Biblical Geography

The Mediterranean (the Great Sea)

Sea · Old and New Testament

Scripture first

Numbers 34:6 · WEBU

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The Great Sea is drawn as the western border of the promised land.

Israel was not a seafaring people; the Great Sea was their border, not their highway. Jonah fled on it, Solomon and Hiram traded on it, and in Acts it becomes the road of the gospel: Caesarea, Tarsus, Cyprus, and finally the storm-tossed voyage to Rome.

The Great Sea of the Old Testament and the sailing water of Acts: Israel's western border and the gospel's road to the nations.

Biblical names
the Great Sea, the western sea, the sea of the Philistines
Later names
the Mediterranean (the sea in the middle of the land)

Identification note. The Mediterranean borders or bordered the territories of many modern states; Scripture's Great Sea is the same water.

The sea made Caesarea, Herod's artificial harbour, the port where Cornelius heard the gospel and where Paul sailed out and came home. The church's westward turn is a Mediterranean story.

  • The Great Sea is drawn as the western border of the promised land.
  • Jonah sails from Joppa, and the Lord hurls a great wind upon the sea
  • Peter at Joppa sends for Cornelius: the gospel turns seaward
  • Paul's storm and shipwreck voyage

What we know

Certain

  • The identification of the Great Sea with the Mediterranean is undisputed.