In the Old Testament this sea is called Chinnereth. See Matthew 5:1 ); the Jewish historian Josephus always called it by that name, and so did the author of First Maccabees. Once John called it the “sea of Tiberias” (Matthew 6:1 ).

In the first century the sea of Galilee was of major commercial significance. Most Galilean roads passed by it, and much travel to and from the east crossed the Jordan rift there. Fish was a major food in the area, and the fishing industry flourished because there was no other significant freshwater lake in the region. Capernaum, which played a major role in the ministry of Jesus, was a center of that industry. The other lake towns of importance were Bethsaida, which means “the fishing place”, and Tiberias, a Gentile city constructed by Herod Antipas when Jesus was a young man.

Roger Crook