Another incident in the Gospel narrative is illus trated by the topography of this region. After Jesus had fed the multitude near the Bethsaida which stood on the north-east shore, he told his disciples to cross over in a boat ' unto Bethsaida,' as Mark says (vi. 45), or ' toward Capernaum,' according to John (vi. 17). There is no contra diction. Both places are in the same direction, and within less than a mile of each other. The storm drove the boat a little southward, and so they landed on the coast of Gennesaret beyond Capernaum.
Bethsaida was ' the city of Andrew and Peter' (John i. 44) ; and this little quiet bay beside it was probably the scene of the remarkable incident re corded in John xxi. 1-24. Some of Christ's dis ciples, after the Crucifixion, returned on a visit to their homes, and resumed their old occupation. Peter and Thomas, James and John, after a night of fruitless fishing on the Sea of Galilee, saw an apparent stranger standing alone upon the shore— it was Jesus. At his bidding they ' cast the net' and were rewarded by another `miraculous draught' in the same place as the first ; and they drew the full nets up on the smooth beach (comp. Luke v. A ' woe' was pronounced upon Beth aids be cause of the infidelity of its inhabitants ; and now its prostrate ruins, and its lonely, desolate shore, are painful evidences that the ' woe ' has come (Matt. xi. 21).—J. L. P.
2. Bethsaida of Gaulonitis. Christ fed the 5000 ' near to a city called Bethsaida' (Luke ix. 1o); but it is evident from the parallel passages (Matt. xiv. 13 ; Mark vi. 32-45) that this event took place not in Galilee, but on the eastern side of the lake. It has been shewn above that there were two Beth saidas, one on the western, and the other on the north-eastern border of the lake. The former was undoubtedly ' the city of Andrew and Peter ;' and, although Reland did not think that the other Beth saida is mentioned in the New Testament, it has been shewn 'by later writers that it is in perfect agreement with the sacred text to conclude that it was the Bethsaida near which Christ fed the five thousand, and also, probably, where the blind man was restored to sight. This, and not the western
Bethsaida (as our English writers persist in stating), was the Bethsaida of Gaulonitis, afterwards called Julias, which Pliny (Hist. Nat. v. 15) places on the eastern side of the lake and of the Jordan, and which Josephus describes as situated in lower Gaulonitis, just above the entrance of the Jordan into the lake (De Bell. ii. 9. I; iii. to. 7). It was originally only a village, called Bethsaida, but was rebuilt and enlarged by Philip the Tetrarch not long after the birth of Christ, and received the name of Julias in honour of Julia the daughter of Augustus (Luke iii. 1 ; Joseph. Alsteq. xviii. 2. I). Philip seems to have made it his occasional resi dence; and here he died, and was buried in a costly tomb (Antiq. xviii. 4. 6). At the northern end of the lake of Gennesareth, the mountains which form the eastern wall of the valley through which the Jordan enters the lake throw out a spur or promontory, which extends for some distance southward along the river. This is known by the people on the spot by no other name than et-Tell (the hill). On it are some ruins, which were visited by the Rev. Eli Smith, and proved to be the most extensive of any in the plain. The place is regarded as a sort of capital by the Arabs of the valley (the Ghawarineh), although they have lost its ancient name, and now occupy only a few houses in it as magazines. The ruins cover a large portion of the Tell, but consist entirely of unhewn volcanic stones, without any distinct trace of ancient architecture (Robinson, Bib!. Researches, ii. 413; Winer, Bib!. Realwhrt. s. v. Bethsaida').—J. K.