Chinnereth, Chinneroth

CHINNERETH, CHINNEROTH kĭn’ ə rĕth, rŏth (כִּנֶּ֖רֶת, כִּֽנֲרֹ֖ות, B has Κεναρέθ, A has Χενερόθ. Cheneroth, meaning “harps.”) An old name for (1) the Sea of Galilee, (2) an area near it, and (3) a city in that area.

In Joshua 19:35 Chinnereth appears among the fortified cities of Naphtali. A hill bearing the modern name of Tel ’Oreimeh (“mound of the harp”) stands on the NW side of the Sea of Galilee where it commands the nearby fertile plain. Archeological evidences show it to have been occupied at the time of Joshua.

Chinneroth (1 Kings 15:20) is an area near Naphtali or is part of it.

Bibliography W. F. Albright, “The Jordan Valley in the Bronze Age,” AASOR, VI (1926), 24-26.