GALILEE (gal'i-le), (Heb. gaw-lee-law', circle region district), the Greek form of the name given to one of the three principal divisions of Palestine, the other two being Judma and Sam aria.
(1) Name. This name of the region was very ancient. It occurs in the Hebrew forms of Galil and Galilah (Josh. xx :7 ; xxi :32 ; Kings ix :t ; 2 Kings xv :29), and in Is. ix :1, we have 'Galilee of the nations' ( Mace. v:15; Matt. iv:15).
(2) Geography. Galilee was the northernmost of the three divisions, and was divided into Upper and Lower. The former district had Mount Leb anon and the countries of Tyre and Sidon on the north ; the Mediterranean Sea on the west ; Abilene, Iturwa, and the country of Decapolis on the east ; and Lower Galilee on the south. This was the portion of Galilee which was distinctive ly called 'Galilee of the nations,' or of the 'Gen tiles,' from its having a more mixed population, e. less purely Jewish, than the others. Cmsarea Philippi was its principal city. Lower Galilee had Upper Galilee on the north, the NIediterranean on the west, the Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gen nesareth on the east, and Samaria on the south. Its principal towns were Tiberias, Chorazin, Beth saida, Nazareth, Cana, Capernaum, Nain, Cxsarea of Palestine, and Ptolemais.
(3) Home of Christ. This is the district which was of all others the most honored with the presence of our Savior. Here he lived en tirely until he was thirty years of age ; and al though, after the commencement of his ministry, he frequently visited the other provinces, it was here that he chiefly reriided (Matt. iv :t3 ; ix :17). Here also he made his first appearance to the apostles after his resurrection ; for they were all of them natives of this region, and had returned hither after the sad events at Jerusalem (Matt. xxviii: 7)• (4) Disciples Called Galileans. Hence the disciples of Christ were called "Galileans' (Acts i :it ; :7 ; John i :46 ; vii :52). They were easily recognized as such ; for the Galileans spoke a dialect of the vernacular Syriac different from that of Judxa, and which was of course accounted rude and impure, as all provincial dialects are con sidered to be, in comparison with that of the metropolis. It was this which occasioned the de
tection of St. Peter as one of Christ's disciples (Mark xiv :7o; xxvi :73). The Galilean dia lect (as we learn from Buxtorf, Lightfoot. and others), was of a broad and rustic tone, which affected the pronunciation not only of letters but of words.
(5) A Seditious People. The Galileans are mentioned by Josephus (Antiq. xvii:lo, 2 ; De Bell. Jud. ii :to, 6; iii :3, 2) as a turbulent and rebellious people, ready on all occasions to rise against the Roman authority. This character of them explains what is said in Luke xiii :t, with re gard to 'the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.' Josephus, indeed, does not mention any Galileans slain in the Temple by Pilate; but the character which he gives that people sufficiently corroborates the statement. The tumults to which he alludes were, as we know, chiefly raised at the great festivals, when sacrifices were slain in great abundance; and on all such occasions the Galileans were much more active than the men of Judma and Jerusalem, as is proved by the history of Archelaus (Joseph. Antiq. xvii :9, to) ; which case, indeed, furnishes an an swer to those who deny that the Galileans attend ed the feasts with the rest of the Jews.
The seditious character of the Galileans also explains why Pilate, when sitting in judgment upon Jesus, caught at the word Galilee when used by the chief priests, and asked if he were a Galilean (Luke xxiii :6). To be known to belong to that country was of itself sufficient to prejudice Pilate against him, and to give some countenance to the charges, unsupported by im partial evidence, which were preferred against him, and which Pilate himself had, just before, virtually declared to be false. (Porter, Hand book.)