Galilea

Galilaea is the Latin form of Galilee (Hebrew הגליל), a large region in northern Israel which is home to several towns of Biblical significance and therefore an important religious pilgrimage destination. For instance Nazareth, Galilee was the hometown of Jesus Christ and the Galilee region is where He was baptized in the River Jordan, where He built His ministries and where conducted many of His miracles. The name comes from the Hebrew language and means “district of nations”. During the time of King Solomon many centuries before Christ the area was so named because many foreigners (i.e., many nations) had come to settle in the region while many more had been displaced or exiled there. Aside from Galilee’s obvious religious symbolism, on the opposite side of the spectrum, the name carries heavy scientific weight as well. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian astronomer, inventor, mathematician, philosopher and physicist who contributed to the revolution of modern science. In fact, Galileo’s support of Copernicus’s earlier theory that the sun, not the earth, was as at the center of the orbital universe put him in dangerous opposition to the powers of the Roman Catholic Church (he was basically accused of heresy and put under house arrest). The idea that the sun was fixed and the earth moved around the sun (heliocentrism) was in direct contradiction with the Scriptures and so the Church wished to suppress any science that might undermine the word of the Bible. Of course we now all know that Copernicus and (later on) Galileo were correct in their scientific assessments of the celestial bodies in the sky. What’s interesting about the name Galilea is that it could either be a name selection of symbolic importance for deeply religious parents or for the scientific minded. The fact that Galilee’s etymology means “district of nations” gives the name Galilea a very open and broadminded sensibility.