And leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
This passage tells how Jesus left Nazareth, the city of his childhood, and moved to Capernaum, a city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, located within the borders of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. This move marks a new stage of his ministry and shows the fulfillment of the divine plan, which, as is said in the next verse, the prophet Isaiah had foretold (Isa. 9:1–2). Capernaum became the main center of Jesus’ activity, a place whose mixed population of nations symbolized that the light of salvation would spread not only over Israel, but also over the whole world. Thus, Jesus’ settling in Capernaum shows that the word of the prophets is being fulfilled, and that light appears in places that until then were considered to be in spiritual darkness.