The Sea of Galilee has been exploited for its edible fish ever since human beings occupied its shores. In the Bible the people of Naphtali took its western and southern shores (Joshua 19:35), leaving Gad the southeast. The Arameans of Damascus conquered the entire region early in the ninth century B.C.E. (1 Kings 15:20), but Ahab (874-853 B.C.E.) regained the territory (1 Kings 20:26-34). Tiglath-pileser III took the region for Assyria (2 Kings 15:29) in 732 B.C.E. Of course the lake is famous as the setting of much of the ministry of Jesus. He called his first disciples here (Matthew 4:18-22). He fed the 5,000 apparently on the northwest shores of the lake (Luke 9:10-17). At Gennesaret sick people asked to touch the hem of his garment to be healed (Matthew 14:34-36). At Kursi on the eastern shores he healed the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20). The Sea of Galilee is called Lake of Gennesaret, the Greek form of Chinnereth, in Luke 5:1.
For a view of the Arbel cliffs overlooking the Sea of Galilee, see Slide 48.