Place
Sea of Galilee
Also known as Lake Kinneret · Lake Tiberias · Sea of Chinnereth · Sea of Gennesaret
A freshwater lake in northern Israel; the setting for much of Jesus' Galilean ministry.
galilean-ministrygospel-geography
Where it is
- Modern name
- Lake Kinneret
- Country
- Israel
- Coordinates
- 32.8167° N, 35.5833° E
- Region
- Lower Galilee
- Kind of place
- Body of water
- Era
- Ancient and modern
Sea of Galilee in Scripture
7 verses name it — all of them- Numbers 34:11and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward;
- Joshua 13:27and in the valley, Beth-haram, and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan and the border thereof, unto the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward.
- Matthew 4:18And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers.
- Matthew 15:29And Jesus departed thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there.
- Mark 1:16And 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.
- Mark 7:31And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.
- John 6:1After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
The account
The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake roughly 13 miles long and 8 miles wide in the north of modern Israel, fed and drained by the Jordan River. In the Old Testament it is called the Sea of Chinnereth (Numbers 34:11). The Gospels call it the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4:18), Lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1), and Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1). Most of Jesus' early public ministry takes place on or around its shores: Capernaum, Bethsaida, Chorazin, Magdala, and the traditional sites of the Sermon on the Mount and feeding of the 5,000 are all in the immediate region. Notable Gospel events on the lake itself include the calling of the first disciples (Matthew 4:18–22), the calming of the storm (Mark 4:35–41), walking on water (Matthew 14:22–33), and the post-resurrection appearance to the disciples (John 21:1–14).
Where this leads
from Sea of GalileeSources (3)
- Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897): Galilee, Sea of · accessed 2026-04-17Public domain.
- ISBE (1915): Galilee, Sea of · accessed 2026-04-17Public domain.
- Wikipedia: Sea of Galilee · accessed 2026-04-17CC-BY-SA.