GALILEE

"Galilee" refers to the whole area in which the Sea of Galilee is located. It was a Roman province during the time of Jesus measuring 30 miles wide and 50 miles long. It covered more than one-third of the territory of Palestine sharing land to the north with Samaria to the south and in the middle and Judea to the south. It reached Mt. Hermon to the north to the Carmel and Gilboa mountains to the south. It had a "mixed race" of Jews and heathen and was looked down upon by the pure blooded Jews of Judea. Due to the mixed population they developed their own dialect and accent which made them easy to identify. (Matthew 26:69-73) All of the disciples except Judas were from Galilee. Upper Galilee was made up of mountains up to 3,000 feet, while Lower Galilee mountains were in the range of 1,500 to 2,000 feet. It is interesting to note that most of the recorded miracles took place in this area, and most of the recorded parables were spoken here in Galilee. The first three Gospels focus a great deal upon Galilee. Zebulon, Asher, and Naphtali occupied this area in Old Testament times.