Bethsaida

"Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." (Matthew 11:21)

Bethsaida is important to Christianity as it is mentioned more than any other city in the bible, the exceptions being Jerusalem and Capernaum. According to the Gospel of John, Peter, Andrew and Phillip lived here. Many miracles associated with the life of Jesus also happened here. These include Jesus walking on the water Mark (6:45-51); Christ curing a blind man (Mark 8:22-25); and the feeding of the 5,000 (Luke 9:12-17).

Today, one finds a fertile plain set on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This, according to biblical scholars, is most likely where the feeding of the 5,000 took place. So it is no coincidence that Bethsaida means ‘place of fishing.’

Archaeologists today have located the New Testament city of Bethsaida inland at an archaeological site called Et-Tell. However there is some controversy over this mostly because the site is two miles from the shore, an unlikely spot for a fishing village. However bible scholars claim that 2,000 years ago, the shoreline was in a different location and could have very well been at Et-Tell.