Ancient Town
Chorazin
koh-RAY-zin · Modern Korazim National Park, Israel · 32.9111° N, 35.5628° E
Chorazin (Korazim) was a Jewish town on a plateau in the Upper Galilee, about 2.5 miles north of Capernaum above the Sea of Galilee. It is one of three towns — with Bethsaida and Capernaum — that Jesus denounced for failing to repent despite witnessing his miracles there (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 10:13-15).
Archaeology
Excavations beginning in 1905 uncovered a town built almost entirely of local black basalt, including a monumental synagogue with carved stone benches decorated with lions and vines. In 1926 excavators found a basalt "Seat of Moses" chair, widely connected to Jesus's reference to scribes and Pharisees who "sit in Moses' seat" (Matthew 23:2-3). The synagogue's precise date is scholarly-debated, with proposals ranging from the 2nd-3rd century (Kohl and Watzinger's original excavation and stylistic dating) to the late 3rd-4th century (the long-standing consensus view) to as late as the 5th century AD (per Jodi Magness's stratigraphic and numismatic re-dating).
On a modern map
Further reading
Reflect
Chorazin saw miracles and stayed unmoved — what good things have you seen so often they no longer move you?
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