There was a very long book telling fascinating anecdotes. One story told that a man who was followed by crowds for his miracles had a legion waiting to see him. This mass of people had been there for so long that they began to starve to death. This proverb went against all logic, and by taking five loaves and two fish, the food began to multiply and be distributed to everyone. This event is mentioned in all four Gospels of the Bible and is one of Jesus’ best-known “miracles.” Now science has something to say.

The meaning of a miracle. The new scholarly work does not seek to lend legitimacy to Jesus and his existence, or even to give meaning or interpretation to possible simulations of the Bible to explain the world through Christ’s unusual “sources.” What I was looking for, on the other hand, was to give a different spin to an event that was scientifically impossible, or not at all.

Research recently published in the journal Water Resources Research reveals that there may actually be a fairly simple scientific explanation behind one of Jesus’ most famous miracles. Yes, it seems that the strange events reported in the Sea of ​​Galilee may be the result of an interesting natural phenomenon.

Biblical context and the Sea of ​​Galilee. The Sea of ​​Galilee, also known as the Sea of ​​Tiberias or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel mentioned many times around the miracles of Jesus; two are the multiplication of loaves and fishes and the miraculous catching of fish. one of the most “popular” ones.

In the first story we remember at the beginning, Jesus feeds at least 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish from a child. In the second, the apostles achieve great success after following Jesus’ instructions.

What does science say? Recent research shows that these “miracles” may have a scientific explanation for the “fish kill” phenomenon in the lake. HE? Yes, apparently such events occur with large amounts of dead fish near the shore; This could explain why there was an abundance of fish if something like the one in the Bible stories occurred.

The study shows that this phenomenon is the product of a process called “upwelling,” which occurs when low-oxygen water from deep layers rises to the surface due to internal waves created by winds. It preferentially occurs in summer, when the lake is stratified into layers: a warm layer at the surface, a cold layer at the bottom, and a middle layer with a strong temperature gradient. What’s going on? When the layers mix, fish become trapped in oxygen-poor waters and drown at the surface.

Documented events and outcome. Although this phenomenon is rare in Lake Kinneret, the last cases were documented in 2012, and others in 2007 and the 1990s, near the Tabgha area, an area always linked to the “miracles of Jesus”. Not only this. Similar cases have occurred elsewhere, such as Lake Erie and the mouth of the Neuse River in North Carolina.

As a result, the research suggests that these fish kill events, or the concentration of live fish near shore due to partial surfacing, may have been the origin of biblical stories just over two thousand years ago. The authors also conclude that location and climatic conditions may have facilitated the occurrence of such events, thus providing a slightly more accurate explanation for the fish wonders in the Sea of ​​Galilee.

Image | eutrophication and hypoxia, Public domain

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