In the Bible the following names all identify the same body of water: the Sea of Chinnereth (Num. 34:11; Josh. 13:27) or of Chinneroth (Josh. 12:3); the "lake of Gennesaret" (Luke 5:1); the "sea of Tiberias" (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 11:2; John 6:1,23; 21:1); and the Sea of Galilee (Matt 15:29; Mark 1:16; 7:31; John 6:1). It all sounds pretty confusing but it makes a lot of sense when you realize that ‘ownership’ of the lake changed hands frequently in those days.

The name “Sea of Chinnereth” was probably an ancient Canaanitish name adopted by the Israelites into their language. “Chinneroth” would have just been a variant spelling of the same name. 

“Gennesaret” is the Greek form of Chinnereth. It was literally a transliteration (pulling a word’s pronunciation as closely as possible from one language to another) and was adopted after Greece conquered the area.

Then came Rome. One of the best ways to get on the good side of a large ego is to name something really big after a person. And if the Roman rulers had nothing else, they had large egos. So Herod Antipas, wanting to make a big name for himself, named this body of water the “Sea of Tiberias” after the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar. Once it was renamed, it was considered treason against Caesar for a Roman citizen to call the lake anything else. Non-Romans, however, were not held to that standard. Because the Jews hated Rome and their occupation of Israel they were not in any hurry to call their lake the Sea of Tiberius. So they continued calling the lake by the name most familiar to them and already widely accepted among the people who lived in the region of Galilee: “The Sea of Galilee.”

The name used in Scripture may indicate something of the background of the person identifying the body of water (for example, whether they were of Jewish or Roman citizenship). We have many local examples of the same thing: 1^st Ave in Safford is also Hwy 191. People living south of town would be more likely to refer to it as Hwy 191 then, say, those who live in the city limits. At some point 5^th St, Hwy 70 and West Thatcher Blvd can be confusing too. And what someone calls the road may provide a clue as to where they live or how long they have lived in the valley.

By the way, the Herod Antipas I mentioned above was the son of Herod the Great. Herod the Great, you will recall, was the one who ordered the deaths of all the male babies in Bethlehem when the magi (wise men) came from the east looking for the King of the Jews (baby Jesus). When dad died, Herod Antipas did everything he could as a politician to gain Rome’s approval and thus full control of the kingdom that was his father’s – hence the renaming of the lake. It was this same Herod Antipas who beheaded John the Baptist and to whom Pilate sent Christ when he was at Jerusalem for the Passover. Antipas would ask Jesus some idle questions, mock Him and send Him back to Pilate.