Biblical Geography and History

by Charles Foster Kent

Testimony of the Gospels and Josephus. The parallel passages in John 6:17 and Matthew 14:34 clearly imply that Capernaum was on the northern border of the Plain of Gennesaret. By many scholars this has been recorded as decisive evidence that the city, which was the scene of the greater part of Jesus' ministry, was at Khan Minyeh or Tell Oreimeh, which lie in the northern part of the Plain of Gennesaret. A reference in Josephus, however, leaves little doubt that during the first Christian century the term Gennesaret included the low-lying territory to the northeast of Tell Oreimeh, which rises in the midst of the plain, and that its northeastern end was the famous spring Of Tabighah^[(120)] which bursts from the hillside at the point where the northern hills descend close to the lake. After describing the marvellous fertility of the Plain of Gennesaret Josephus says: "For besides the good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain. The people call it Capernaum. Some have thought it to be a vein of the Nile because it produces the coracin fish (the catfish) as well as that lake which is near Alexandria." During the Arab occupation this spring was enclosed in an octagonal basin which keeps out the catfish that abound in all the inlets on the northwestern side of the lake and originally were doubtless found in this copious fountain, as is stated by Josephus (cf. Masterman, Studies in Galilee, 80). His statement also implies that the Roman city of Capernaum extended westward to the fountain Tabighah on the border of the Plain of Gennesaret. In his Life (§ 72) Josephus also tells of his being wounded in a skirmish near Bethsaida Julias, east of the Jordan. From there he was "carried into a village named Capharnome." This reference points clearly to Tell Hum, only four miles from Bethsaida Julias, as the site of Capernaum, rather than to Khan Minyeh, two and a half miles further west on the same road.

Statements of Early Pilgrims. The first Christian pilgrim to give an account of Capernaum is Bishop Arculf who visited this region about 670 A.D. Proceeding from Tiberias, he crossed the Plain of Gennesaret, and from a hill near the spring Tabighah he viewed Capernaum, which he thus describes: "It had no wall, and being confined to a narrow space between the mountain and lake, it extended a long way upon the shore from west to east, having the mountain on the north and a lake on the south." The description, while general, accords perfectly with the peculiar topography of the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Near the spring Tabighah the hills come close to the shore, and then eastward gradually recede, leaving a narrow but ever-widening strip of land which extends northeastward for two miles to Tell Hum. Inasmuch as the inhabitants of Capernaum drew their water supply from the lake and were chiefly engaged in commerce and fishing or else in cultivating the rich fields of black, basaltic earth which sloped northward from the town, it was natural that the town should extend for at least two miles along the shore. Later Christian pilgrims echo the same testimony regarding the site of Capernaum. The Dominican monk, Burkhard, at the close of the thirteenth century, in describing the fountain Tabighah says: "Josephus calls this fountain Capernaum because the whole land from the fountain to the Jordan—a distance of two hours—belonged to Capernaum." Not until the seventeenth century was it suggested that the ancient site was situated at Khan Minyeh instead of on the northern side of the lake. This identification by a certain Quaresmius was apparently due to the extensive ruins of the large Arab town that flourished there during the Middle Ages.

Site of Chorazin. Two miles north of Tell Hum, beside a wild, volcanic gorge, on a rocky bluff about eighty feet high, that projects far out into the valley, are the remains of another Roman town which bears to-day the name Kerazeh. This is the Arabic equivalent of the biblical Chorazin.^[(121)] This site agrees with Jerome's statement that Chorazin was two miles from Capernaum. Although it was not directly on the Sea of Galilee, as his description implies, it commanded from certain points a view of the lake which lay below. The ruins of the ancient town are scattered over several acres, and indicate that Chorazin was probably once as large as Capernaum. Its chief public building was also a synagogue, seventy-four feet long and forty-nine feet wide, and entered by a triple gateway. Its Corinthian columns were elaborately decorated, in a style that suggests that it comes from a period not earlier than the second Christian century. Like that at Capernaum, it probably stands on the site of the older synagogue in which Jesus taught the Jewish inhabitants of this retired Roman city. The remains of olive presses indicate that the town was once encircled by olive groves. Near by are also fields, the rich, basaltic soil of which doubtless bore the superior quality of wheat for which, according to the Babylonian Talmud (Menahoth 85 A), Chorazin was famous.

Bethsaida. Bethsaida, which also witnessed many of Jesus' mighty works, was, according to Pliny and Jerome, on the east of the Jordan. Here Jesus retired from the territory of Herod Antipas when the news came of the death of John the Baptist. The town was situated immediately east of the point where the Jordan enters the delta through which it discharges its waters into the Sea of Galilee.^[(122)] Philip, the son of Herod the Great, rebuilt and transformed it into a Greek city, giving it the name Julias in honor of the daughter of his patron Augustus. It is represented to-day by the ruins known as Et-Tell. The site was well chosen. To the south is the rich, alluvial plain made by the delta of the Jordan. It rested on a rounded hill which rose fifty or sixty feet above the plain. Extensive Roman ruins reveal the importance of this southern metropolis of Philip's territory.

Probable Scene of the Feeding of the Multitudes. At this secluded point, which commanded a marvellous view of the Sea of Galilee to the south, lived three of Jesus' disciples, Andrew, Peter, and Philip. The waters of the lake immediately below the delta are still the best fishing grounds^[(123)] in all the Sea of Galilee. Eastward and northward of the Jordan delta is a wealth of grass which covers the rich plain and runs up the slopes of the eastern hills. This point, which was a lonely place beyond the limits of the city, fully accords with the statement of the Fourth Gospel, "Now there was much grass in this place." Although early Christian tradition fixes the scene of the feeding of the multitudes on the northern borders of the Plain of Gennesaret, it is probable that here on the northeastern side of the sea Jesus, undisturbed, was able to teach the multitudes and to satisfy their great spiritual as well as physical needs.

The Night Voyage of the Disciples. The evidence that there was a Bethsaida west of the Jordan breaks down on close examination. The crucial passage, Mark 6:45, which states that after feeding the multitude Jesus told his disciples to cross over in advance to Bethsaida, would perhaps mean that they were simply to go in the direction of Bethsaida. The continuation of the narrative in Mark, as well as the parallel passage in Matthew 14:34, states that they crossed over and landed on the Plain of Gennesaret, while John 6:17 adds that their destination was Capernaum. The physical characteristics of the northern end of the Sea of Galilee throw much light upon the night voyage of the disciples. The actual distance from the lonely spot southeast of Bethsaida to Capernaum was only about six miles. Their course was almost due westward toward the point where the Plain of Gennesaret and the wadies behind lead to the heights of upper Galilee. Through this open gateway sudden wind storms rushed down across the lake with terrific violence. While we were riding by this spot one beautiful day in March a storm of this kind suddenly swept down across the valley near Khan Minyeh, transforming the placid lake into a mass of windswept waves and compelling some men in a sail-boat to lower their sails and drive before the storm. Even the members of our own party had difficulty for a time in keeping in the saddles, so fierce was the wind, although at the same time the southern part of the lake was almost undisturbed. Against such a western gale the weary disciples struggled all night until morning. At last, as the Fourth Gospel states, Jesus, ever solicitous for the welfare of his friends, came out to meet them as they were near to the land.

Places Where Jesus Taught His Disciples. On the southern side of the Plain of Gennesaret, where one of the streams that waters the plain flows into the sea, was the little town of Magdala, under the shadow of the bluffs that come close to the shore on the south.^[(33)] It was a walk of only four or five miles from Jesus' home at Capernaum. A little east of the road which ran from Capernaum to Nazareth were the rounded, treeless heights known as the Horns of Hattin, where, according to tradition, Jesus sat down and taught his disciples the great truths contained in the Sermon on the Mount. To the north and west of Capernaum are many quiet heights commanding exquisitely beautiful views across the sea below. To these Jesus doubtless often retired, sometimes accompanied by his disciples. The earliest Christian tradition (that of Arculf, about 670 A.D.) fixed the scene of the giving of the Beatitudes and of the Sermon on the Mount on the top of the hill at the end of the wady that leads up to the north of the famous fountain of Tabighah.^[(129)] Eugesippus writing in the twelfth century says that "the descent of the mountain where our Lord preached to the multitude was two miles from Capernaum," thus confirming the older identification with the central, commanding, and yet secluded site near the city that witnessed most of Jesus' teaching and work. It would appear that (as Dr. Masterman urges in his Studies in Galilee, 87) the difficulties which later prevented pilgrims from reaching the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee led them to transfer the traditional site of the "Mount of Beatitudes" to the Horns of Hattin nearer Tiberias. Along the northern shore of the sea are also two or three picturesque bays with the land sloping gradually upward like an amphitheatre. Here it requires little imagination to see Jesus sitting in the boat with his disciples, surrounded by attentive crowds. These quiet spots, apart from the city, were of profound significance in Jesus' ministry, for his great work was that of a teacher, and they afforded the needed opportunity for quiet conversation, for question and answer, and for that intimate personal touch which was the secret of the Master's power.

Northern End of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus' active ministry was performed almost entirely about the northern end of the Sea of Galilee and was limited to a radius of four or five miles with its centre at Capernaum. This fact shows convincingly that Jesus' method of work was intensive rather than extensive. To-day the sadness of the lament which he uttered over Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida still overshadows this most beautiful but loneliest spot in all Palestine. Save a few monks who live at Tell Hum, each of these sites is almost absolutely deserted. A hush seems to rest upon the whole land. The traveller often goes for miles without meeting a human being. Only occasionally are sails seen upon the northern end of the lake. It is like an ancient ruined temple, whose sacred memories and associations are undisturbed by the footfall or voice of man.

Contrast Between the Northern and Southern End. On the other hand, the southern end of the lake has already felt the touch of the modern commercial world. Tiberias, on the southwestern side, has a population of over five thousand, of which two-thirds are Jews. At Semakh, on the southern point of the lake, the railroad from Haifa to Damascus has a station and is rapidly bringing in not only the tourists, but the products and life of the outside world. In the time of Jesus also the Græco-Roman world had largely taken possession of the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. Tiberias, the city of Herod Antipas, was either completed or else in the process of building. The site of Tarichea, whose name suggests its Greek characteristics, was at Kerak, on the southwestern end of the lake. Across, on the heights opposite Tiberias, was the thoroughly Greek city of Hippos, already reckoned as one of the Decapolis. To the southwest, on the bold bluff two thousand feet above the Sea of Galilee, lay the splendid city of Gadara. Its great theatre and acropolis commanded a magnificent view of the sea. Along the height to the west of the city ran the paved Roman highway with its row of columns, flanked on either side by magnificent villas. Still farther west, looking down toward the sea, were the tombs of the rich citizens.

Jesus' Visit to the Gadarene Territory. Only once is it recorded that Jesus left the Jewish atmosphere that characterized the northern end of the sea to enter the Greek world so near at hand. The exact scene of his healing of the demoniac was apparently uncertain even in the minds of the Gospel writers. It is sometimes described as the land of the Gadarenes and it is exceedingly probable that at this time the authority of the powerful city of Gadara extended along the eastern border of the lake which lay only six miles away. Josephus, in his Life (9:10), refers to certain Gadarene villages close to the shore. On the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee the hills recede at every point from a quarter to a half mile from shore, except at one point across the lake from Tiberias. There the hills approach within forty or fifty feet of the shore, and slope abruptly to the water, making it easy for a frightened herd of swine to plunge headlong over the steep place referred to in the Gospel narrative. Gerasa, from which is derived the other designation of the region (Land of the Gerasenes), is without much doubt represented by the ruins of Kursi or Kersa, on the left bank of the Wady Semakh, about a mile from the sea.^[(32)] The ruins indicate that it was a small village, surrounded by a wall three feet in thickness. The ruins also extend outside the walls toward the lake. On the hillsides which rise immediately above the town are ancient tombs. Here Jesus probably met the maniac whose belief that he was possessed of a legion of demons reflected the strong Roman environment in which he lived.