Hebrew word · H3672

כִּנֶּ֫רֶת

kineret

(Sea of )Chinnereth (NIV: Sea of Galilee)

(1) A fortified town on the north-west shore of the lake (Josh 19:35; probably Tel Kinrot). (2) The lake itself, 'the Sea of Kinnereth' (Num 34:11; Josh 13:27). (3) The region around it, written in the plural 'Kinneroth' (1 Kgs 15:20).

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Chinneroth or Cinneroth or Chinnereth = "harps"

the early name of the Sea of Galilee

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 12:3

Range of meaning

(1) A fortified town on the north-west shore of the lake (Josh 19:35; probably Tel Kinrot). (2) The lake itself, 'the Sea of Kinnereth' (Num 34:11; Josh 13:27). (3) The region around it, written in the plural 'Kinneroth' (1 Kgs 15:20).

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'Chinneroth'. BSB has 'Chinnereth'. NIV and NLT substitute 'Sea of Galilee', the New Testament name, which helps readers locate it but brings in a name from a much later period.

How it drifted

It is often said that the name comes from kinnor ('lyre') because of the lake's shape. That is a later folk explanation and is not certain. The town name is more likely the source.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament period the lake is called Gennesaret (Luke 5:1; 1 Macc 11:67, 'water of Gennesar'), which probably developed from Kinnereth. It is also called the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias (John 6:1). The town of Kinneret is mentioned in a list of Thutmose III (15th century BC).

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 34:11 כִּנֶּ֖רֶת Kinnereth

    then go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Chinnereth.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 3:17 מִכִּנֶּ֗רֶת from Kinnereth

    The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.

    Here: The northern end point. Kinnereth is the lake later called the Sea of Galilee, and also the name of a town on its northwest shore. Either way it marks where the stretch of valley begins.

Joshua · 4

  1. Joshua 11:2 כִּֽנֲר֖וֹת Kinnereth

    to the kings of the north in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Chinnereth, in the foothills, and in Naphoth-dor to the west;

    Here: The town (and district) of Kinneret on the northwest shore of the lake later called the Sea of Galilee. The plural form probably refers to the town and its surrounding area. The lake itself took its name from the town.

  2. Joshua 12:3 כִּנְר֜וֹת Kinnereth

    as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

    Here: The lake later called Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberias, named after the town of Kinnereth on its north-west shore. Here it appears in a plural form, Kinneroth.

  3. Joshua 13:27 כִּנֶּ֔רֶת Kinnereth

    and in the valley, Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, with the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon (the territory on the east side of the Jordan up to the edge of the Sea of Chinnereth).

    Here: The lake's Old Testament name, taken from the town of Kinneret on its north-western shore. In New Testament times it was the Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gennesaret.

  4. Joshua 19:35 וְכִנָּֽרֶת׃ and Kinnereth

    The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 15:20 כִּנְר֔וֹת Kinnereth

    And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.