The Importance of the Sea of Galilee in the Bible

The Sea of Galilee is the largest freshwater lake in Israel and is the primary water source for the country. The Sea of Galilee is very important in the Bible as it was where Jesus performed many of his miracles.

The Sea of Galilee is a popular tourism site for Christians to visit. Visiting this site you can walk the paths Jesus did and even see a boat that was discovered in 1986, this boat dates back to Jesus’s time.

How Did the Sea of Galilee Get Its Name?

The name originates from the Hebrew word kinnor (harp/lyre) which resembles the shape of the lake. The lake is about 21 km from North to South and about 43 km deep.

Galilee is a Northern Israeli region. On the South lays the Jezreel Valley, to the North is the Lebanon Valley, East is the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, and the Golan Heights. To the west is the coastal mountain range. The Sea of Galilee is of great significance to Christians because Jesus performed many of his miracles on its shores, such as walking on water, calming the storm and feeding five thousand people.

The Sea of Galilee is also called:

• Lake Kinneret We read about Lake Kinneret in Numbers 34:11, Joshua 11:2, 13:27, and it is believed that Lake Kinneret has been named after that body of water. Kinneret is the Hebrew word for violin and the lake is named Kinneret because its shape resembles a harp.
• Lake of Gennesaret This is the area where Jesus visited and performed healing acts. A town called Naphtali was later changed to Gennesaret and was also called the Paradise of Galilee because of its fertility and beauty. Luke is also the only Gospel that calls it a lake (Luke 5:1).
• Lake Tiberias Tiberias was an important city in 70 AD. Being spared by the Romans, it was made the capital of Jerusalem when it was destroyed. The name was later given to the lake.

Today the Sea of Galilee is called Lake Tiberias.

What Miracles Did Jesus Perform in the Galilee Region?

• Jesus changes water into wine (John 2:1-11). We read about a wedding that took place in Cana in Galilee. During the wedding, the wine was finished and Jesus’s mother told him about it. He asked servants to bring him jars filled with water. The was turned into wine, what was said to be the best wine at the wedding. This is Jesus’s first miracle.
• Jesus cures the nobleman’s son (John 4:46-47). A royal officer in Galilee’s son was sick. When he heard Jesus was in Galilee, he asked him to cure his child. Jesus told him his son will live and before he returned home, his servants came and told him his son has been healed.
• The great haul of fish (Luke 5:1-11). Jesus was busy teaching a crowd of people. He saw a few boats on the shore of Lake Gennesaret and boarded one. He then continued to teach from the boat. When he finished with his teachings, he asked the fishermen to cast their nets to the other side of the boat. Following Jesus’ request, they caught so many fish that their nets broke.
• Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23-28). When Jesus was teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum, a man possessed with an evil spirit cried out to Jesus. Jesus rebuked the evil spirit which then left the man. The news spread through the region of Galilee about what Jesus had done.
• Jesus cures Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1:30-31). After leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever. Jesus went to her and took her hand, and the fever left her body.
• Jesus heals a leper (Mark 1:40-45). A leper approached Jesus and begged him to heal him. Jesus was filled with compassion, and he reached out to the leper, touched him and the leprosy left his body. Jesus told him to go and show himself to the priest.

Is the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee the Same?

The Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are not the same thing. The Sea of Galilee lays in northern Israel. It is filled by the Jordan river, which then flows down to the Dead Sea. The distance between these two bodies of water is about 141 km.

The Dead Sea lays south in Israel. It is much bigger than the Sea of Galilee. The Dead Sea is called dead because of its high salt concentration that makes it uninhabitable for any plants or animals.

How Do You Get to the Sea of Galilee?

The best way to get to the Sea of Galilee is to visit one of the towns bordering the Sea. Because of its importance to Christians, the Sea of Galilee is a popular tourist destination. It will always be part of Christianity as it is where Jesus performed miracles and much of his ministries. It has a collection of churches that are built over the sites where Jesus performed miracles, and worth visiting.