Tag Archives: meaning of Bethsaida

Bethsaida

Found only in Mt. 11:21; Mk. 6:45; 8:22; Lk. 9:10; 10:13; Jn. 1:44; 12:21, “Bethsaida” meant “house of fishing.”

This village was located on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee, and it “was elevated to the status of a city by Herod Philip in honor of Caesar Augustus and named Bethsaida Julia after his daughter” (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 1:215).  It was also the birthplace of Philip, Peter and Andrew (Jn. 1:44). Some think there was another “Bethsaida” on the west side of the Sea of Galilee.