Galilee

Galilee is the northern district of Israel, the hill-country of Naphtali and the lake-shore that bears its name. Its towns — Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethsaida, Cana, Tiberias — frame the public ministry of Jesus and the calling of his first disciples. Long before that ministry, Galilee was a tribal frontier, a city-of-refuge district, a region traded between kings, and a region named in prophecy as the place where light would dawn on a people in shadow.

Tribal Allotment and City of Refuge

When the cities of refuge were appointed, "they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill-country of Naphtali" (Jos 20:7). The Levitical allotment names the same town: "out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs--the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammoth-dor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; three cities" (Jos 21:32). The Chronicler repeats the assignment: "out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, and Hammon with its suburbs, and Kiriathaim with its suburbs" (1Ch 6:76). The lake on its eastern boundary is the older "sea of Chinnereth," named in the border-list of the land: "the border will go down, and will reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward" (Nu 34:11). Joshua names it again as he describes the Arabah, "and the Arabah to the sea of Chinneroth, eastward, and to the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, eastward, the way to Beth-jeshimoth; and on the south, under the slopes of Pisgah" (Jos 12:3). Moses had already mapped the same body of water: "the Arabah also, and the Jordan and the border [of it], from Chinnereth even to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward" (De 3:17). Within the trans-Jordanian allotment to Gad, the Jordan ran "to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward" (Jos 13:27).

Hiram, Solomon, and the Twenty Cities

After Solomon's building program, "King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee" (1Ki 9:11). The transfer was not well received: "And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they were not right in his eyes" (1Ki 9:12).

The Assyrian Captivity of Galilee

In the days of Pekah, Tiglath-pileser stripped the northern frontier: "In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria" (2Ki 15:29).

Galilee of the Nations

Isaiah names this same shadowed land in a prophecy of reversal: "But there will be no gloom to her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations" (Isa 9:1).

The Maccabean Rescue

In the days of Judas Maccabeus, the Galilean Jews were besieged by their Gentile neighbors. "While they were yet reading these letters, look, there came other messengers out of Galilee with their garments rent, who related according to these words, saying that those of Ptolemais, and of Tyre, and of Sidon, were assembled against them, and all Galilee of strangers, in order to consume us" (1Mac 5:14-15). Judas divided his forces: "And Judas said to Simon his brother: Choose you men, and go, and deliver your brothers in Galilee: and I, and my brother Jonathan will go into the country of Gilead" (1Mac 5:17). "Now three thousand men were allotted to Simon, to go into Galilee" (1Mac 5:20). "And Simon went into Galilee, and fought many battles with the nations: and the nations were discomfited before his face, and he pursued them even to the gate of Ptolemais" (1Mac 5:21). Simon then evacuated the survivors: "And he took with him those who were in Galilee and in Arbatis with their wives, and children, and all that they had, and he brought them into Judea with great joy" (1Mac 5:23). Later Maccabean campaigns return to the same ground. "They took the road that leads to Galilee, and they camped in Masaloth, which is in Arbela: and they made themselves masters of it, and slew many souls of men" (1Mac 9:2). "Jonathan heard that the generals of Demetrius had come treacherously to Kedesh, which is in Galilee, with a great army, purposing to remove him from his affairs" (1Mac 11:63). And at Jonathan's capture, "Tryphon sent an army and horsemen into Galilee, and into the great plain to destroy all Jonathan's company" (1Mac 12:49).

Galilee Under Rome

By the time of Jesus, Galilee was its own tetrarchy: "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene" (Lu 3:1). The chief men of the region attended Herod's birthday feast: "when a convenient day came, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the generals, and the chief men of Galilee" (Mr 6:21).

Nazareth

Galilee's southern village of Nazareth held the family of Jesus. He came up out of it to be baptized: "it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in the Jordan" (Mr 1:9). Its reputation was a byword: "Nathaniel said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip says to him, Come and see" (Jn 1:46). When Jesus returned to it, "he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read" (Lu 4:16). The reading from Isaiah he then unrolled — "The Spirit of Yahweh is on me, Because he anointed me to preach good news to the poor" (Lu 4:18) — provoked his neighbors first to amazement and then to fury, "and they rose up, and cast him forth out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong" (Lu 4:29). He was known in his region by the name of this town. The unclean spirit at Capernaum cried, "What do we have to do with you, Jesus you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are, the Holy One of God" (Mr 1:24; cf. Lu 4:34). Blind Bartimaeus, hearing "that it was Jesus the Nazarene," called out for mercy (Mr 10:47). At Jericho the crowd told the blind man, "Jesus of Nazareth passes by" (Lu 18:37).

Capernaum

On the lake-shore Jesus made Capernaum his base. "He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath day" (Lu 4:31). Mark records the same arrival: "they go into Capernaum; and right away on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught" (Mr 1:21). After the wedding at Cana, "he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brothers, and his disciples; and they did not stay there many days" (Jn 2:12). The town reappears in the lake-crossing of John 6: "they entered into a boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them" (Jn 6:17); "when the multitude therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus" (Jn 6:24). Yet for all the works done in it, Capernaum drew a hard word: "And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades" (Lu 10:15).

Bethsaida

Bethsaida lay on the same shore. "Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter" (Jn 1:44); the Greek-speakers seeking Jesus sought out the same disciple, "Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee" (Jn 12:21). Jesus withdrew there with the apostles: "he took them, and withdrew apart to a city called Bethsaida" (Lu 9:10). After feeding the multitude he sent them across the water: "right away he constrained his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before [him] to the other side to Bethsaida, while he himself sends the multitude away" (Mr 6:45). At Bethsaida "they bring to him a blind man, and urge him to touch him" (Mr 8:22). Bethsaida shared Capernaum's woe: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which were done in you⁺, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes" (Lu 10:13).

Cana

At Cana of Galilee Jesus turned water into wine: "the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there" (Jn 2:1). To the same town he later returned: "He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum" (Jn 4:46). The nobleman's son was healed at the long-distance word, and "the father knew that [it was] at that hour in which Jesus said to him, Your son lives: and himself believed, and his whole house" (Jn 4:53).

Tiberias and the Sea by Many Names

The lake bears more than one name. John writes of "the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is [the sea] of Tiberias" (Jn 6:1), and of boats "from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks" (Jn 6:23). Luke calls the same water "the lake of Gennesaret" (Lu 5:1), and Mark records that "when they had crossed over, they came to the land to Gennesaret, and moored to the shore" (Mr 6:53).

The Call by the Lake

The first disciples were fishermen of this lake. "Passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishers. And Jesus said to them, Come⁺ after me, and I will make you⁺ to become fishers of men. And immediately they left the nets, and followed him. And going on a little further, he saw James the [son] of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat preparing the nets. And immediately he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers, and went after him" (Mr 1:16-20). Luke gives the longer scene at Gennesaret: a night of empty nets, a word from Jesus to "Put out into the deep, and let down your⁺ nets for a catch," and a haul that filled both boats until they began to sink. "Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. ... And Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left all, and followed him" (Lu 5:4-11).

Storms on the Lake

Twice the lake threatens the disciples and twice Jesus stills it. Mark: "there rises a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the boat, insomuch that the boat was now filling. And he himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion: and they wake him, and say to him, Teacher, don't you care that we perish? And he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (Mr 4:37-39). Luke tells the same crossing: a wind comes down on the lake, the boat fills with water, Jesus rebukes the wind and the raging of the water, "and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said to them, Where is your⁺ faith? And being afraid they marveled, saying one to another, Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?" (Lu 8:24-25).

The Galilean Tour

Galilee is the country in which Jesus moves. "Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God" (Mr 1:14). Luke summarizes: "Jesus returned into Galilee: and news went out concerning him through all the surrounding region" (Lu 4:14). John tracks the same back-and-forth across the country: "after the two days he went forth from there into Galilee. ... So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast" (Jn 4:43,45); "after these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him" (Jn 7:1); "having said these things, he stayed in Galilee" (Jn 7:9). The route between Galilee and Judea ran through Samaria: "he left Judea and departed again into Galilee. And he must surely pass through Samaria. So he comes to a city of Samaria, called Sychar" (Jn 4:3-5).

Galileans in Jerusalem

The Galilean accent gave Peter away in the courtyard: "after a little while again those who stood by said to Peter, Of a truth you are [one] of them; for you are a Galilean" (Mr 14:70). The crowd in Jerusalem disputed the same regional question: "Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, What, does the Christ come out of Galilee?" (Jn 7:41). The Galilean women had followed Jesus from his northern ministry to the cross. Mark says of them, "who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and were serving him; and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem" (Mr 15:41). Luke names them: "there were also women watching from far: among whom [were] both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and were serving him; and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem" (Lu 23:49). After the burial, "Mary Magdalene and Mary the [mother] of Joses looked at where he was laid" (Lu 23:55).

After the Resurrection

The young man at the empty tomb sends the disciples back to where the ministry began. "Go, tell his disciples and Peter, Remember what he told you⁺ while he was still in Galilee" (Mr 16:7).