Natural phenomena may explain Jesus' biblical fish miracle
The journal "Water Resources Research" has published research that provides new insights into one of the miracles of Jesus described in the Bible. According to scientists, this event may be explained by a rare phenomenon occurring in certain bodies of water.
5 November 2024 08:48
New research suggests that the miracles of Jesus may have a more earthly explanation related to natural phenomena occurring in the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberias or Kinneret. As reported by IFL Science, this freshwater lake in Israel is the site of two famous biblical miracles: the multiplication of bread and fish and the miraculous catch of fish.
Scientists examined one of Jesus' miracles
The first miracle involves feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, while in the second, the apostles catch a large number of fish after Jesus instructs them to cast their nets again. In "Water Resources Research," researchers suggest these "miracles" might have resulted from a rare phenomenon called upwelling, where oxygen-poor water surfaces from the deeper layers of the lake, leading to a mass fish die-off.
Scientists noted that currently, such phenomena occur in the same part of the lake where the biblical miracles are said to have taken place. The research recounts events from May and June 2012, when thousands of dead fish appeared on the surface near the shore. Studies using three-dimensional modeling showed that in summer, the lake stratifies, with warm water on the surface and cooler, oxygen-poor water in the lower layers.
IFL Science explains that winds blowing from the west cause internal waves, pushing the low-oxygen water to the surface. If this upwelling happens shortly after the layers form, fish may not escape the oxygen-poor zone and die, eventually rising to the surface. However, this phenomenon is very rare; aside from the events of 2012, the authors mention only two other known cases—from 2007 and the early 1990s—both occurring near Tabgha, where Jesus is believed to have performed miracles.
Similar mass fish die-offs have occurred elsewhere, including in Lake Erie in the United States and Hamilton Harbour in Canada, which may support the scientists' hypothesis. "Our research suggests that such events could have occurred as long as two thousand years ago near Tabgha, where Jesus was believed to perform the miracles of multiplying bread and fish and the miraculous catch of fish," the study authors noted.
