It's highly likely none of the writers of the synoptic gospels in which those specific details are found had ever been to Galilee, let alone Nazareth.
Total nonsense. However, I don't want to get diverted too much. See below, where I discuss Luke.
The mention of a "synagogue" is set in a period in which dedicated synagogue buildings were still rare and Sabbath assemblies could and did take place anywhere.
Clearly, sabbath assemblies could take place at homes. Especially where there was no synagogue building.
The evidence is quite reasonable that the New Testament references are to dedicated buildings, although they could be small by our standards. Jesus is going into the synagogue, and teaching in the synagogue.
Mark 1:21
And they went into Capernaum;
and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
This one with Paul at Corinth makes it super-clear, the house of Justus was attached to the synagogue building.
Acts 18:7
And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus,
one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.
This is the most recent discovery.
Archaeologists in Galilee unearth synagogue from Jesus's time |
www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-in-galilee-unearth-synagogue-from-jesuss-time/"... Until the find, synagogues from that time, known as the Second Temple Period after the Jewish temple that stood in Jerusalem, have only been found in urban centers"
Synagogues in Israel from before the destruction of the Temple are said to have been unearthed at:
Capernaum, Nazareth, Gamla, Tel Rechesh, Masada, Magdala, Jericho, and Herodium
scwtenor.com/harmony/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/JesusintheSynagoguesandTemple.pdfClearly, there has been lots of debate about dating synagogues in and around the Galilean region.
This includes some above and others at Arbel, Chorazin, Meiron, Beth Alpha, Hammat Gadarr
The New Testament specifically mentions the synagogues in Capernaum and Nazareth in Galilee.
Here are the Nazareth references.
Luke 4:16
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up:
and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Matthew 13:54
And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue,
insomuch that they were astonished, and said,
Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Mark 6:2
And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue:
and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things?
and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
The real Nazareth, when unearthed, will have a synagogue building, consistent with the New Testament.
Luke was also accurate in talking of the synagogues in Thessalonica, Corinth and Athens. He was accurate in Israel, and out.
He very possibly had been a priest.
Acts 6:7
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly;
and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
And wrote Luke to the "most excellent" high priest Theophilus and Acts to the same Theophilus much later, when he was no longer high priest.
So of course he knew Israel well.
Here is a good analysis of the Capernaum synagogue.
Jews, Christians and 'MiniM': who really Built and used the synagogue at Capernaum – a stirring appraisal (2014)
Benjamin V. Arubas and Rina Talgam
www.academia.edu/25379485/Jews_Christians_and_MiniM_who_really_Built_and_used_the_synagogue_at_Capernaum_a_stirring_appraisalWhat exactly did happen there and what made it possible? We hold the view that the assemblage of evidence regarding Capernaum points to the following scenario: At the end of the Second Temple period Capernaum had a synagogue made of basalt, of the type recently discovered at nearby Magdala. Jesus apparently taught and preached in this kind of building, as mentioned in the New Testament. The remains of this synagogue were most probably removed or buried beneath the monumental synagogue built of limestone, which was erected by the local Jewish community in the 3rd century. The facade of this building was decorated with stone carvings. None of the villagers was then of the opinion that some traces of the synagogue from the Second Temple period should be preserved as historical evidence of Jesus’ activity,since the process of tracing the holy places throughout the territory Palaestina and Arabia began only during the reign of Constantine. The impressive size of the 3rd-century synagogue is indicative of the increasing importance of the synagogue institute after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and falls in line with the monumeutulization that characterizes the building projects in the Late Roman period. This synagogue was destroyed during the severe earthquake of 363 AD. ....
Steven Avery
Asheville, NC