Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells in mount Zion.
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Jerome
AD 420
First it must be noted that Matthew’s Gospel uses the text of the Septuagint, not the Hebrew: “Jesus, hearing that John had been handed over, departed to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is near the sea at the end of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ‘In the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, by the way of the sea across the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who sat in the region of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’ From that moment, Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘The kingdom of heaven approaches.’ ” And the evangelist John reports that Jesus performed his first sign, changing water into wine, when he was invited to attend a wedding in Cana with his disciples: “Jesus performed the first of his signs in Cana of Galilee and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.” Hence, the Septuagint reads, “Drink this first and do it quickly.” For the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were the first to see the miracles of Christ, that they who first saw the Lord perform a sign would be the first to drink the potion of faith. According to the Hebrew, it is also said to be the first time that the [lifting of the] burden of sins was revealed, because the Savior first preached the gospel in the region of these two tribes.…
But it calls this sea the lake of Gennesaret, which is formed from the influx of the Jordan. On its shore are situated Capernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida and Chorazin, in whose regions the Lord spent a great deal of time. He did so to enable the people who sat or walked in darkness to see the light—not a little light as from other prophets but a great light, as from him who said in the Gospel, “I am the light of the world.” And upon those who lived in the region of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. This region lies between death and the shadow of death, I believe, because death belongs to those who directed themselves straight to the underworld with their dead works: “For the soul that sins will die.” But the shadow of death pertains to those who do not depart from life when they sin, for they are still able to do penance if they wish.
