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Luke's short story about Jesus raising up
the widow's son evokes a number of biblical
memories. First of all: the name of
the town indicates it lies within the
territory given to the Israelite tribe of
Issachar. On his deathbed, Jacob
blessed his fifth son saying, "Issachar saw
that rest was good and that the land was
pleasant." (Genesis 49: 15) Na-ee-ma meaning
pleasant was shortened by the Greeks to
Nain. Nain was a hamlet just off the main
highway traveled by Galilean pilgrims to
Jerusalem. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Territory of the tribe of Issachar, as
seen from Nazareth |
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Nain was located on the same hill as Shunem.
Nain is on its northern side and Shunem on
its southern side. Shunem is where Elisha raised up the son of the wealthy
woman who had been childless. Whenever
the prophet was in the vicinity of Shunem he
would stay in the roof chamber which had
been especially outfitted for his comfort.
In return, Elisha prophesized that the woman
would conceive and she did. But one
day the son was struck with an excruciating
headache and died.
The Shunammite woman hurried to fetch Elisha
who dwelled at Mount Carmel. Elisha sent his
personal aide and body guard Gehazi ahead to
Shunem to lay Elisha's staff upon the face
of the child. But to no avail.
There was no sound of life. Then
Elisha arrived and prayed to the Lord.
Elisha laid upon the child, mouth to mouth,
eye to eye and hand upon hand until he felt
the child's flesh become warm. After
the child sneezed seven times, he opened his
eyes. |
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Photo: Gila Yudkin |
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Nain is located at the
foot of the northern side of Mount (or Hill
of)
Moreh |
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Jesus' raising up the widow's son recalls
yet another miracle, this time performed by
Elisha's mentor, Elijah. It was not at
Nain, but at Zaretha in the territory of the
Phoenicians that Elijah met the widow whom
he fed with a bottomless jar of meal and jug
of oil. When the widow's son fell ill
and died, Elijah carried him to the upper
chamber where he was lodging and laid the
boy on the bed. Elijah prayed and
stretched out over the boy three times.
The story ends with "And Elijah gave him to
his mother." (First Kings 17) |
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So is it any wonder that when "Jesus gave
him to his mother" (Luke 7:15), the
townspeople, remembering the acts of Elisha
and Elijah, glorified God saying, "A great
prophet has risen among us!" |
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Nain today has a rustic late 19th century
red tiled roofed church which reminds me of
the country churches scattered around the
New England of my childhood. Nain, in
fact, was first identified by Connecticut
Yankee Edward Robinson who was traveling
about the holy land with his missionary
friend Eli Smith in 1838. He described
Nain as a hamlet with just a few families,
as it had been during Jesus' day. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Local church at Nain |
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Three decades later Mark Twain visited Nain,
which consisted of a few villagers and a
little mosque supposedly built over the
house of the widow. An appalled Mark
Twain described some members from his
entourage breaking off parts of the
foundation walls to carry home as souvenirs.
They had to stamp rudely with booted feet
upon the mosque's sacred carpets to do so.
America's foremost humorist protested in his
best seller Innocents Abroad,
"Suppose a party of armed foreigners were to
enter a village church in America and break
ornaments from the altar railings for
curiosities, and climb up and walk upon the
Bible and the pulpit cushions?" |
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I daresay that our pilgrims today are a bit
more considerate! |
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Nain is a pleasant place to remember loved
ones who died in childhood. During one
recent visit, my tour host called out for
prayers to comfort those who grieve the
death of a child. There can be no more
appropriate place than Nain! |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Nain with Mount Tabor in
the background, to the right |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Mount Tabor is just a few
miles NW of Nain |
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Copyright
2012 by Gila Yudkin |
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Note the proximity of Nain
and Shunem -- both are at the foot of Mount
Moreh |
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Copyright 2012 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
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Gila Yudkin, a Connecticut-born Yankee
living in King David’s Court, has been
guiding pilgrims around the holy land for
more than three decades. Only once has
she seen a pilgrim (actually it was a tour
host!) cart off a mud-brick from a holy
site. Gila's tours are a mix of
biblical fun, facts and fantasy as she adds
color and contour to your favorite Sunday
School stories. You are welcome to
book
Gila for your individual or group
customized tour. |
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If you are a fan of Mark Twain, American's
favorite humorist, don't miss
Mark Twain's tips for holy land pilgrims. |
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Besides Nain, Connecticut Yankee Edward
Robinson identified the biblical sites of
Capernaum, Dan and Bethsaida. Read
more about this
brilliant holy land explorer
and geographer.
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