te
of the present Askar, which is, says Zenos, "a village with a spring and
some ancient rock-hewn tombs, about five eighths of a mile north of
Jacob's well."

3. The Nobleman of Capernaum.--The name of the nobleman whose son was
healed by the word of Jesus is not given. Attempts to identify him with
Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas, are based on unreliable tradition.
The family of the nobleman accepted the teachings of Christ. "Joanna the
wife of Chuza Herod's steward" (Luke 8:3) was among the grateful and
honorable women who had been recipients of our Lord's healing ministry,
and who contributed of their substance for the furtherance of His work.
Unconfirmed tradition should not be confounded with authentic history.

4. The Targums are ancient Jewish paraphrases on the scriptures, which
were delivered in the synagogs in the languages of the common people. In
the time of Christ the language spoken by the Jews was not Hebrew, but
an Aramaic dialect. Edersheim states that pure Hebrew was the language
of scholars and of the synagog, and that the public readings from the
scriptures had to be rendered by an interpreter. "In earliest times
indeed," says he, "it was forbidden to the Methurgeman [interpreter] to
read his translation, or to write down a Targum, lest the paraphrase
should be regarded as of equal authority with the original." The use of
written targums was "authoritatively sanctioned before the end of the
second century after Christ. This is the origin of our two oldest extant
Targumim--that of Onkelos (as it is called) on the Pentateuch; and that
on the Prophets, attributed to Jonathan the son of Uzziel. These names
do not indeed, accurately represent the authorship of the oldest
Targumim, which may more correctly be regarded as later and
authoritative recensions of what, in some form, had existed before. But
although these works had their origin in Palestine, it is noteworthy
that in the form in which at present we possess them, they are the
outcome of the schools of Babylon." (_Life and Times of Jesus the
Messiah_, vol. i, pp. 10, 11.)

5. Capernaum.--"The name Capernaum signifies, according to some
authorities, 'the Village of Nahum,' according to others, 'the Village
of Consolation.' As we follow the history of Jesus we shall discover
that many of His mighty works were wrought, and many of His most
impressive words were spoken in Capernaum. The infidelity of the
inhabitants, after all the discourses an