{"id":534,"date":"2015-01-12T12:00:56","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T12:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=534"},"modified":"2015-01-09T23:20:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T23:20:22","slug":"matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 8:23-27; Jesus Calms the Storm (Geographical Backgrounds)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Sea of Galilee is an important location in the history of Jesus, particularly because it was there he once demonstrated divine mastery over creation by miraculously calming a deadly storm. (Matthew 8:23-27). Here\u2019s what we know about that body of water:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Although it\u2019s called the \u201cSea\u201d of Galilee, it\u2019s actually a large, freshwater lake. As such, it\u2019s sometimes referred to as Lake Galilee by modern folks. Others have also called it the \u201cLake of Gennesaret\u201d (Jospehus), the \u201cSea of Tiberias\u201d (naming it after a city on its southwestern shore), and \u201cSea of Kinnereth\u201d (its ancient Hebrew name).<\/li>\n<li>Measuring about 16 miles from north to south, and about 9 miles from east to west, the Sea of Galilee calls to mind the shape of a harp. Perhaps that\u2019s why ancient Israelites tagged it the \u201cSea of Kinnereth,\u201d which may be a reference to the Hebrew word <em>kinnor<\/em>, which means \u201charp.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The location of the Sea of Galilee makes it particularly susceptible to storms. It sits about 640 feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, and is surrounded by steep hillsides along most of its shores. Ravines on the west side funnel cool air into the bowl-like basin where the sea sits. When cool air rushes into hot air rising from the valley lake, it can create sudden, fierce winds that stir up waves big enough to swamp a boat.<\/li>\n<li>In Jesus\u2019 day, the Sea of Galilee supported a thriving fishing industry\u2014it was where Peter, James, and John earned their living as fishermen. The great lake held three kinds of fish: Sardines, Barbels (named for the barb-like feelers on their upper lips), and a tasty Bass-like fish. The latter still lives in the Sea of Galilee and has been re-named \u201cSt. Peter\u2019s Fish\u201d in honor of Jesus\u2019 famous disciple. Today, restaurants on the shores of the Sea of Galilee serve this fish as part of their menus.<\/li>\n<li>In 1986, a drought shrunk the water levels of the Sea of Galilee for a short time. Two men on a walk spotted the outline of a sunken boat in the mud of the shrunken lake. After experts excavated it, they discovered it was a fishing vessel about 2,000 years old\u2014likely from the time of Christ. Many theorize that Jesus calmed the storm in a boat very similar to this one. The excavated boat measured about 24 feet long and six feet wide, large enough to hold a sleeping Jesus and all twelve of his disciples.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/workscited.html\">Works Cited<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>[WWA, 340-341; ISJ, 66-67]<\/p>\n<p>\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"About: Bible Study Nerds\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/about-for-bible-study-nerds.html\">About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"About: Mike Nappa\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/about-mike-nappa.html\">About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0<a title=\"Nappaland Communications Inc. official website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nappaland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Sea of Galilee is an important location in the history of Jesus, particularly because it was there he once demonstrated divine mastery over creation by miraculously calming a deadly storm. (Matthew 8:23-27). Here\u2019s what we know about that body of water: Although it\u2019s called the \u201cSea\u201d of Galilee, it\u2019s actually a large, freshwater lake.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":571,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,2],"tags":[228,229,213],"class_list":["post-534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geographicalbackgrounds","category-matthew","tag-jesus-calms-the-storm","tag-lake-galilee","tag-sea-of-galilee"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Matthew 8:23-27; Jesus Calms the Storm (Geographical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matthew 8:23-27; Jesus Calms the Storm (Geographical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Sea of Galilee is an important location in the history of Jesus, particularly because it was there he once demonstrated divine mastery over creation by miraculously calming a deadly storm. (Matthew 8:23-27). Here\u2019s what we know about that body of water: Although it\u2019s called the \u201cSea\u201d of Galilee, it\u2019s actually a large, freshwater lake.&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-12T12:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-09T23:20:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Nappa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Matthew 8:23-27; Jesus Calms the Storm (Geographical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Matthew 8:23-27; Jesus Calms the Storm (Geographical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds","og_description":"The Sea of Galilee is an important location in the history of Jesus, particularly because it was there he once demonstrated divine mastery over creation by miraculously calming a deadly storm. (Matthew 8:23-27). Here\u2019s what we know about that body of water: Although it\u2019s called the \u201cSea\u201d of Galilee, it\u2019s actually a large, freshwater lake.&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html","og_site_name":"For Bible Study Nerds","article_published_time":"2015-01-12T12:00:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-01-09T23:20:22+00:00","author":"Mike Nappa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html","name":"Matthew 8:23-27; Jesus Calms the Storm (Geographical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-01-12T12:00:56+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-09T23:20:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#\/schema\/person\/a0ce37903172885871b0c504c6694575"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-823-27-jesus-calms-the-storm-geographical-backgrounds.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Matthew 8:23-27; Jesus Calms the Storm (Geographical Backgrounds)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/","name":"For Bible Study Nerds","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Mike Nappa","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#\/schema\/person\/a0ce37903172885871b0c504c6694575","name":"Mike Nappa","description":"Mike Nappa is an entertainment journalist at FamilyFans.com, a bestselling author\u2014and a notorious Bible Study Nerd. He's a former youth pastor who shepherded kids on staff at Chuck Swindoll's church in Southern California\u2014and he's a bestselling and award-winning author with more than a million copies of his books sold worldwide. Plus, he holds a degree in Christian Education with an emphasis in Bible Theology. So, you know, he\u2019s got that going for him. Mike is also a pop culture dork who watches too much TV, reads too many comic books, utters too many bad words, laughs at all the wrong jokes, and often gets in trouble because he says whatever he happens to be thinking at the moment\u2014like quoting an R-rated movie in the middle of a sermon. Yeah, he\u2019s a mess (just like you!), but he kind of likes it that way. Most of all, Mike Nappa loves Jesus, and he figures that covers over a multitude of sins. Learn more at nappaland.com\/mikenappa.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.biblestudynerds.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/author\/mnappa"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":546,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534\/revisions\/546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}