Bible Encyclopedias
Lake

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

lāk ( λίμνη , lı́mnē ): The word is used ( Luke 5:1 , Luke 5:2; Luke 8:22 , Luke 8:23 , Luke 8:33 ) of the Lake of Gennesaret or Sea of Galilee, and (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10 , Revelation 20:14 , Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8 ) of the "lake of fire and brimstone." Lakes are not abundant in Syria and Palestine. The Dead Sea, which might be called a lake, is in most places in English Versions of the Bible called the Salt Sea. It is called by the Arabs Baḥr Lût , Sea of Lot. It is a question whether the Waters of Merom (Joshua 11:5 , Joshua 11:7 ) can be identified with the Ḥûleh , a marshy lake in the course of the Upper Jordan, North of the Sea of Galilee. East of Damascus on the edge of the desert there are saltish lakes in which the water of the rivers of Damascus (see 2 Kings 5:12 ) is gathered and evaporates. In the Lebanon West of Ba‛albek is the small Lake Yammûneh , which is fed by copious springs, but whose water disappears in the latter part of the summer, being drained off by subterranean channels. The Lake of Ḥumṣ on the Orontes is artificial, though ancient. On the lower Orontes is the Lake of Antioch.