Galilee · Lake
Sea of Galilee
Also called Sea of Tiberias and Lake of Gennesaret
- Ancient name
- Sea of Galilee
- Modern location
- Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) · Israel
- Region
- Galilee
- Location
- Identified site
Editorial summary
The lake at the center of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. He called fishermen as disciples on its shore, calmed a storm, and walked on its water.
What happened here
6Walking on the water
Jesus sent the disciples ahead by boat, and in the night he came to them walking on the sea. Peter began to walk toward him, started to sink, and was caught by Jesus’ hand.
Calling the fishermen
Walking beside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus called Simon and Andrew, then James and John, to follow him. They left their nets and their boat and went after him.
Calming the storm
Crossing the lake in the evening, the disciples woke Jesus during a violent windstorm. He rebuked the wind and commanded the sea to be still, and there was a great calm.
Jairus’ daughter raised
By the sea, Jairus, a synagogue ruler, begged Jesus to heal his dying daughter. On the way a woman who had bled for twelve years touched his clothes and was healed. Though the girl was reported dead, Jesus went to the house with Peter, James and John, took her by the hand, and she rose.
Mark says only that Jesus had crossed back over by boat and was by the sea when Jairus came (Mark 5:21); the town where Jairus lived is not named.
A deaf man healed
After Jesus came to the sea of Galilee through the region of Decapolis, people brought him a deaf man with a speech impediment. Jesus took him aside, put his fingers into his ears, touched his tongue and told him to be opened, and he heard and spoke clearly. Though told to tell no one, they proclaimed it all the more.
Mark says Jesus left the borders of Tyre and Sidon and came to the sea of Galilee through the middle of the region of Decapolis (Mark 7:31); he does not say exactly where the man was brought to him. Both are marked; the Decapolis marker is a representative point for the region.
Breakfast by the Sea of Tiberias
Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee and two other disciples fished all night and caught nothing. At dawn Jesus, unrecognized on the beach, told them where to cast the net, and it filled with fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said it was the Lord, and Jesus gave them bread and fish.
John calls the lake the sea of Tiberias (John 21:1); the scene is in the boat and on the shore.
People here
10On these journeys
Scripture
Nearby in the atlas
Location certainty
The marker shows the middle of the lake.
- Coordinates
- 32.8189° N, 35.5900° E