Amongst the ruins of Tell Hum, the most interesting and important are those of a synagogue apparently of the Roman period. It was built of white marble, with finely carved Corinthian columns, and sculptures of the seven-branched candlestick, the paschal lamb, and the pot of manna. If Tell Hum be indeed the site of Capernaum this ruined synagogue becomes invested with an interest absolutely unique, for it is the only edifice now remaining which we can, with any probability, associate with the personal history of our Lord. It was here that “He taught on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at His doctrine: for His word was with power.” Here, too, He cast out the unclean spirit who acknowledged Him as “the Holy One of God,” and, amid the murmurs of the Pharisees, healed the man with a withered hand.[267] Whilst the ruins are unmistakably those of a Jewish synagogue, the Corinthian columns seem to indicate a Roman element and feeling at work in the construction. It is thus, at least, a plausible conjecture that this is the very edifice referred to by “the elders of the Jews” when pleading on behalf of the centurion they said, “he loveth our nation, and he hath built us the (τὴν) synagogue.[268]” Captain Wilson, cautious and careful almost to excess as he is, says, “If Tell Hum be Capernaum, this is without doubt the synagogue built by the Roman centurion, and one of the most sacred places on earth.” It was in this building that our Lord gave the well-known discourse in John vi.; and it was not without a certain strange feeling, that on turning over a large block, we found the pot of manna engraved on its face, and remembered the words, “I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead.”[269] [Illustration: _From a Photograph by the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1866._ RUINS OF TELL HUM. ] But we must leave, though reluctantly, this hallowed spot with its inexhaustible treasures of sacred associations. As we do so the words of McCheyne rise to our lips: “How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave, O Sea of Galilee; For the glorious One who came to save, Hath often stood by thee. “It is not that the wild gazelle Comes down to drink thy tide; But He that was pierced to save from hell, Oft wandered by thy side. “Graceful around thee the mountains meet, Thou calm, reposing sea; But, oh, far more! the beautiful feet Of Jesus walked o’er thee. “O Saviour, gone to God’s right hand, But the same Saviour still; Graved on thy heart is this lovely strand, And every fragrant hill.” [Illustration: THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH, FROM NEAR KHAN MINYEH.] [Illustration: Head-Piece—Lake Hûleh] GENNESARETH TO THE SOURCES OF THE JORDAN.