What is…
Tiberias

also known as: Tubarich, טְבֶרְיָה (Hebrew), Tveria, Tabariyyah, Tubariyeh, Yam Ha-Kineret

Greek: Τιβεριάς —transliteration: Tiberias —occurrences: 3 (all in John)

Tiberias is an ancient city on the western shore of the Sea of Tiberias, more commonly known as the Sea of Galilee.

Modern Tiberias, Israel—satellite view

Founding of the City of Tiberias

Around 18–20 AD (during the Jesus Christ’s life), Herod Antipas (ruler of Galilee and Perea, son of Herod the Great) established a new city on the western bank of the lake. He deliberately named it Tiberias in honor of the reigning Roman emperor, Tiberius (who ruled 14–37 CE). This was a common practice in the Roman client kingdoms and provinces: local rulers built or renamed cities to flatter or curry favor with the emperor (e.g., Caesarea named after Caesar Augustus).

The city was built partly on the site of an older settlement (possibly ancient Rakkath mentioned in Joshua 19:35), and it quickly grew into an important administrative, political, and later religious center in the region. Because Tiberias became the most prominent city on the lake’s shore—and served as the capital of Galilee under Herod Antipas—the body of water increasingly came to be referred to by association with this major settlement.

Biblical history

The city of Tiberias is mentioned only 3 times in the history of Jesus Christ (John 6:1; 6:23; 21:1).

“Other small boats came from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.” —John 6:23

“We do not read that our Lord ever entered this city. The reason of this is probably to be found in the fact that it was practically a heathen city, though standing upon Jewish soil.

Herod, its founder, had brought together the arts of Greece, the idolatry of Rome, and the gross lewdness of Asia. There were in it a theatre for the performance of comedies, a forum, a stadium, a palace roofed with gold in imitation of those in Italy, statues of the Roman gods, and busts of the deified emperors. He who was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel might well hold himself aloof from such scenes as these.” —Rev. Samuel Manning, LL.D., Those Holy Fields: Palestine (1874)

After the fall of Jerusalem (70 AD), Tiberias became one of the chief residences of the Jews in Judea. It was for more than 300 years their metropolis. From about 150 AD the Sanhedrin settled here, and established rabbinical schools, which rose to great celebrity. Here the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled about the beginning of the fifth century.

To this same rabbinical school also we are indebted for the Masora, a “body of traditions which transmitted the readings of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, and preserved, by means of the vowel-system, the pronunciation of the Hebrew.” In its original form, and in all manuscripts, the Hebrew is written without vowels; hence, when it ceased to be a spoken language, the importance of knowing what vowels to insert between the consonants. This is supplied by the Masora, and hence these vowels are called the “Masoretic vowel-points.”

Sketch of the later town of Tiberias next to the lake, as seen by Samuel Manning in the 1870s.. Photo © copyrighted.
Samuel Manning’s 1870s sketch of the later town of Tiberias next to the lake

There are many ancient hot springs at Tiberias. Two ancient synagogue sites have been excavated here.

In 1837, about one-half of the inhabitants perished by an earthquake.

Tiberias, Israel
Modern Tiberias, Israel

Tiberias still exists today as a vibrant modern Israeli city. As of recent data (primarily from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics around 2023–2025), the population hovers around 48,000–52,000 residents. Ethnically, the population is overwhelmingly Jewish. The city has a diverse immigrant history, absorbing waves of Jewish diaspora from North Africa (e.g., Morocco, Tunisia), Eastern Europe (former Soviet Union), Ethiopia, Yemen, Iraq, and elsewhere post-1948, contributing to a multicultural Jewish fabric. Many synagogues follow Sephardic/Mizrahi rites, and small yeshivas (religious academies) remain active. The city Web site is at www.tiberias.muni.il.

More information

Article Version: March 21, 2026