Galilee

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Map of Galilee

Galilee (Hebrew: גָּלִיל,[1] Greek: Γαλιλαία[2]) collectively refers to the mountainous areas along the Sea of Galilee, the northernmost part of Israel. Since it was close to other countries, it suffered frequent invasions from foreign countries, and gentile culture heavily influenced it. For this reason, it was called “Galilee of the Gentiles.”[3][4] Galilee is Jesus Christ’s hometown where He grew up,[5][6][7] and it is also a significant preaching place of His ministry.[8]

Geographic Feature

View of the Sea of Galilee

Location

Galilee is a region in the north of Palestine, and includes the Mediterranean Sea and the Lake Galilee. It is divided into north and south. The north is mountainous, humid, and green, while there are many plains with relatively flat topography in the south, including the fertile plain of Jezreel.[9]

Lake Galilee

Lake Galilee is the second largest lake in Israel, surrounded by hills. The circumference is about 53 km (33 mi), the area is 167 km2 (64 sq mi), and the depth is about 43 m (141 ft). The surface of the sea is 212 m (696 ft) lower than the surface of the Mediterranean Sea.[10][11][12]

In the Bible, Lake Galilee is called by many different names, and it is sometimes written simply as the “sea” or “lake.” The other names of the Lake Galilee recorded in the Bible are as follows:

  • Other Names of the Lake of Galilee
Other Names Verse Related Content
Sea of Kinnereth Jos 12:3 ・The Sea of Kinneroth originated from the name Kinneret, a town on the northwest shore of Lake Galilee.[13][14]
Sea of Tiberias Jn 6:1

Jn 21:1

・Tiberias is a resort city built around the year 25 by Herod Antipa on the southwestern side of Lake Galilee.[15]
Lake of Gennesaret Lk 5:1 ・Gennesaret is a fertile plain on the northwest shore of Lake Galilee.[16]

・It is written as Kinnereth in the Old Testament.[13][14]

Reasons for Being Called a Sea

Although Lake Galilee is a lake, it is called a sea. Being large is not the only reason.

  • In ancient Hebrew, ocean, sea, and inland large lakes are collectively called yam (יָם[17]). According to this, the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee are not distinguished by sea and lake, but both correspond to the word yam, which refers to sea.
  • In Lake Galilee, there are sometimes big waves that can be seen in a sea. The Bible states, “Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.”[18] The cold wind from Mount Helmon in the north makes a strong western wind as it collides with the warm air of the sea, causing storms accompanied by waves of more than 2 m (6.5 ft).[19][20][21]

Galilee in the Old Testament

Entry into Canaan and Distribution of Galilee

Galilee is the region that the Israelites conquered when they entered Canaan after the Exodus. Among the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali were given this region. Although the boundaries of the tribes were unclear, the tribe of Zebulun occupied the central part of Galilee, the tribe of Asher occupied the coastal plain, the tribe of Issachar occupied the part southeast of Galilee, and the tribe of Naphtali occupied the northern part of Galilee.[22] Kedesh of Galilee was one of six cities of refuge selected to protect those who accidentally committed murder, from the avenger.[23]

Galilee of the Gentiles

The tribe of Naphtali, distributed with Galilee, did not completely drive out the natives but shared the land with them.[24] Many Canaanites still lived in Galilee, and even afterward, the Israelites in Galilee were greatly influenced by pagan culture due to their proximity to pagan regions. So in the book of Isaiah, it is written as “Galilee of the Gentiles.”[3][4]

In the age of divided kingdoms, the northern Kingdom of Israel, which had forsaken God’s word and fallen into idolatry, was destroyed by the invasion of Assyria.[25][26] Around 734 B.C., Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, conquered Galilee and other regions and took the people captive.[27] For about six centuries since the Assyrians destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel in about 721 B.C., the Jews did not rule over the Galilee region. Whenever the region was ruled by Gentile nation, the people got mixed with the Gentiles.

Galilee in the New Testament

Villages in Galilee in the Bible
Villages in Galilee in the Bible
Jesus Preaching at the Sea of Galilee by Gustave Doré, 1866

Jesus carried out most of His ministry in Galilee. This was to fulfill the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, “In the past, he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan.”[28] Jesus performed more than 20 miracles in Galilee. Most of them were performed at the Sea of Galilee. It was also the Sea of Galilee where Jesus called Peter, Andrew, and James and his brother John, who were fishermen, to be His disciples; 11 of the 12 disciples were from Galilee.[8][29] After Jesus was resurrected, He went back to Galilee to meet His disciples.[30]

Thus, the work of salvation in the New Testament began in Galilee, but the priests and the Pharisees, who kept the Old Testament law, did not heed the message that Jesus preached. Since the Old Testament law strictly forbade associating with the Gentiles, many Jews in the time of Jesus looked down on the region of Galilee and treated it like a Gentile land. They blamed the fact that Jesus was from Galilee. Because Jesus grew up in Nazareth, which belongs to Galilee, they ridiculed Him, calling Him “Jesus of Nazareth,” and rejected Him, claiming that a prophet would not come out of Galilee.[31][32] The reason Jesus was captured by the people sent by the chief priests and handed over to Herod, the ruler of Galilee, is because He was from Galilee.[33]

The villages in Galilee, where Jesus carried out the ministry, are as follows.

Nazareth

Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary, were residents of Nazareth (Greek: Ναζαρέτ), a rural village southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem where Joseph and Mary went to give birth to Him because of Caesar’s decree. However, Jesus was brought back to Nazareth, where His parents lived and spent His childhood there.[34] People called Him “Jesus of Nazareth,”[35][36][37] and Jesus also regarded Nazareth as his hometown.[6][7]

Capernaum

Capernaum (Greek: Καφαρναούμ[38]) is a village on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee.[39] This is the place where Jesus overcame the temptation of the devil after baptism and began to preach the gospel of the kingdom. After John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus left Nazareth to live in Capernaum.[40][41] This was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah about the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, and Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan.

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Matthew 4:12–17


At the time of Jesus, there were Herod’s tax office and the Roman colonial government in Galilee.[42] This is why many tax collectors resided in this region. Here Jesus met Matthew, who was called Levi, and Matthew became the only tax collector to become one of the twelve disciples of Jesus and an apostle.[43][44]

Jesus got up early in the morning, prayed, and went throughout Galilee to preach the gospel.[45] Mainly, He taught people in the synagogues,[46][47] healed the sick, and taught them about the bread of life.[48] Here, Jesus also performed many miracles of healing: the centurion’s servant who was a paralytic, Peter’s mother-in-law who had a fever; and a man possessed by a demon, and more.[49] Although Capernaum was one of the towns where Jesus showed His power many times, the people wouldn’t repent. Eventually, Jesus rebuked it, saying that it would perish.[50]

Magdalene

Magdalene (Greek: Μαγδαλά[51]) is a town located west of the Sea of Galilee. It was also called “Magadan” or “Dalmanutha.”[52][53] Mary Magdalene, who was suffering from seven demons, was healed by Jesus and became His disciple. She came from this town.[54]

Cana

Cana (Greek: Κανά[55]) is the place where Jesus performed a miracle for the first time. It is a village in the northeast of Nazareth in Galilee. It is also called “Cana in Galilee” to distinguish it from the other “Cana” located on the northern border of the tribe of Asher. When Jesus was invited to a wedding banquet held in the village of Cana, where they ran out of wine, Jesus performed the miracle of turning wine into water.[56] It was also in Cana where Jesus healed a royal official's son who was sick.[57]

Bethsaida

Bethsaida (Greek: Βηθσαϊδά[58]) is the fertile plain northeast of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus showed the miracle of feeding 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish.[59] He performed many miracles, including healing the eyes of the blind,[60] but the people there did not repent. Therefore, the town of Bethsaida, along with its nearby village Korazin (Greek: Χοραζίν[61]) was rebuked by Jesus.[62] Bethsaida was the home of Jesus’ disciples—Peter, Andrew, and Philip.[63]

Gennesaret

Gennesaret (Greek: Γεννησαρέτ[64]) is the fertile plain between Capernaum and Magdalene. The Sea of Galilee was sometimes called the “Lake of Gennesaret.”[65] When Jesus came to the land of Gennesaret, people recognized Him and brought all the sick people to Him. They were healed just by touching Jesus’ cloak with their hands.[66][67]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Strong's #1550 - גָּלִיל". Study Light.
  2. ↑ "1056. Galilaia". Bible Hub.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Isaiah 9:1".
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Matthew 4:15".
  5. ↑ "Matthew 2:22–23".
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mark 6:1.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Luke 4:16-24.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Matthew 4:18–21, 23".
  9. ↑ "Galilee". Jewish Encyclopedia.
  10. ↑ "SEA OF GALILEE". ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE, Bible Gateway.
  11. ↑ Galilee, Sea of, Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, pg. 316, Mercer University Press, 1990
  12. ↑ 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel, pg. 109, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Numbers 34:11
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Joshua 19:35
  15. ↑ Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), Northern Israel, NASA Earth Observatory
  16. ↑ Gennesaret, Easton's Bible Dictionary
  17. ↑ 3220. yam, Bible Hub
  18. ↑ "Matthew 8:24".
  19. ↑ Jesus and the storm, Weathering Storms, A Handbook for Surviving Crisis, WestBow Press, March 15, 2021
  20. ↑ The Gospel According to Mark, Meaning and Message, pg. 100, Loyola Press, 2005
  21. ↑ Bible-Level Wind Storm Batters Sea of Galilee, Israel Today, May 17, 2022
  22. ↑ "Joshua 19:10–39".
  23. ↑ "Joshua 20:1–9".
  24. ↑ "Judges 1:33".
  25. ↑ Shalmaneser V, Britannica
  26. ↑ The Books of the Prophets: The Latter Prophets, The Faith of Israel, A Theological Survey of the Old Testament, pg. 182, Baker Publishing Group, 2002
  27. ↑ "2 Kings 15:27–29".
  28. ↑ "Isaiah 9:1".
  29. ↑ "Matthew 27:55".
  30. ↑ "Matthew 26:32".
  31. ↑ "John 1:45–46".
  32. ↑ "John 7:52".
  33. ↑ "Luke 23:1–7".
  34. ↑ Matthew 2:23
  35. ↑ Matthew 21:11
  36. ↑ Matthew 26:71
  37. ↑ John 18:5
  38. ↑ 2584. Kapernaoum, Bible Hub
  39. ↑ "John 6:1–59".
  40. ↑ Matthew 4:13
  41. ↑ Mark 9:33
  42. ↑ CAPERNAUM, Britannica
  43. ↑ Mark 2:14
  44. ↑ Matthew, Easton's Bible Dictionary
  45. ↑ "Mark 1:35–39".
  46. ↑ Matthew 8:5-7
  47. ↑ Mark 1:21-26
  48. ↑ John 6:47-59
  49. ↑ Luke 7:1-10
  50. ↑ Matthew 11:20-23
  51. ↑ 3093. Magadan, Bible Hub
  52. ↑ MAGADAN, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE, Bible Gateway
  53. ↑ Magadan, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
  54. ↑ Luke 8:2-3
  55. ↑ 2580. Kana, Bible Hub
  56. ↑ John 2:1-11
  57. ↑ John 4:46-54
  58. ↑ 966. Béthsaida, Bible Hub
  59. ↑ Luke 9:10-17
  60. ↑ Mark 8:22-25
  61. ↑ 5523. Chorazin, Bible Hub
  62. ↑ Matthew 11:20-22
  63. ↑ "John 1:44".
  64. ↑ 1082. Gennésaret, Bible Hub
  65. ↑ Luke 5:1
  66. ↑ Matthew 14:34-36
  67. ↑ Mark 6:53-56
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