BEACH.—The Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 translation of αἰγιαλός,, which the Authorized Version renders ‘shore.’ In the Gospels the word occurs only in Matthew 13:2; Matthew 13:48 and John 21:4. In classical Greek αἰγιαλός usually, though not always, means that part of the seashore on which the tide ebbs and flows, and in the above passages in the Gospels it stands for the sandy or pebbly part of the shore of the Lake of Galilee washed by the waves. The derivation is doubtful, but is probably from ἄγνυμι and ἅλς, i.e. the place where the sea breaks. The greater part of the western margin of the Lake of Galilee is girdled with a belt of ‘silver strand’ composed of pebbles and sand mingled with delicate white shells. On such a beach, if the traditional scene be correct, the multitude was gathered listening as Jesus spoke from the boat; and on such a ‘beach’ He stood waiting for the disciples to come ashore in the morning, when for ‘the third time he was manifested to them after that he was risen from the dead’ (John 21:14).

J. Cromarty Smith.

Bibliography Information
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Beach'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/b/beach.html. 1906-1918.

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Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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