Bethsaida
| בית צידה (Bet Tsida) | |
  Bethsaida
|
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| Location | Galilee, Syria |
|---|---|
| History | |
| Founded | 1st century BC |
| Abandoned | 65 AD |
Bethsaida /ˌbɛθ.seɪˈiːdə/ (from Hebrew/Aramaic בית צידה beth-tsaida, lit. "house of hunting" or "fishing", from the Hebrew root צדה or צוד) is a place mentioned in the New Testament.
A city east of the Jordan River, in a "desert place" (that is, uncultivated ground used for grazing) possibly the site at which Jesus miraculously fed the multitude with five loaves and two fish (Mark 6:32; Luke 9:10). It may be possible to identify this site with the village of Bethsaida in Lower Gaulanitis which the tetrarch Herod Philip II raised to the rank of a polis in the year 30/31, and renamed it Julias, in honor of Livia, the wife of Augustus. It lay near the place where the Jordan enters the Sea of Gennesaret (Ant., XVIII, ii, 1; BJ, II, ix, 1; III, x, 7; Vita, 72). This city was most likely located at et-Tell, a ruined site on the east side of the Jordan on rising ground, 2 km from the sea. This distance poses a problem, however. Why would a fishing village be so far from the water? A combination of three hypotheses can explain this:
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