Luke 1:26 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

In the sixth month— Namely, of Elisabeth's pregnancy. Galilee was the most northern part of Palestine. It was bounded on the north by Lebanon and Syria, on the west by Phoenicia, on the south by Samaria, and on the east, according to Josephus, by Jordan and the sea of Tiberias; yet from the gospel it appears, that a part of the country north of the sea, and eastward of Jordan, was reckoned Galilee. Galilee therefore comprehended the possessions of the tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Asher. It was divided into upper and lower Galilee, whereof the former was called Galilee of the Gentiles, (Matthew 4:15.) because it bordered upon the Gentile nations, and was partly inhabited by them. Josephus tells us (Bel. L. 3. 100: 2.) that the whole country was exceeding populous and veryfruitful; that the number of its towns and villages was great; and that even in the lesser towns there were no less than fifteen thousand inhabitants.