatha

ka-fen'-a-tha.

See CHAPHENATHA.

Caphira

ka-fi'-ra (Codex Alexandrinus, Kaphira, Codex Vaticanus, Peira): A town whose inhabitants returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (1 Esdras 5:19). It corresponds to CHEPHIRAH (Ezra 2:25), which see.

Caphthorim

kaf'-tho-rim (kaphtorim).

See CAPHTORIM.

Caphtor; Caphtorim

kaf'-tor, kaf'-tor-im (kaphtor, kaphtorim; Kappadokia, Gaphtorieim, Kaphtoriem).

1. First Theory: Crete:

The country and people whence came the Philistines (Genesis 10:14 = 1 Chronicles 1:12 (here the clause "whence went forth the Philistines" should, probably come after Caphtorim); Deuteronomy 2:23; Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7). Jer (loc. cit.) calls it an "island"; there is evidence of ancient connection between Crete and Philistia; and the Philistines are called Cherethites, which may mean Cretans (see CHERETHITES). These considerations have led many to identify Caphtor with the important island of Crete. It should be noted, however, that the word 'i, used by Jeremiah, denotes not only "isle," but also "coastland."

2. Second Theory: Phoenicia:

Ebers (Aegypten und die Bucher Moses, 130 ff) thought that Caphtor represented the Egyptian Kaft-ur, holding that Kaft was the Egyptian name for the colonies of Phoenicians in the Delta, extended to cover the Phoenicians in the north and their colonies. Kaft-ur, therefore, would mean "Greater Phoenicia." But the discovery of Kaptar among the names of countries conquered by Ptolemy Auletes in an inscription on the Temple of Kom Ombo is fatal to this theory.

3. Third Theory: Cilicia:

A third theory would identify Caphtor with the Kafto of the Egyptian inscriptions. As early as the time of Thotmes III the inhabitants of this land, the Kafti, are mentioned in the records. In the trilingual inscription of Canopus the name is rendered in Greek by Phoinike, "Phoenicia." This seems to be an error, as the Kafti portrayed on the monuments have no features in common with the Semites. They certainly represent a western type. It is held that the Egyptian Kafto is a district in Asia Minor, probably Cilicia. The sea- pirates, the purasati, whom Rameses III subdued (circa 1200 BC), entered Syria from the north. The "R" in the name is the Egyptian equivalent of the Semitic "L". Therefore Purasati = Pilishti, "Philistines." And so it is proposed to identify Caphtor with Cilicia. A serious objection to this theory is the absence of the final "r" in Kafto. McCurdy's suggestion (HDB) that it represents a Hebrew waw, written as a vowel-letter in an original Kafto, does not carry conviction.

It is impossible to give a certain decision; but the balance of probability seems still inclined to the first theory.

W. Ewing

Cappadocia

kap-a-do'-shi-a (he Kappadokia): An extensive province in eastern Asia Minor, bounded by the Taurus mountains on the South, the Anti-Taurus and the Euphrates on the East, and, less definitely, by Pontus and Galatia on the North and West. Highest mountain, Argaeus, over 13,000 ft. above sea-level; chief rivers, the Pyramus now Jihan, Sarus now Sihon, and Halys now the Kuzul; most important cities, Caesarea Mazaca, Comana, Miletene now Malatia, and Tyana now Bor. At Malatia the country unrolls itself as a fertile plain; elsewhere the province is for the most part composed of billowy and rather barren uplands, and bleak mountain peaks and pastures.

The Greek geographers called Cappodax the son of Ninyas, thereby tracing the origin of Cappadocian culture to Assyria. Cuneiform tablets from Kul Tepe (Kara Eyuk), deciphered by Professors Pinches and Sayce, show that in the era of Khammurabi (see HAMMURABI) this extensive ruin on the ox-bow of the Halys and near Caesarea Mazaca, was an outpost of the Assyr-Bah Empire. A Hittite civilization followed, from about 2000 BC onward. Malatia, Gurun, Tyana and other old sites contain important and undoubted Hittite remains, while sporadic examples of Hittite art, architecture and inscriptions are found in many places, and the number is being steadily increased by fresh discovery. After the Hittites fade from sight, following the fall of Carchemish, about 718 BC, Cappadocia emerges as a satrapy of Persia. At the time of Alexander the Great it received a top-dressing of Greek culture, and a line of native kings established an independent throne, which lasted until Cappadocia was incorporated in the Roman Empire, 17 AD. Nine rulers bore the name of Ariarathes (the Revised Version (British and American) Arathes) the founder of the dynasty, and two were named Ariobarzanes. One of these kings is referred to in 1 Macc 15:22. The history of this Cappadocian kingdom is involved, obscure and bloody.

Pagan religion had a deep hold upon the population prior to the advent of Christianity. Comana was famous for its worship of the great goddess Ma, who was served, according to Strabo, by 6,000 priestesses, and only second to this was the worship paid to Zeus at Venasa.

Representatives from Cappadocia were present at Pentecost (Acts 2:9), and Peter includes the converts in this province in the address of his letter (1 Peter 1:1). Caesarea became one of the most important early centers of Christianity. Here the Armenian youth of noble blood, Krikore, or Gregory the Illuminator, was instructed in the faith to which he afterward won the formal assent of his whole nation. Here Basil governed the churches of his wide diocese and organized monasticism. His brother, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzen, lived and labored not far away. Cappadocia passed with the rest of Asia Minor into the Byzantine Empire, but from its exposed position early fell under the domination of the Turks, having been conquered by the Seljukians in 1074.

G. E. White

Captain

kap'-tin: In the King James Version there are no fewer than 13 Hebrew words, and 4 different Greek words, which are rendered by this one English word. In the Revised Version (British and American) some of these are rendered by other English words, and so we find for "captain": "marshal" (Jeremiah 27:1–22; Nahum 3:17), "prince" (1 Samuel 9:16), "governor" (Jeremiah 51:23,Jeremiah 51:18), while in the case of one of these Hebrew words a different construction is found altogether (Jeremiah 13:21).

1. In the Old Testament:

Of Hebrew words in the Old Testament rendered by "captain"

(1) the most frequent is sar, which denotes "a military commander," whether of thousands or hundreds or fifties (Numbers 31:48; 1 Samuel 8:12 and many other places). Sar is the chief officer of any department, civil and religious, as well as military--captain of the guard the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), chief of the executioners the Revised Version, margin (Genesis 37:36); chief butler (Genesis 40:9); chief baker (Genesis 40:16); chief of a district (Nehemiah 3:15); chiefs of tribes (Naphtali; Zebulun, Psalms 68:27); chiefs over gangs of slaves (Exodus 1:11); chiefs of the priests and the Levites (Ezra 8:29).

(2) rabh, later Hebrew for chief of the executioners or captain of the guard, a title always given to Nebuzar-adan (2 Kings 25:8 Jeremiah 39:9 ff) and to Arioch (Daniel 2:14). Compare also Rab-mag, chief of the magicians (Jeremiah 39:13), and Ashpenaz, chief of the eunuchs (Daniel 1:3).

(3) ro'sh, "head" over a host (Israel in the wilderness, Numbers 14:4), over tribes (Deuteronomy 29:10, where the Revised Version (British and American) renders "heads"), over thousands (1 Chronicles 12:20). Abijah, king of Judah, before joining battle against Jeroboam, claimed "God himself is with us for our captain" the King James Version, "with us at our head" the Revised Version (British and American) (2 Chronicles 13:12).

(4) shalish, originally the third man in the chariot, who, when the chief occupant was the king, or commander-in-chief, was of the rank of captain (2 Kings 7:2; 2 Kings 9:25), the term "third man" being generalized to mean "a captain" in 2 Kings 10:25; 2 Chronicles 8:9, where "chief of his captains" combines (1) and (4).

(5) naghidh, leader by Divine appointment: of Saul (1 Samuel 9:16, "captain," the King James Version, "prince" the Revised Version (British and American) 1 Samuel 10:1); of David (2 Samuel 5:2); of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:5); with a charge in connection with the temple (2 Chronicles 31:13). It is the word used of Messiah "the prince" (Daniel 9:25), who is also Prince of the Covenant (Daniel 11:22).

(6) nasi', rendered "captain" in the King James Version Numbers 2:3,Numbers 2:5,Numbers 2:7 only, there in the Revised Version (British and American) and in other places, both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), rendered "prince." In 1 Chronicles 7:40 "chief of the princes" combines (3) and (6).

(7) pechah, is found almost entirely in a foreign title denoting "governor," and belongs to the later history of Israel (Nehemiah 2:7,Nehemiah 2:9; Ezra 8:36; Haggai 1:1), rendered "captain" in exclusively foreign associations (1 Kings 20:24; 2 Kings 18:24; Daniel 3:27 f).

(8) qatsin (from root of qadi, Arabic for "judge"), denotes "dictator," almost "usurper," and is found in "rulers of Sodom" the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), "judges of Sodom" the Revised Version, margin (Isaiah 1:10), used of Jephthah in sense of "captain" the King James Version, "chief" the Revised Version (British and American) (Judges 11:6), found combined with (3), "head and captain" (King James Version, "head and chief" the Revised Version (British and American) Judges 11:11). In Joshua 10:24 it denotes commanders of troops, the King James Version "captains of the men of war," the Revised Version (British and American) "chiefs of the men of war."

(9) kar, in Ezekiel 21:22 "to set captains" the King James Version, is translated "to set battering rams" the Revised Version (British and American).

(10) ba`al, only once in "captain of the ward" (Jeremiah 37:13).

(11) Tiphcar, a dignitary belonging to an oriental court, in the King James Version rendered "captain," in the Revised Version (British and American) "marshal" (Nahum 3:17; Jeremiah 51:27).

(12) shalliT, in Daniel 2:15 of Arioch, the king's captain; in Ecclesiastes 8:8 "having power over," and in Ecclesiastes 7:19 used of "mighty men" (the Revised Version (British and American) "rulers").

2. In the New Testament:

Of Greek words rendered by "captain" in New Testament there are the following:

(1) archegos, rendered "captain" in Hebrews 2:10 the King James Version but relegated to the margin in the Revised Version (British and American), where "author" (of their salvation) is preferred, this being the rendering of Hebrews 12:2 the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), "author" (and finisher of our faith), "captain" being still retained in the Revised Version, margin. Compare Acts 3:15 and Acts 5:31, where the same Greek word is rendered "Prince," the Revised Version, margin of the former passage giving "Author." In the Risen and Ascended Christ the various conceptions thus expressed are found to blend.

(2) chiliarchos, the Latin tribunus militum of which there were six to a legion, commanding the six cohorts of which it was composed. In its lit. acceptation it would be "commander of a thousand," and it is so used in Acts 22:28 where it designates the commander of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem, consisting of a cohort, and is rendered "chief captain" (John 18:12; Acts 21:31; Acts 22:24; Acts 24:22). It is used more vaguely in the sense of "military officer" in Mark 6:21; Revelation 6:15; Revelation 19:18.

(3) strategos, used only by Luke in the New Testament, and almost exclusively of

(a) officials in charge of the Temple (Luke 22:4,Luke 22:52; Acts 4:1; Acts 5:24,Acts 5:26). The captain of the Temple had the superintendence of the Levites and priests who were on guard in and around the Temple, and under him were strategoi, who were also captains of the Temple police, although they took their instruction from him as their head. He was not only a priest, but second in dignity only to the high priest himself;

(b) the exception to Luke's general usage is where the word is used of the chief authorities in civil affairs at Philippi; where "the magistrates," as the word is rendered (Acts 16:20 f), called themselves "praetors" (strategoi). In the case of Paul and Silas they placed themselves in peril of removal from their office by ordering them to be beaten, being Romans and uncondemned.

(4) stratopedarches, the captain of the guard to whom Julius of the Augustan band (according to the Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Acts 28:16) delivered Paul and his fellow-prisoners. The word has disappeared from the Revised Version (British and American), but the passage in which it occurs has attestation which satisfies Blass, Sir William Ramsay, and other scholars. It was supposed that this was the captain of the Praetorian guard, but Mommsen and Ramsay believe him to be the princeps peregrinorum castrorum.

See AUGUSTAN BAND; ARMY, ROMAN.

T. Nicol.

Captive

kap'-tiv (shebhi, galah; aichmalotos and its derivatives): The frequent references in the Old Testament to captives as men forcibly deported (from the Hebrew root shabhah) or inhabiting a land foreign to them (from Hebrew galah) reflect the universal practice of the ancient world. The treatment of captives was sometimes barbarous (2 Samuel 8:2) but not always so (2 Kings 6:21,2 Kings 6:22).

See further under ASSIR and WAR.

Figurative: Except in Job 42:10 the figurative use of the idea is confined to the New Testament, where reference is made to the triumphal reign of the Lord Jesus (Luke 4:18; Ephesians 4:8), or, on the other hand, to the power of the devil (2 Timothy 2:26), or of false teachers (2 Timothy 3:6); compare also Romans 7:23; 2 Corinthians 10:5.

See CAPTIVITY.

F. K. Farr