Gal'ilee {TaXikaia, often in the N. T. and Apoc- rj'pha, as well as Josephus), the rendering also in a few passages (.losh. xx, 7 ; xxi, 32 ; 1 Kings ix, 11 ; 1 Chron. vi, 70 ; Isa. ix, 1) of the Heb. bibs, fjalil' (fern. M^"'bi;, geUlah\ 2 Kings xv, 29), which prop, signifies a circle (e. g. a ring, Esth. i, G ; Cant, v, 14), or cir- cuit of country, i. e. one of the little circular plains among the hills of northern Palestine, such as is now seen near Kedesh. Sec Toi'Oukai'hical Teums. As
a special localit}', it is first mentioned In' Joshua, who describes Kedesh as "in Galilee in Mount Naphtidi" (xx, 7). Its limited extent is indicated in 2 Kings XV, 29, where the historian, detailing the conquests of Tigiath-pileser, states that "he took Ijon, :;nd Abel- Betli-Maachah, and Janaoh, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Xaphtali.'" Galilee, therefore, did not e tend beyond the bounds of Naphtali ; and a comparison with other passages shows tliat it embraced only the northern secticn of that tribe, or at least tliat the name was at first con- fined to that district (Josh, xx, 7 ; xxi, 32; Josephus, Ant. V, 1, l!^). The region thus lay on the summit of a broad mountain ridge. Here were situated the towns which Solomon offered to Hiram as payment for his services in procuring timber and stones for the Tem- ple. Hiram, however, whose great want was grain for his island city, and who doubtless expected a por- tion of some of the rich plains of central Palestine, could not conceal his disappointment when he saw the mountain towns and their rugged environs, and de- clined them as useless (1 Kings ix, 11, and 2 Chron. viii, 2). See Cabul. At this period, Galilee, though within the allotted territory of Naphtali, does not ap- pear to have been occupied by the Israelites. It was only after Hiram had declined the towns that Solomon I'ebuilt and colonized them (2 Chron. /. c). Hazor, the great stronghold and capital of the northern Ca- naanites, lay within or near Galilee ; and, though Joshua had captured and burn-d it (Josh, xi), j-et dur- ing the rule of the judges it was possessed by a king, Jabin, whose general, Sisera, dwelt in the neighbor- ing Harosheth of the Gentiles (Judg. iv). The presence of these powerful and warlike tribe, and the natural strength of the countr}', sufficiently account for the continued occupation of the old Gentile inhabitants. David subdued, but did not expel them. Solomon, as has been seen, took some of their towns; but the}' re- mained among these rugged mountains in such num- bers that in the time of Isaiah the district was defi- nitely known by the name of "Galilee of the Gentiles" (□l^'l."!! bibs, Isa. ix, 1 : in Matt, iv, 15, VaXiXaia -wv tOviov ; in 1 Mace, v, 15, r«X(A«i« dWorpiXon'). It is probable that tl'tC strangers increased in number, and became during the captivity the great body of the inhabitants ; extending themselves also over the sur- rounding countrj', thej- gave to their new territories the old name, until at length Galilee became one of the largest provinces of Palestine. In the time of the Maccabees, Galilee contained onlj' a few Jews living in the midst of a large heathen population (1 Mace, v, 20-23) ; Strabo states that in his day it was chicflj- in- habited by S^'rians, Phoenicians, and Arabs (xvi, p. 760) ; and Josephus says Greeks also dwelt in its cities (Life, 12). The name also occurs in Tobit i, 2 ; Judith xi, 8, etc.
In the time of our Lard, all Palestine was divided into three provinces, Judaa, Samaria, and Galilee (Acts ix, 31; Luke xvii, 11; Josephus, War, iii, 3). 'i'iie latter inci uled the whole northern section of the country, com|jribing the ancient territories of Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali. Josephus defines its boundaries, and gives a tolerablj' full description of its scenery, products, and population. He sajs the soil is rich and well cultivated ; fruit and forest trees of all kinds abound; numerous large cities and populous villages, amounting in all to no less than two lumdred and forty, thickly stud the whole face of the country ; the inhabitants are industrious and warlike, being trained to arms from their infancy (War, iii, 3, 3; Life, 45). On the west it was bounded by the ten-ito- ry of Ptolemais, which probaldy included the whole plain of Akka to the foot of Carmcl. The southern border ran along the l)ase of Carmel and of the liills of Samaria to IMount Gilboa, and then descended the valley of Jezreel by Scythopolis to the Jordan. (The
GALILEE
718
GALILEE
Talmud, Giltm,\i],7, gives a place called '^XJr'i" "1E3 as the southern limit.) The lliver Jordan, the Sea of Galilee, and the Upper Jordan to the fountain at Dan, formed the eastern border (Iteland, Pakvst. p. 181); and the northern ran from Dan westward across the mountain ridi^e till it toiiclied the territory of the Phoe- nicians (Josephus, War, iii, D, 1 ; compare Luke viii, 26). See Palestine.