Meaning of BETHSAIDA

(a) BETHSAIDA OF GALILEE:
City where Philip, Andrew and Peter were from (Jn. 1:44; 12:21), and against which the Lord Jesus pronounced a woe! because he had not repented before his mighty works (Mt. 11:21; Luke 10:13).

After the Lord had fed the 5,000 east of the Jordan, he sent his disciples to Bethsaida, on the western coast (Mark 6:45). It was near the coast west of the Sea of Galilee, in the same district as Capernaum and Chorazin.

(b) BETSAIDA JULIA:
A city near the northeastern end of the same lake. A blind man was healed there (Mark 8:22), and it was nearby that the 5,000 were fed (Luke 9:10-17, and parallel passages). It was called Julia because the tetrarch Philip enlarged the city, giving it this name in honor of Julia, the daughter of Augustus.

Some identify this locality with "et Tell", 32° 54' N, 35° 37' E. (The context of Luke 9:10-17 and parallel passages shows that the events reported could not have taken place in or near Bethsaida west of the lake.)