Et-Tabighah is situated in a little nook or bay, close upon the shore. The first thing that attracts attention is the abundance of water,—streams, aqueducts, pools, and fountains, are all round us. Mills, too, are here, built by that Bedawy benefactor and rebel Dhâher el-Omer. All the sources are brackish except one, close to the shore, enclosed by a circular stone wall, and bearing the name 'Ain Eyûb, “Job’s Fountain.” The large fountains burst out from the base of the hill, a few hundred yards to the north; and here, round the principal one, is an ancient octagonal reservoir, something like those at Ras el-’Ain, near Tyre—probably constructed to raise the water, so that it might be carried to the plain of el-Ghuweir westward, for irrigation.

In this quiet nook, looking out over the lake, once stood the city of Bethsaida, “ House of Fish ;” the home of the fishermen, Peter and Andrew and Philip and James and John. (John i.44; Matt. iv. 18; Luke v.10.) That this Bethsaida was distinct from the other, E. of the Jordan, we have already seen; that it was on the shore near Capernaum, and N. of it, we have also seen; and we shall soon see that "Ain et-Tîn, the site of Capernaum, is only about 1/2  m. distant from et-Tâbighah. The identification of these sites throws new and clear light upon the several circumstances connected with that miracle to which I have already referred. After our Lord had fed the multitudes near Bethsaida (Julias—see above), “He constrained His disciples to enter their boat,” in order to cross over, as Mark says, “ unto Bethsaida ;’’ or as John says, “ toward Capernaum.” Both places were in the same direction; and it was probably their design to go first to Bethsaida, and thence to Capernaum. The storm drove the boat out of its course, and so they landed on the plain of Gennesaret, a little to the south of the latter city. (Comp. Matt. xiv. 34; Mark vi. 45-53; John vi. 17-25.) Beside the village on the south is a beautiful beach of fine sand sweeping round the little bay—just such a place as fishermen love to ground their boats. Here we may safely fix the scene of the miraculous draught of fishes, and the subsequent call of Peter and Andrew, James and John. (Luke v. 1-11. Bethsaida was associated, in the “ woe” pronounced by Christ, with its sister Chorazin; and now, not only in the desolation of their sites, but in the very dispute about their identity, we see that it has indeed been more “tolerable for Tyre and Sidon” in the day of their earthly judgment than for those cities—their names are preserved, their sites are unquestioned ; but here the names are gone, and even the sites problematical. (Matt.xi, 21-22.)

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