prophecy, was fixed as
the main scene of His Messianic activity, vers. 14-16. It was there,
therefore, that He continued the preaching of John, ver. 17.--[Greek:
Kai katalipon ten Nazaret]--it is said in ver. 13--[Greek: elthon
katokesen eis Kapernaoum ten parathalassian, en horiois Zaboulon kai
Nephthaleim.] Christ had hitherto had His settled abode at Nazareth,
and thence undertook His wanderings. The immediate reason why He did
not remain there is not stated by Matthew; but we learn it from Luke
and John. In accordance with his object, Matthew takes cognizance of
this one circumstance only, that, according to the prophecy of the Old
Testament, Capernaum was very specially fitted for being the residence
of Christ. The town was situated on the western shore of the Lake of
Gennesareth. Quite in opposition to his custom elsewhere, Matthew
describes the situation of the town 80 minutely, because this knowledge
served to afford a better insight into the fulfilment of the prophecy
of the Old Testament. The designation [Greek: ten parathalassian]
stands in reference to [Greek: hodon thalasses], in ver. 15. [Greek: En
horiois], &c., may either mean: "In the borders of Zebulun and
Naphtali," _i. e._ in that place where [Pg 79] the borders of both the
countries meet,--or [Greek: ta horia] may, according to the analogy of
the Hebrew [Hebrew: gbvliM], denote the borders in the sense of
"territory," as in Matt. ii. 16. From a comparison of [Greek: ge
Zaboulon kai Nephthaleim] of the prophecy in ver. 15, to which the
words stand in direct reference, it follows that the latter view is the
correct one. Whether Capernaum lay just on the borders between the two
countries was of no consequence to the prophecy, and hence was of none
to Matthew.--The phrase [Greek: hina plerothe] does not, according to
the very sound remark of _De Wette_, point to the intention, but to the
objective aim. The question, however, is to what the [Greek: hina
plerothe] is to be referred,--whether merely to that which immediately
precedes, viz., the change of residence from Nazareth to Capernaum, or,
at the same time to [Greek: anechoresen eis ten Galilaian]. The latter
is alone correct. The prophecy which the Evangelist has in view
referred mainly to Galilee, or the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali in
general; but, according to the express remark of the Evangelist,
Nazareth itself was likewise situated in Galilee. The advantage which
Capernaum had over it was