Matthew 11:21

11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! ¹  Woe to you, Bethsaida! If ²  the miracles ³  done in you had been done in Tyre ⁴  and Sidon, ⁵  they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Mark 6:45

Walking on Water

6:45 Immediately Jesus ⁶  made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dispersed the crowd.

John 1:44

1:44 (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, ⁷  the town of ⁸  Andrew and Peter.)

[11:21]  ¹ sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after a.d. 30.

[11:21]  ² tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.

[11:21]  ³ tn Or “powerful deeds.”

[11:21]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:21]  ⁵ sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”

[6:45]  ⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:44]  ⁷ sn Although the author thought of the town as in Galilee (12:21), Bethsaida technically was in Gaulanitis (Philip the Tetrarch’s territory) across from Herod’s Galilee. There may have been two places called Bethsaida, or this may merely reflect popular imprecision – locally it was considered part of Galilee, even though it was just east of the Jordan river. This territory was heavily Gentile (which may explain why Andrew and Philip both have Gentile names).

[1:44]  ⁸ tn Probably ἀπό (apo) indicates “originally from” in the sense of birthplace rather than current residence; Mark 1:21, 29 seems to locate the home of Andrew and Peter at Capernaum. The entire remark (v. 44) amounts to a parenthetical comment by the author.