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Caper BerryAid to Bible Understanding
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modern translators (AT; JB; JP; NW; NC [Spanish]) consider that the writer of Ecclesiastes, in this chapter describing the conditions of man in his old age, used a metaphor, as is the case throughout the description, and that ʼavi·yoh·nahʹ refers to the caper berry (as stimulating desire or appetite). This latter view finds support in the renderings of LXX, Vg, Sy and Arabic translations.
The caper plant (Capparis spinosa) may reach a height of three feet (0.9 meter) but usually spreads over the ground in vinelike fashion. It is abundant throughout the Palestine region, often growing from clefts in rocks or spreading over walls or ruins much like ivy. The spiny branches bear rich green oval leaves. The plant flowers in May with large white blossoms, yellow-tipped purple filaments extending out from their centers.
The berries of the plant are not used as much as the small young buds. These are pickled and eaten as a condiment to stimulate appetite, a quality for which they have been known from ancient times. Thus the writer of Ecclesiastes seems to be saying that, when an old man’s sense of taste diminishes and his appetite weakens, even the stimulation of the caper berry is unable to awaken his desire for food.
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CapernaumAid to Bible Understanding
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CAPERNAUM
(Ca·perʹna·um) [village of Nahum, or, town of consolation].
A city of major importance in Jesus’ ministry, located on the NW shores of the Sea of Galilee. It had a tax office, where Jesus called Matthew to be his disciple (Matt. 9:9), and perhaps a military post, for a centurion resided there. (Matt. 8:5) These indications, plus the fact that an attendant of the king, wealthy enough to have slaves, lived there (John 4:46-53), all seem to make it likely that Capernaum was of some size and importance and hence worthy of being called a “city of Galilee.”—Luke 4:31.
Two principal sites have been suggested as the original location of Capernaum. The ruins of Khan Minyeh, situated on the Sea of Galilee at the NE corner of the Plain of Gennesaret, were viewed by many as the probable location of Capernaum, but excavations there indicate that the ruins are of Arabic origin. This leaves Tell Hum, an extensive ruin somewhat less than three miles (4.8 kilometers) farther along the shore to the NE from Khan Minyeh, and about that same distance SW of the point where the Jordan River enters the Sea of Galilee. The coastal plain here is quite narrow, but in ancient times a road led from the Jordan down past Capernaum and through the Plain of Gennesaret to connect with the great Trunk Road, the major highway leading from Mesopotamia and Damascus, through Palestine and on to Egypt. A number of springs flow across the Plain of Gennesaret, emptying into the blue waters of the Sea of Galilee, and the large amount of vegetable matter these springs carry draws large numbers of fish, making the area an excellent location for fishermen.
Early in his ministry, following the marriage at Cana, where his first miracle was performed, Jesus, together with his mother, brothers and disciples, traveled from Cana down to Capernaum, spending a few days there before going up to Jerusalem for the Passover of the year 30 C.E.—John 2:12, 13.
Later, after beginning his great Galilean ministry and while again in Cana, Jesus performed a long-distance miraculous cure of the son of a member of the royal court of Herod Antipas, the sick child being healed in Capernaum though about sixteen miles (25.7 kilometers) away from Cana. (John 4:46-54) The news of this miracle evidently spread quickly to the neighboring towns so that, when Jesus moved on from Cana to his hometown of Nazareth, he could say to his listeners in that city that they would likely ask him to do in Nazareth “the things we heard as having happened in Capernaum.” (Luke 4:16, 23) Leaving Nazareth, where the people had attempted to kill him, Jesus “took up residence in Capernaum beside the sea in the districts of Zebulun and Naphtali” (Matt. 4:13-16; Luke 4:28-31), thereby fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy (9:1, 2) that a great light would be seen in that region by those walking in darkness.
It was possibly along the nearby Plain of Gennesaret, SW of Capernaum, that Jesus again met Peter and Andrew (already his disciples, John 1:35-42) and gave them the express invitation to become his active followers in the ministry, doing the same thereafter for James and John. (Mark 1:16-21) Following this, Jesus preached in the synagogue of Capernaum, healing a demonized man in attendance, and from this strategically located city the report of his preaching and miracles “kept going out into every corner of the surrounding country.” (Luke 4:31-37; Mark 1:21-28) Fishermen Peter and Andrew’s home was in Capernaum, and here Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and after this the house was besieged by persons bringing ill and demon-possessed persons to him for healing.—Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41.
Following a preaching tour of Galilee, accompanied by the four disciples called from the Capernaum vacinity
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