Matthew 11:21

Χοραζίν, Βηθσαϊδάν : the former not again mentioned in Gospels, the latter seldom (vide Mark 6:45; Mark 8:22; Luke 9:10), yet scenes of important evangelic incidents, probably connected with the synagogue ministry in Galilee (Matthew 4:23). The Gospels are brief records of a ministry crowded with events. These two towns may be named along with Capernaum because all three were in view where Christ stood when He uttered the reproachful words, say on the top of the hill above Capernaum: Bethsaida on the eastern shore or Jordan, just above where it falls into the lake; Chorazin on the western side on the road to Tyre from Capernaum (Furrer, Wanderungen, p. 370). They may also have been prosperous business centres selected to represent the commercial side of Jewish national life. Hence the reference to Tyre and Sidon, often the subject of prophetic animadversion, yet not so blameworthy in their impenitence as the cities which had seen Christ's works. ἐν σάκκῳ καὶ σποδῷ : in black sackcloth, and with ashes on the head, or sitting in ashes like Job (Matthew 2:8).