sea of gennesaret Summary and Overview

(See CINNEROTH; SEA OF GALILEE). At the N.W. angle was the fertile plain "Gennesaret." Crescent in shape, extending from Khan Minyeh on the N. to the steep hill behind Mejdel on the S., called el Ghuweir, "the little ghor," watered by the spring Capharnaum (B. J., 3:10, sec. 8). It is also called "the Sea of Tiberias." All its names are drawn from places on the W. side. "The land of Gennesaret" was close to Capernaum on the opposite side to the N.E. of the lake, where the feeding of the 5,000 took place (John 6:1; John 6:17; John 6:24-25). (See CAPERNAUM.) In the land of Gennesaret was spoken the parable of the sower. There was the grainfield descending to the water's edge, the trodden path through its midst, without fence to prevent the seed from falling on either side or on it, itself hardened with treading; there was the rich soil of the plain, the rocky hillside protruding here and there, the stony soil, and the thorn bushes springing up in the midst of the grain.