Galilee is the rendering of the Hebrew word Galil in Josh xx. 7; xxi. 32; 1 Kings ix. 11; 2 Kings xv. 29; 1 Chron. vi. 76, and Isa. ix. 1—all A.V. and R.V.  The R.V. on the margin of the last passage substitutes "the district."  Galilee commenced, and for many centuries continued specifically to mean nor more than a district within the limits allotted to Naphtali (2 Kings xv. 29; 1 Chron. vi. 76), Kedesh being its chief city (Josh. xx. 7; xxi. 32).  The twenty cities given by Solomon to Hiram were in the land of Galilee (1 Kings ix. 11).  If they were located within the territory of Asher, then the name Galilee must sometimes have acquired a more extended meaning, so as to include the tribes of Naphtali, Zebulun, and Asher (cf. Isa. ix. 1).  Whether or not in pre-Roman times it ever took in Issachar is unknown.  Probably it did not (1 Macc. xii. 49).  If it did, it would be identical with what afterwards became the Roman province of Galilee (cf. 1 Macc. x. 30).  The expression "Galilee of the nations" or "Gentiles" implies that the district or region so called was inhabited chiefly by a non-Jewish population (Isa. ix. 1; cf. 1 Macc. v. 15 and Matt. iv. 15).  The Hebrew Galil is used, not in a specific sense, but meaning simply a region, in Josh. xiii. 2; xxii. 10, 11; Ezek. xlvii. 8, and Joel iii. 4, the context in all cases showing that the word in these places did not mean Galilee. (The Sunday School Teacher's Bible Manual, Hunter, 1894)