Understanding the Gospels - John the Baptist in Prison

"Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali." (Matthew 4:12-13, NASB)

It is easy to get confused when we read this account of John the Baptist's imprisonment and Jesus' reaction. Without knowledge about the geographical or social context, it is nearly impossible to understand what's going on. Is Galilee more like a town or a county? What about Capernaum, Zebulun, and Naphtali? Was Jesus moving to be with John, or making a strategic retreat so as to avoid the same fate?

John was imprisoned by Herod Antipas (son of the King Herod who tried to kill the baby Jesus) in the fortress at Machaerus, an outpost east of the Dead Sea (the larger body of water on the map, toward the south). Jesus had at the time been ministering primarily in the region of Judea, an area just west of the Dead Sea that includes many towns and villages, as well as the city of Jerusalem. Judea and Machaerus are both toward the southern end of Israel.

Galilee is also a region, not a city, and is toward the northern end of Israel, between the Mediterranean Sea (the largest body of water on the map, which dominates the whole western portion) and the Sea of Galilee (the small lake on the map, toward the north).

When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been imprisoned, he moved away from Judea, the area where they had both been working (and near where John was now in prison) and moved back north to the region of Galilee, where he had been brought up, where he settled in the city of Capernaum. Capernaum was a busy fishing port and center for trade, and there are many small villages in the surrounding area.