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Were Synagogues Frequented by the Jews?

Even though the synagogues ruled by the Pharisees were open to all the Jews and they
could attend them on the Sabbaths, this does not mean that all the Jews attended. In fact, from the
available evidence, it appears quite strongly that only very few Jews, relatively speaking, attended
the synagogues regularly. At least, if the size and number of synagogues, of which records exist,
are any guide, and they obviously do represent a guide, then we can safely say that very few of the
Common People attended the synagogues with regularity.

Take as an example the Capernaum Synagogue.

Capernaum Synagogue

It is a matter of history, recorded in the New Testament, that there was only ONE syna-
gogue in the city of Capernaum in Galilee and even that was built by a Gentile (Luke 7:1-5). That
ONLY ONE synagogue existed in such a large city SURPRISES even Edersheim (one of the fore-
most Jewish writers on early Judaism), because Capernaum was very significant in New Testa-
ment times and had a considerable Jewish population. See Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,
vol. i, pp. 365, 432, 433.

The ruins of this synagogue shows that it would have probably seated around 500 people at
the very most. This was certainly not large for the city of Capernaum.

Josephus tells us that there was no city or village (township) in all of Galilee that had less
than 15,000 inhabitants (Wars of the Jews, iii, 3, 3). There is no reason to doubt Josephus' state-
ment regarding this, for he should have known. He was governor of the province of Galilee under
the Romans and was well aware of the number of his constituents, especially since he was respon-
sible for collecting taxes from them. So, from Josephus, we can be certain that Capernaum had at
least 15,000 inhabitants, but from other evidence which shows its political importance in Galilee,
there must have been considerable more inhabitants.

Most of the people in Galilee were Jews (Mathews, History of New Testament Times in
Palestine, p. 149). And of this Galilean population it is said that "no region was more punctual in
observance of the Sabbaths and feasts" (ibid., p. 150). And yet there was only one synagogue in
Capernaum -- one of the chief cities of Galilee.

The importance of Capernaum in New Testament times has been recognized by our
contemporary historians ( International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. i, p. 566). It is
known that the city was the residence of a high officer of the king (John 4:46) and significant
enough to have a customs station (Matt. 9:9 and 17:24).

Nonetheless, even being one of the chief cities of Galilee and having a considerable Jew-
ish population it had ONLY ONE synagogue. (In the New Testament the definite Greek article is
used, which indicates only one synagogue). It would have been virtually impossible to get even
10% of the Jewish population into this synagogue for Sabbath services. This serves to indicate
that only a small minority of the Jews attended.
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