6:23

Tiberias: A city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, about 15 km (9.5 mi) S of Capernaum and just N of some hot springs that were famous in ancient times. It was built by Herod Antipas sometime between 18 and 26 C.E. as his new capital and residence. He named the city in honor of Tiberius Caesar, Roman emperor at the time, and it is still called Tiberias (Hebrew: Teverya). Though it was the largest city in the region, this is the only mention of it in the Scriptures. It is never stated that Jesus visited Tiberias, perhaps because of its strong foreign influence. (Compare Mt 10:5-7.) According to Josephus, the city of Tiberias had been built on the site of tombs; therefore, many Jews had been reluctant to move there. (Num 19:11-14) After the Jewish revolt in the second century C.E., Tiberias was declared cleansed and became the leading city of Jewish scholarship and the seat of the Sanhedrin. The Mishnah and the Palestinian (Jerusalem) Talmud were compiled here, as well as the Masoretic text that was later used for translating the Hebrew Scriptures.​—See App. B10.