Galilee was the scene of the greater part of our Lord's private life and public acts (see AViehmanns- hausen, De Galil(ea,Yitch. 1711 ; Buddeus, De Galila;a rehns rjesfis Clirhti clara, Jen. 1718 [_Miscell. Sacr. iii, 115G sq.]; Less, />c Gal. Serrat. miracc. Iheatro, Gott. 1775 [0pp. 1781, ii, 3('9 sq.]). His early years were spent at Nazareth, and when he entered on his great work he made Capernaum his home (Matt, iv, 13; ix, 1). It is a remarkable f^ict that the first three Gospels are chiefij' taken up with our Lord's ministrations in this province, while the Gospel of John dwells more upon those in Judsa (see ^lillcr. T)e ordine rervm C/iristl in Galilaa (jrrtariim. Hal. 1770). The nature of our Lord's parables and illustrations was greatly in- fluenced 1 V the peculiar features and products of the country. The vineyard, the fig-tree, the shepherd, and the desert in the parable of the Good Samaritan, were all ajipropriate in Judaea ; while the corn-fields (IMark iv, 28), the fisheries (Matt, xiii, 47), the mer- chants (IMatt! xiii, 45), and the flowers (Matt, vi, 28), are no loss ajipropriate in Galilee. The ajiostles were all cither Galila\ahs by birth or residence (Acts i, 11), and as such they were despised, as their master had been, by the proud Jews (John i, 4G; vii, 52; Acts ii, 7). It apiKjars, also, that the pronunciation of those
GALILEE
719
GALILEE
Jews who resided in Galilee had become peculiar, prob- ably from their contact with tlieir Gentile neighbors (JIatt. xxvi, 73; Mark xiv, 70; see Lightfoot, Ojqj. ii, 77). On the death of Herod the Great the j)rovince of Galilee was given bj' Cajsar to his son Antipas (Joseph. War, ii, G, 3). After the destruction of Jeru- salem Galilee became the chief seat of Jewish schools of le.irning, and the residence of their most celebrated rabbins. The National Council or Sanhedrim was taken for a time to Jabneh in Philistia, but was soon removed to Sepphoris, and afterwards to Tiberias (Lightfoot, Opj)- ii, p. 141). The Mishna was here compiled bj' Kabbi Judah Hakkodesh (cir. A.D. 109- 2'20), and a few j-ears afterwards the Gemara "vvas add- ed (Uuxtorf, Tiberias, p. 19). Remains of splendid synagogues still exist in many of the old towns and villages, showing that from the 2d to the 7th century the Jews were as prosperous as they were numerous (Porter, Handbook, p. 427, 440). — Smith, s. v. ; Kitto, s. V. See Galil.e.vx.
GALILEE, Sea of (// SsdXaaaa Tijg raXiXalac, Matt, iv, 18 ; xv, 29 ; Mark i, 16 ; vii, 31 ; John vi, 1), called also the Sea of Tiberius (John vi, 1 ; x^i, 1 ; hence its modern name Bahr el-Tubariijeh), the Lnke (A/jur//) of Gennesaret (Luke v, 1), or eniphaticallj' the Sea (// ^dXaaaa simply, Matt iv, 15) ; in the O T
0 I 2 J I s G J
Shores of the Sea of Galilee.
rarely alluded to (Numb, xxxiv, 11 ; Josh, xii, 8; xiii, 27) as the Sea of Cinnereth or Cinneroth (q. v.). It is the second of the three lakes into which the Jordan flows (Tacitus, Hist, v, C\ This sheet of water is par- ticularl^' described by Pliny and Josephus. The for-
mer says, " The Jordan discharges itself into a lake, 1)}' mail}' writers known as Genesera, IG miles long and G wide, which is skirted by the pleasant towns Julias and Hippo on the east, of Taricheie on the south (a name which is by many persons given to the lake it- self), and of Tiberias on the west" (v, 15). Josephus refers to other features. " The Lake of Gennesaretk de- rives its appellation from the adjacent district. It is 40 furlongs (five Koman miles) broad, by 140 (17i miles) long. Its waters are sweet, and oxtremeh' pleasant to drink, as tliey flow in a clearer stream than the mudd}' collections of marslies, and thej' can be drawn free from impurities, being throughout conlined l>y ab- rupt and sandy shores. They are of a medium tem- perature, milder than those of the rivar or the foun- tain, j'et uniformly colder than might be expected from
the expanse of the lake The kinds of lish found
here difler from those elsewhere met with"(U«r, iii, 10, 7). Both these are so near the truth that tliey could scarcelj' have been mere estimates. Its extreme length is 12|- geographical miles, and its breadth C ; equal to about IG by 7|- Roman miles. It is cf an oval shape, or rather the form of an egg, with the large end to the north. The Sea of Galilee has none of those picturesque or sublime features for which the lakes of Italy and Switzerlnid are justly celebrated ; it has not e\ en the stern grandeur of the Dead Sei. The sliores are singularly uni- foim. There are no bold clifts jutting fir out into deep water; there are no ■winding bays running away inland. The bed of the sea is like a huge basin. Along its eastern and western sides the biiiks rise steep, bare, and rugged, to tl e height of nearly 2000 feet ; and their tops, especially those on the east, are as level as a wall. At the north and south ends, where the Jordan enters and pass- es out, there are wide openings, through which views are gained up and down the valley. Yet nature has not left this scene altogether destitute of ornament. The sceneiy is not quite so dreary, nor are the hues of the landscape so dead and sombre as Dr. Traill would have us imagine (Traill's Josephus, ii, p. cvi). Fine, when the sun is high and the sky cloudless, and when the pilgrim look.H dcwn from the top of the mountains, theie is a dreariness in the landscape, and a uniformity of cold gray color, \vhich wearies the eye; but let him go do\\n to the shore and wait till the sun declines, and he will be enchanted with the deep ethereal blue of the smooth wa- t r and the tints, "rose-colored, pearl- 1 IV, and [Hirple, blended together," and till wn in soft shades over the sides of the encircling hills. The pale blue cone of Hermon, with its glittering crown of snow, forms a glorious background (Van de Velde, ii, 388 ; Robinson, ii, 380 sq. ; Stanley, Palestine, p. 3G2 ; Porter, Hand- book, p. 418). Round the whole shore, ^\ ith only one or two short interruptions, there is a broad strand of white pebliles, mixed with little shells. The Jordan enters at the extreme northern end of the lake, and leaves again at the south- 0 ein. In fact, the bed of the lake is just