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Mark 7 (WEB)

Sea of Galilee·Water

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The Sea of Galilee

 Site Study | Hershel Wayne House | Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, also known as the Lake of Gennesaret or the Sea of Tiberias,1 is actually what we would consider a moderately sized lake. It is 13 miles long, 8 miles wide, about 33 miles in circumference, and about 140 feet deep. It is also the second-lowest lake in the world (behind only the Dead Sea 65 miles south), at approximately 670 feet below sea level. It is surrounded by high hills, up to 2,000 feet above the lake. Due to the unique geography of the area where the lake is located, it is known for sudden, violent storms.2

The Sea of Galilee is an important part of the region, providing water for drinking and irrigation, as well as fishing and easy transportation. It is not surprising that Jesus’ Galilean ministry was focused on the area around the lake. Here in Matt 4:18, Jesus called His first disciples while “walking beside the Sea of Galilee.”

Although most archaeological remains in the area are found on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, the “Galilee boat3” (popularly called “Jesus Boat”),4 was submerged for two thousand years, and only discovered during an unusually dry period by two local fishermen, the brothers Uval and Moshe Lufan. Ancient remains of harbors have also been discovered in the shallows near the shore, such as at Capernaum.5 Many other important towns mentioned in the New Testament are found on the shores of the lake including Bethsaida,6 Magdala7, and Tiberias8. Several others were located on the slopes of the hills around the lake, including Chorazin9, Hippos-Susita10, Gamla11, and Gadara12.

  1. Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1962) 125-126. ↩︎

  2. See Matt 14:24. ↩︎

  3. See John 6:17 ↩︎

  4. The "Galilee Boat," sometimes called the "Jesus Boat" is located at Kibbutz Ginosar Museum. ↩︎

  5. Capernaum, the home of James and John, is along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (aerial). ↩︎

  6. Possibly the site of Bethsaida (aerial) is at the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee. ↩︎

  7. Magdala (aerial), the city of Mary of Magdala (Magdalene) is on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, lower than Capernaum. ↩︎

  8. Tiberias (aerial) was a Gentile city in the days of Jesus and is not given as a city that Jesus visited. ↩︎

  9. Chorazin (panorama) is a short distance west of the Sea of Galilee, not on the coast. ↩︎

  10. Hippos-Susita (also known as Antiochia-Hippos) is a little over a mile east of the Sea of Galilee and was a Gentile city. ↩︎

  11. Gamla (Hebrew word for camel) is a city built on a small mountain shaped like the back of a camel, that was defeated by the Romans soon after the Jewish rebellion in A.D. 66, and where General (Titus) Flavius Josephus was captured by the Roman army. ↩︎

  12. Gadara, one of the cities of the Decapolis (ten cities) of New Testament times, is more than 1200 feet above sea level, bordering on Israel and Syria, and overlooks the Sea of Galilee several miles away. The Arabic name is Umm Qais. Some have argued that Gadara was the city near where Jesus cast out demons into a herd of pigs that went down into the Sea of Galilee, but this is unlikely in view of the distance from the Sea. ↩︎

Western Side Sea of Galilee (or Lake Kinnerth)

Western Side Sea of Galilee (or Lake Kinnerth)

Copyright © 2026 Hershel Wayne House. All rights reserved.

Storms on the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret)

 Site Study | Hershel Wayne House | Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee (actually a lake, called Lake Kinneret by the Jews) is legendary for having sudden, violent squalls. These storms can develop from blue skies in an hour or less, and may only last thirty minutes. These storms can produce relatively large waves and strong winds during that short period. The unique geography of the lake lends itself to unsettled weather patterns that can produce storms that seemingly come from nowhere, and end as quickly as they started.

The Sea of Galilee is over six hundred feet below sea level, and is surrounded by high hills, some of which are as much as two thousand feet above the lake. The area to the east of the lake is arid, but cooler than the air around the lake two thousand feet below, while winds off the Mediterranean Sea to the west of the Sea of Galilee bring cooler, moist air. When these competing masses of air meet it produces unsettled masses, and many times, storms. Because the Sea of Galilee is relatively shallow compared to its area, strong winds can quickly produce waves quite large for a body of water its size. One storm in March 1992 produced ten foot high waves that swept into downtown Tiberias, causing extensive damage.

The Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee

Copyright © 2026 Hershel Wayne House. All rights reserved.
Person & place data: Theographic Bible Metadata by Robert Rouse (Viz.Bible), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mark 7 (WEB)

1Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. 2Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault. 3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) 5The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”

6He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me.

7They worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8“For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” 9He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,”’” that is to say, given to God, 12“then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, 13making void the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”

14He called all the multitude to himself and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. 15There is nothing from outside of the man that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. 16If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

17When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him, 19because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?” 20He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. 21For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, 22covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within and defile the man.”

24From there he arose and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house and didn’t want anyone to know it, but he couldn’t escape notice. 25For a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter. 27But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

28But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

29He said to her, “For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

30She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on the bed, with the demon gone out.

31Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee through the middle of the region of Decapolis. 32They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 33He took him aside from the multitude privately and put his fingers into his ears; and he spat and touched his tongue. 34Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly. 36He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it. 37They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

World English Bible · public domain · ebible.org

Sea of Galilee