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Capernaum

American  
[kuh-pur-ney-uhm, -nee-] / kəˈpɜr neɪ əm, -ni- /

noun

  1. an ancient site in N Israel, on the Sea of Galilee: center of Jesus' ministry in Galilee.


Capernaum British  
/ kəˈpɜːnɪəm /

noun

  1. a ruined town in N Israel, on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee: closely associated with Jesus Christ during his ministry

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What was Capernaum? Capernaum was an ancient village located in the region of Galilee, which is now part of northern Israel. Capernaum was the location of Jesus Christ’s ministry. Around 300 b.c.e., the village of Capernaum was located in what is now northern Israel and eventually became a trading village with a population of 1,500 people. However, this village is remembered today because the central figure of Christianity, Jesus, lived and taught there, first mentioned in Matthew 4:13 in the Christian Bible. Interestingly, Capernaum is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament, perhaps because it hadn’t been built when the books of the Old Testament were written. Today, the town of Kfar Nahum is located on the site where Capernaum once stood and is a popular tourist destination in Israel.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Producers are building a full-size recreation of first-century Capernaum, the town where Peter lived and where Jesus worshipped in the local synagogue, along with a 30,000-square-foot soundstage.

From Washington Times • Jul. 7, 2021

There were a few locks, like Mexico's "Roma," from director Alfonso Cuaron, Lebanon's "Capernaum" and even Japan's "Shoplifters."

From Fox News • Dec. 6, 2018

The Jury Prize went to Lebanese director Nadine Labaki for Capernaum, a film about a street urchin who sues his own family.

From Slate • May 19, 2018

And when this precious child is 12, she is welcome to attend Capernaum, free every week, to kids 12-21 with serious disabilities through Young Life.

From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2018

An opportunity occurred for this: some inhabitants of Cana, a small village Of Galilee Superior, at the distance of about fifteen leagues from Capernaum, invited Jesus and his mother to a wedding.

From Ecce Homo! A Critical Inquiry into the History of Jesus of Nazareth: Being a Rational Analysis of the Gospels by Holbach, Paul Henry Thiry Baron d'