Tabgha

Tabgha (Arabic: الطابغة‎, al-Tabigha; Hebrew: עין שבע‎, Ein Sheva which means "spring of seven") is an area situated on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It is traditionally accepted as the place of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Mark 6:30-46) and the fourth resurrection appearance of Jesus (John 21:1-24) after his Crucifixion. Until 1948, it was the site of a Palestinian Arab village.

The site's name is derived from the Greek name Heptapegon ("seven springs"). Its pronunciation gradually changed to "Tabego", and was eventually changed to "Tabha" by the Arabic speakers. St. Jerome referred to Heptapegon as "the solitude" (=eremos).

History

During the Crusader states era, it was known as Mensa Christi, or Mensa Domini.

Ottoman era

In 1596, Al-Tabigha formed part of the Ottoman Empire, a village, Tabiga, in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Jira under the liwa' ("district") of Safad, with a population of 44. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat and barley, as well as on goats, beehives and orchards.

Church of the Multiplication

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, shortened to (The Church of the Multiplication), is a Roman Catholic church located at Tabgha, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The modern church rests on the site of two earlier churches.

Religious affiliation

The church is maintained and overseen by the Benedictine Order.

History

The earliest recording of a church commemorating Jesus' feeding of the five thousand is by the Spanish pilgrim Egeria circa AD 380.

"Not far away from there (Capernaum) are some stone steps where the Lord stood. And in the same place by the sea is a grassy field with plenty of hay and many palm trees. By them are seven springs, each flowing strongly. And this is the field where the Lord fed the people with the five loaves and two fishes. In fact the stone on which the Lord placed the bread has now been made into an altar. Past the walls of this church goes the public highway on which the Apostle Matthew had his place of custom. Near there on a mountain is a cave to which the Savior climbed and spoke the Beatitudes."

4th century

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini/Common era) was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Great, who became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Gaining sole reign of the empire, he is also noted for re-establishing a single imperial capital, choosing the site of ancient Byzantium in 330 (over the current capitals, which had effectively been changed by Diocletian's reforms to Milan in the West, and Nicomedeia in the East) to build the city soon called Nova Roma (New Rome); it was later renamed Constantinople in his honor.

The last emperor to control both the eastern and western halves of the empire was Theodosius I. As the century progressed after his death it became increasingly apparent that the empire had changed in many ways since the time of Augustus. The two emperor system originally established by Diocletian in the previous century fell into regular practice, and the east continued to grow in importance as a centre of trade and imperial power, while Rome itself diminished greatly in importance due to its location far from potential trouble spots, like Central Europe and the East. Late in the century Christianity became the official state religion, and the empire's old pagan culture began to disappear. General prosperity was felt throughout this period, but recurring invasions by Germanic tribes plagued the empire from AD 376 onward. These early invasions marked the beginning of the end for the Western Roman Empire.

Church

Church may refer to:

Religion

Feeding the multitude

Feeding the multitude is the combined term used to refer to two separate miracles of Jesus reported in the Gospels.

The first Feeding Miracle, The Feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle (apart from the resurrection) which is present in all four canonical Gospels: Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:5-15. The second miracle, The Feeding of the 4,000, with seven loaves of bread and fish, is reported by Matthew 15:32-16:10 and Mark 8:1-9, but not by Luke or John.

The Feeding of the 5,000

The Feeding of the 5,000 is also known as the "miracle of the five loaves and two fish" given that the Gospel of John reports that five barley loaves and two small fish supplied by a boy were used by Jesus to feed a multitude. According to the Gospels, when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been killed, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place near Bethsaida. The crowds followed Jesus on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."