Sea of Galilee

Overview

• Testament: Both (called Sea of Kinnereth in the Old Testament; Sea of Galilee, Lake of Gennesaret, and Sea of Tiberias in the New)
• Region: Galilee, northern Israel
• Key Books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Numbers, Joshua

Description

The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake approximately thirteen miles long and eight miles wide, lying some 700 feet below sea level in the rift valley of the Jordan River. Fed from the north by the Jordan and the streams of Mount Hermon and draining southward through the Jordan toward the Dead Sea, it was known in the Old Testament as the Sea of Chinnereth or Kinnereth — named for its harp-like shape — and appears in the boundary descriptions of the Promised Land in Numbers and Joshua. By the New Testament period it bore several names in currency simultaneously: the Evangelists call it the Sea of Galilee (Matthew, Mark), the Lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1), and the Sea of Tiberias (John 6:1; 21:1), the last name derived from the Herodian city built on its western shore in honour of the emperor Tiberius.

The lake sat at the heart of a prosperous fishing economy. The towns ringing its shores — Capernaum, Bethsaida, Magdala, and Tiberias — drew their livelihoods from its waters, and the disciples Jesus first called were working fishermen who knew its moods intimately. Capernaum, on the northwestern shore, served as Jesus’ ministry base throughout the Galilean period. From its synagogue he taught with authority, cast out unclean spirits, and healed the sick. The lake’s sudden violent squalls, produced when cold air funnels down through the surrounding hills, provided the setting for both the stilling of the storm and the walking on water, episodes in which Jesus demonstrated his lordship over creation before the eyes of his disciples.

After the resurrection, the Sea of Tiberias was the site of Jesus’ third appearance to his disciples recorded in John 21, where a miraculous draught of fishes echoed the call at the beginning of the ministry and where Peter’s threefold restoration answered his threefold denial.

Key Events

• Sermon on the Mount — delivered in the hills above the lake’s northern shore, to crowds drawn from the surrounding region
• First Miracles — early signs performed along the lakeshore and in nearby Capernaum
• Transfiguration — occurred on a mountain near the lake, traditionally identified with Mount Tabor or Mount Hermon

Cross-References

• Galilee — the broader region in which the lake sits and from which it takes its most common New Testament name
• Capernaum — Jesus’ ministry headquarters on the northwestern shore
• Jesus Christ — performed numerous miracles on and beside the lake; called his first disciples from its shores
• Sea of Tiberias — the Johannine name for the same body of water; see that note for the resurrection appearance of John 21