![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2022\/03\/SeaofGalilee2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI am critiquing an article from the website called Vridar<\/em> (a \u201ctop 30 atheist blog\u201d), entitled, \u201cMark: failed geography, but great bible student\u201d<\/a> (8-6-10). Words of the author, Neil Godfrey, will be in blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Mark 7:31<\/strong> (RSV) Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decap\u2019olis.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Much has been said about Mark\u2019s poor knowledge of the geography of Palestine. A classic case is his bizarre itinerary for Jesus leaving Tyre to go north, then south-east, then back east again, to reach is final destination. On the map here, locate Tyre, run your finger north to Sidon, then let it wander to the right and downwards till it reaches Decapolis, then zero up to the \u201clake\u201d of Galilee.<\/span><\/p>\n That is the route that the Gospel of Mark says Jesus took in order to get from Tyre to the \u201csea of Galilee\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus\u2019 travel agent must have been offering a super-bargain or Mark had little real knowledge of the geography of the area, . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mark . . . has suffered the reputation of being a geographic illiterate ever since! . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mark [knew] little about the geography of Palestine, . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Godfrey goes on to suggest (from another article) that Mark was deliberately \u201cfollowing\u201d Isaiah 9:1, to establish a fulfilled prophecy. He writes:<\/p>\n The interesting point concerning this passage in Mark\u2019s gospel, then, is that Mark\u2019s itinerary for Jesus appears to follow the order of the geographical references in Isaiah. And in so doing, Mark has constructed a bizarre way to get Jesus from Tyre to the \u201csea of Galilee\u201d, . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nice try, but this is vastly overthinking and hyper-analyzing what should be a very simple matter.\u00a0Craig Dunkley,\u00a0from the\u00a0Logic & Light<\/em>\u00a0site<\/a>, shreds this \u201creasoning\u201d:<\/p>\n [I]t\u2019s entirely possible that Jesus had some reason for going to Sidon before heading down to the Sea of Galilee!\u00a0 The narrative simply doesn\u2019t give us enough information to know for sure.\u00a0 Jesus had been travelling around the region, and Sidon may have been a planned part of his circuit.\u00a0 To automatically presume that the author made an error strikes me as bias in the extreme. . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n [S]cholar Tim McGrew adds yet another piece of information.\u00a0 He reminds us that there is a mountain (Mt. Meron) standing nearly 4,000 feet high directly between Tyre and the Sea of Galilee.\u00a0 He adds: \u201cThere is a pass from Sidon through the mountains to the Jordan river valley, where foot travelers to Galilee could have fresh water for the journey.\u201d\u00a0 According to McGrew, it would have been easier for Jesus to go a bit out of his way to avoid climbing Mt. Meron and to remain close to fresh water for the journey.\u00a0[Alleged Historical Errors in the Gospels (Matthew & Mark)<\/em><\/a>, 5-21-12]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Even a quick perusal of a map of the missionary journeys of Paul<\/a> confirms that long, ongoing journeys of religious mission are often \u201cjagged\u201d in their routes; so are \u2014 sometimes \u2014 vacations. One could, for example, look at my own planned \u201csnakelike\u201d route in Idaho for our vacation this coming summer. Or one could look at the series of one-night concerts on tours of up-and-coming musicians. They go wherever they have a gig.<\/p>\n There are many good and possible reasons for prima facie<\/em> \u201cgeographically irrational\u201d itineraries.\u00a0 But instead it\u2019s much easier for atheists to cynically, uncharitably, and irrationally assume that Mark was a dummy, who didn\u2019t know Judean \/ Galilean geography from a hole in the ground.<\/p>\n The really fun part of Godfrey\u2019s article, however, comes in an additional curious claim:<\/p>\n Originally Isaiah probably meant by \u201cway of the sea\u201d the main road to the Mediterranean Sea that marked the northern border of the uppermost lands of Israel threatened by the Assyrian invaders; . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Matthew took these three diverse regions and reinterpreted them for his Gospel to point to a single point on the map \u2014 the area of Christ\u2019s ministry. By so doing, the word for \u201csea\u201d became associated with Galilee (and it\u2019s<\/span> [sic] lake) and thus displaced from its original reference to the Mediterranean. . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In this way Notley explains the oddity of describing the more technically correct name, Lake of Gennesar (Luke), as a \u201csea\u201d of Galilee.<\/span><\/p>\n So now Mark and Matthew are accused of changing the name of the Sea of Galilee to \u201csea\u201d (when in fact it is a freshwater lake) based on their belief of a fulfilled prophecy from Isaiah:<\/p>\n Matthew 4:12-15<\/strong> Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; [13] and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper\u2019na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb\u2019ulun and Naph\u2019tali, [14] that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: [15] \u201cThe land of Zeb\u2019ulun and the land of Naph\u2019tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles \u2014<\/p>\n Isaiah 9:1<\/strong> . . . In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zeb\u2019ulun and the land of Naph\u2019tali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Godfrey draws from the article, \u201cThe Sea of Galilee: Development of an Early Christian Toponym\u201d<\/a> by\u00a0 R. Steven Notley (Journal of Biblical Literature<\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>Vol. 128, No. 1 [Spring, 2009], pp. 183-188). Notley wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>fourth-century <\/span>writer <\/span>Julius <\/span>Honorius . . .<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>alone <\/span>among <\/span>the Latin <\/span>authors <\/span>uses <\/span>the term <\/span>mare<\/em> [sea] <\/span>rather <\/span>than <\/span>lacus<\/em> [lake] <\/span>to <\/span>describe the <\/span>lake . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Notley does mention that \u201csea\u201d is associated with the Sea of Galilee in three Old Testament texts:<\/p>\n Numbers 34:11<\/strong> . . . the sea of Chin\u2019nereth . . .<\/p>\n Joshua 12:3<\/strong> and 13:27<\/strong> . . . the Sea of Chin\u2019neroth . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wouldn\u2019t that imply that Mark and Matthew weren\u2019t the first<\/em> to do so, based on an allegedly mistaken (or changed) interpretation of a prophecy from Isaiah? Notley argued that the Hebrew involved (yam<\/em>: Strong\u2019s word #3220<\/a>) could indicate either<\/em> a lake or a sea. Indeed it does, but the word has been overwhelmingly translated \u201csea\u201d in both Greek and English.<\/p>\n For example, NASB translates the word \u201csea (278), seacoast (5), seas (27), seashore (1), seashore (9)\u201d and never as \u201clake.\u201d In fact, \u201clake\u201d never appears<\/em> in the entire Old Testament text in the King James Version, and only ten times in the New Testament: five in Luke, referring to the Sea of Galilee, and \u201clake of fire\u201d five times in Revelation. \u201cLake\u201d appears three times in the OT in the RSV (Dt 33:23; Job 14:11; 2 Macc 12:16). Notley also noted that the Greek term for \u201clake\u201d was used only five times in the Greek Septuagint (and \u201cnever for the lake of Gennesar\u201d), whereas the word for \u201csea\u201d appeared 432 times (99% of the time).<\/p>\n Clearly, then, \u201csea\u201d was the normative usage (and translation of yam<\/em>) in Hebrew culture, and in the Old Testament. It simply meant a large body of water, without reference to whether it was salty or fresh water. It was pre-scientific, phenomenological language. The same word, yam<\/em>, was used many times for the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Dead (or \u201cSalt\u201d) Sea, and it was also<\/em> used for the Sea of Galilee.<\/p>\n Therefore, the origin of that usage was not<\/em> from Mark and\/or Matthew. It already existed from the time of Moses. Matthew and Mark weren\u2019t being duplicitous or \u201cdumb\u201d; they were simply following Jewish precedent. It stands to reason that Luke would use \u201clake\u201d because that was more common among the Gentiles: of whom he was one, and to whom he mostly wrote.<\/p>\n So, though Notley\u2019s theory (embraced by Godfrey) is clever, I don\u2019t buy it. Mark and Matthew using \u201csea\u201d to describe the Sea of Galilee is nothing new or unusual, and it went back to Moses. There was nothing odd or weird about it at all; nor was there in Luke\u2019s usage, since the Sea of Galilee was also called a lake (particularly among the Greeks and Romans).<\/p>\n There are other (technical) lakes that are called seas, too<\/a>: the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, the Salton Sea, and even the Dead Sea. These are all technically not \u201cseas\u201d by the definition of \u201csea\u201d in current scientific \/ geographical usage. Nor are they freshwater lakes. They are salt lakes<\/em> (with various degrees of saltiness).<\/p>\n The Sea of Galilee is more or less uniquely a freshwater lake called a sea, but we have now seen the reason<\/em> why it is (usually) called a sea. It goes back to the lack of a Hebrew distinction between a freshwater lake and a salty sea or salt lake. All alike were called seas, and Mark and Matthew are obviously following the existing Hebrew \/ Jewish tradition of title in this instance.<\/p>\n In any event, there is no \u201cproblem\u201d here, as Godfrey wanted to make out. Mark knew his local geography and he knew (and \u2014 with Matthew and John \u2014 continued to use) the traditional Hebrew title of the Sea<\/em> of Galilee (or Chinnereth, etc.).<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Practical Matters<\/em><\/strong>: Perhaps some of my 4,000+ free online articles (the most comprehensive \u201cone-stop\u201d Catholic apologetics site) or\u00a0fifty books<\/a>\u00a0have helped you (by God\u2019s grace) to decide to\u00a0become Catholic<\/a>\u00a0or to\u00a0return to the Church<\/a>,\u00a0or better understand some doctrines and\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0we believe them<\/a>.<\/p>\n Or you may believe my work is worthy to support for the purpose of apologetics and evangelism in general. If so, please seriously consider a much-needed financial contribution. I\u2019m always in need of more funds: especially\u00a0monthly<\/em>\u00a0support. \u201cThe laborer is worthy of his wages\u201d (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV). 1 December 2021 was my 20th anniversary as a\u00a0full-time Catholic apologist<\/a>,\u00a0and February 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of my blog.<\/p>\n PayPal donations<\/a>\u00a0are the easiest: just send to my email address: apologistdave@gmail.com. You\u2019ll see the term \u201cCatholic Used Book Service\u201d, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing, including 100% tax deduction, etc., see my page:\u00a0About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong \/ Donation Information<\/a>.\u00a0Thanks a million<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0from the bottom of my heart!<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Photo credit: <\/strong>Nirit Hann (c. 2010). Sunset over the Sea of Galilee<\/span> [Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0Attribution 2.5 Generic<\/a> license]<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Summary<\/em>: Atheist brings up Mark\u2019s supposed ignorance of geography, but then offers a theory that he originated the use of \u201cSea\u201d of Galilee, by misappropriating prophecy.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am critiquing an article from the website called Vridar (a \u201ctop 30 atheist blog\u201d), entitled, \u201cMark: failed geography, but great bible student\u201d (8-6-10). Words of the author, Neil Godfrey, will be in blue. ***** Mark 7:31 (RSV) Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":63588,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[4129,1043,258,522,1472,1473,525,524,2637,1633,1878,1387,1028,15956,1386,535,4068,140,15959,948],"class_list":["post-63578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atheism-agnosticism","tag-alleged-bible-contradictions","tag-anti-theism","tag-atheism","tag-atheist-biblical-exegesis","tag-atheists-the-bible","tag-atheists-theology","tag-bible-contradictions","tag-bible-difficulties","tag-biblical-inspiration","tag-biblical-skeptics","tag-biblical-theology","tag-exegesis","tag-gospel-of-mark","tag-gospel-of-mark-geography","tag-hermeneutics","tag-holy-bible","tag-inerrancy","tag-infallibility","tag-origin-of-sea-of-galilee","tag-sea-of-galilee"],"yoast_head":"\n