BETHSAIDA
(Beth·saʹi·da) [house or place of fishing].
The city from which Philip, Andrew and Peter came (John 1:44), although Simon Peter and Andrew seem to have taken residence in Capernaum by the time of Jesus’ ministry. (Matt. 8:5, 14; Mark 1:21, 29) It was a city “of Galilee.” (John 12:21) Following the death of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew to Bethsaida with his disciples and, at an isolated grassy place in its vicinity, he miraculously provided food for five thousand men, besides women and children, who had gathered to hear him. (Luke 9:10-17; compare Matthew 14:13-21; John 6:10.) Outside Bethsaida Jesus later restored sight to a blind man. (Mark 8:22) Since these powerful works were done in their neighborhood, the people of Bethsaida in general came in for merited reproach due to their unrepentant attitude, along with the population of Chorazin.—Luke 10:13.
The identification of the “village” (Mark 8:22, 23) or “city” (Luke 9:10) of Bethsaida has been a subject of some discussion. The Scriptural references point to a place on the N shores of the Sea of Galilee. The name is connected by Josephus with a populous village lying a short distance to the E of the point where the Jordan River enters the Sea of Galilee. This village was elevated to the status of a city during the rule of tetrarch Herod Philip and named Julias in honor of the daughter of Caesar Augustus. (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, chap. 2, par. 1) The ancient ruins of the site of Julias itself are to be found at et-Tell, about two miles (3 kilometers) from the sea; however, remains of a smaller fishing settlement are located at el-ʽAraj right on the shore. Here a natural harbor was used by fishermen up until recent times, so the place geographically fits the meaning of the name Bethsaida
While accepting this identification as applying to Bethsaida in some of the texts, a number of commentators contend for a second Bethsaida somewhere to the W of the Jordan. This view is due to the understanding, based on statements by Josephus and others, that the territorial limitation of Galilee did not extend E of the Jordan. Josephus himself speaks of Julias as in “lower Gaulonitis,” the region to the E of the Sea of Galilee. Yet Bethsaida is said to be “of Galilee.” (John 12:21) However, the region of Galilee does not seem to have always been so precisely defined, Josephus even referring to one Judas of Gaulonitis as a “Galilean.” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, chap. 1, par. 1; Wars of the Jews, Book II, chap. 8, par. 1) It is also quite possible that the city of Bethsaida had some of its population extending as far as the W bank of the Jordan, less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) distant.
Additionally, since the Authorized Version rendering of Mark 6:45 states that Jesus instructed his apostles “to go [by boat] to the other side before unto Bethsaida,” while the parallel passage at John 6:17 gives their destination as Capernaum, some have held that this likewise requires a second Bethsaida on the W side of the Jordan near Capernaum. Modern translations of the text at Mark 6:45, however, allow for the understanding that the apostles began their trip toward Capernaum by first going coastwise “toward Bethsaida” (the point from which they left Jesus evidently being near the site of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, likely some distance S of Bethsaida [Julias] and on the opposite side of the sea from Capernaum), and thereafter crossing over the northern end of the sea heading for the ultimate destination, Capernaum. They landed on the shores of the land of Gennesaret, apparently somewhat S of the city of Capernaum.—Mark 6:53.
Thus, while various locations have been suggested for a second Bethsaida, the Biblical accounts do not seem to require this. It may also be noted that these suggested sites are all near Capernaum and it seems quite unlikely that two cities bearing the name of Bethsaida would be situated but a few miles apart.