Tiberias, Sea of

also called the Sea of Galilee and of Gennesaret. In the Old Testament it is called the Sea of Chinnereth or Chinneroth. John (21:1) is the only evangelist who so designates this lake. His doing so incidentally confirms the opinion that he wrote after the other evangelists, and at a period subsequent to the taking of Jerusalem (70 AD). Tiberias had by this time become an important city, having been spared by the Romans, and made the capital of the province when Jerusalem was destroyed. It thus naturally gave its name to the lake.