place · also Gilgal · Galilean
Galilee
גָּלִילΓαλιλαία
- verses
- 72
- first named
- Joshua 12:23
- last named
- Acts 13:31
- feature
- region
- coordinates
- 32.76°N · 35.53°E
Galilee (OpenBible)
Scholarship offers 2 identifications for this place. The leading one is shown; the others are recorded in the gazetteer.

Description
Galilee in the text
Galilee is a region located in northern Israel, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee to the east, and the Jezreel Valley to the south. In the Old Testament, Galilee is mentioned as part of the tribal allotments of Naphtali (Joshua 20:7) and Zebulun (Joshua 21:32), and as a region that Solomon gave to Hiram, king of Tyre (1Ki.9.11).
In the New Testament, Galilee plays a significant role in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a town in Galilee (Luke 2:39), and began his public ministry in the region after being baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13; Mrk.1.9). Many of Jesus' disciples, including Peter, Andrew, James, and John, were from Galilee (Act.1.11).
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is recorded as traveling and teaching extensively in Galilee, performing miracles and drawing large crowds (Matthew 4:23-25; Mrk.1.28, 39; Luke 4:14, 44). Notable events in Galilee include the wedding at Cana (Jhn.2.1-11), the healing of the centurion's servant (Luke 7:1-10), and the feeding of the five thousand (Luke 9:10-17).
Galilee was also the location of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances to his disciples (Matthew 28:7, 10, 16; Jhn.21.1-14). After Jesus' ascension, the early church spread throughout Galilee, Judea, and Samaria (Act.9.31).
In addition to its religious significance, Galilee was known for its agricultural fertility and was an important center of trade and commerce. The region was inhabited by a mix of Jews and Gentiles, and was known for its distinct accent and dialect (Matthew 26:69; Mrk.14.70; Luke 22:59).
The Bible also mentions several political and social events connected to Galilee, such as the census during the time of Jesus' birth (Luke 2:1-4), the rule of Herod Antipas as tetrarch of Galilee (Luke 3:1), and the Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1-2).
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
The pattern
Where Galilee is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
72 verses across 10 of 66 books; 56 write the name nowhere. Named in Joshua (3), 1 Kings (1), 2 Kings (1), 1 Chronicles (1), Isaiah (1), Matthew (15), Mark (11), Luke (18), John (15) and Acts (6).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 72, across 10 books. The name is written 76 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
What happened here
Atlas's reading of each chapter this place appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
- Joshua 20Galilee contained Kedesh, one of the western cities of refuge.
- 1 Kings 9Galilee contained the twenty towns Solomon gave to Hiram.
- Isaiah 9Galilee of the nations is promised honour after its former distress.
- Matthew 3From Galilee, Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
- Matthew 4Galilee receives Jesus after His withdrawal, His preaching, His teaching, His healing, and the crowds who follow Him.
- Matthew 17Galilee is where Jesus tells the disciples that he will be killed and raised on the third day.
- Matthew 19Galilee is left behind as Jesus goes toward Judea.
- Matthew 21Galilee was named with Nazareth in the crowd’s description of Jesus.
13 more chapters, from Matthew 28 to John 21
- Matthew 28The eleven disciples went to the mountain Jesus had designated in Galilee, where they saw Him.
- Mark 6Galilee supplied the leading men gathered at Herod’s birthday banquet.
- Mark 9Jesus and His disciples passed through Galilee while He taught them privately.
- Mark 16Galilee is named as the place ahead of the disciples where they will see Jesus.
- Luke 4Galilee is where Jesus returns to teach, and from which news of Him spreads.
- Luke 17Galilee forms the other side of the country Jesus passes through on his way to Jerusalem.
- Luke 22Galilee identified the third witness's reason for saying Peter had been with Jesus.
- Luke 23Galilee was named as the beginning of Jesus’ teaching and as the homeward direction of the women who knew Him.
- Luke 24Galilee is where Jesus had told the women that the Son of Man would suffer, be crucified, and rise again.
- John 2Galilee was the setting named for Cana, where the wedding and Jesus’ first sign took place.
- John 4Galilee received Jesus warmly and became the setting for the healing of a royal official’s son.
- John 7Galilee was where Jesus remained, and the place from which the crowd disputed the Christ’s coming.
- John 21Galilee was named in connection with Nathanael's home.
Sources