Tarichea

Tarichea.

At the mouth of the Jordan at the south of the Sea of Tiberias.

Residents or Natives

No residents in this marshy region, but people from Galatia: The Galazia.

Description

"The small peninsula of Tarichea extends into the lake forming a deep bay to the southwest, so it is not inaccurate to say that, rather than a peninsula, it is an isthmus almost entirely surrounded by Water, and which remains connected to the land by a kind of corridor. At least that was the case at the time of Jesus, when I see it. I do not know if, over the course of twenty centuries, the sands and gravels carried by a small stream, which flows directly into the bay to the southwest, may have changed the appearance of the place by silting up the small bay and thereby widening the tongue of land of the isthmus."

The sight of a dam intrigues Maria Valtorta: it is built westward, on the gravel. Earth and small trees cover it.

Notable Events

Location of Tarichea in 1903

1st multiplication of the loaves: One of his Disciples, Andrew the Apostle, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him:

"There is here a child, who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that among so many people?"

Almost a year later, it is at this place that Chouza reveals to Jesus his plot to crown him king. This explains why John, the only apostle witness of the event, makes an insertion in his account of the multiplication of the loaves to mention it. It is between Tarichea and Hippo that the reunion of the fishermen with the resurrected Jesus takes place:

"Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me?"

This justifies that the fishermen of Capernaum did not hesitate to frequent this place where the Sea of Tiberias again becomes the Jordan.

Where is it mentioned in the work?

EMV 187
EMV 273
EMV 444 EMV 451 EMV 463
EMV 633

Learn more about this place

A marshy region, beautiful but wild, where the Jordan resumes its course at the outlet of the Sea of Tiberias.

Evangelical relevance of the location

The first of the two multiplications of the loaves is reported by the four evangelists in very similar terms. It fits into a chronology of events:

1 – It is announced to Jesus the beheading of John the Baptist. Jesus is then in an unspecified town, but without doubt his usual one.

2 - He invites the Apostles to come aside to take time to rest. They leave by boats to a deserted place where the first multiplication of loaves takes place benefiting a crowd of five thousand men, not counting the Womans and children. They came on foot, sometimes running, from "their towns".

3 - At nightfall, Jesus withdraws to a "mountain" to pray while the Apostles set off by boat "to the other shore", in Ramah (Judea), against a contrary wind that turns into a storm. Jesus joins them by walking on the Waterx having already made 5 km and calms the storm.

4 - They land at: Gennesaret Plain (Matthew and Mark), "where they were going" (John).

5 - The next day the crowd remains on the place of the multiplication of the loaves notices the absence of Jesus and his Disciples. They use boats coming from Tiberias to join them at Capernaum. It is there that Jesus will give the discourse on the Bread of Heaven, which will cause many Disciples to defect.

So the place of the first multiplication of the loaves is on the opposite shore to Gennesaret Plain and Capernaum. This excludes its location in the region of Bethsaida chosen by Luke and tradition afterward.

If the disappointed crowd rushes to Capernaum it is because the city is known as the usual place where Jesus preaches, which the Gospel confirms. It is from this town that he departs to a deserted place on the opposite shore, where the lake flows into the Jordan.

On the return, the Apostles row against a contrary wind, "against a contrary wind". This is typical of the dominant night wind that descends from the Golan plateau: east/northeast winds blowing against them. Indeed, the surrounding mountains, cooled, trigger sudden and violent slope winds: cold air descends towards the lake causing gusts. On the return, they struggle rowing toward Gennesaret Plain between Magdala and Capernaum, no doubt as a resting stage before reaching Capernaum as specified in the Gospel of John.

It is to the south of the lake, at the mouth of the Jordan, that Tarichea and its grassy and marshy expanses are located, capable of sheltering in a "desert" a crowd of several thousand people having come on foot, "sometimes running" from the "towns" on the lake's west coast: Capernaum, Magdala, Tiberias. A location northwest of the lake would have made unnecessary the mention of a desert and villages, as this region is the most populated.

Near Tarichea there are also steep shores, the "mountain" where Jesus goes to pray before walking on the Waterx. A walk faster than rowing against the current.

The name Tarichea has recently been linked, by contemporary exegesis, to the town of Magdala as it was an ancient name. But fish-drying facilities (which Tarichea means) are certainly numerous around the lake, which is why ancient authors placed Tarichea sometimes north of Tiberias, sometimes south: which is the view taken by Maria Valtorta for the first multiplication of the loaves. This place, perfectly plausible, retained by Maria Valtorta in full coherence with the gospel accounts is historically properly named Tarichea as demonstrated by the 1903 map inserted above.

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Analysis of the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.