DECAPOLIS. Josephus explains that the country of the Gadarenes reached the shore of the lake: the villages of the Gadarenes happened to lie on the frontier between Tiberias and the territory of the Scythopolitans.4. Commentary on the Gospel according to John Books 1-10, Ed. It was located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, whereas Gerasa and Gadara were several kilometers south-east of it. Possibly, however, the name may represent the Hebrew ganne sarim, "princely gardens." Ewing. On the sands along the shore from el-Mejdel to `Ain et-Tineh these shells are so numerous as to cause a white glister in the sunlight.The main formation of the surrounding district is limestone. The air cleared, and the wide welter of foam-crested waves attested the fury of the blast. A party in the city surrendered it to Vespasian, who placed a garrison there (BJ, IV, vii, 3). Ed.) 31 or 32. The name Samak, which means fish both in Aramaic (the vernacular of Jesus time) and in Arabic, reflects the fact that these fish were as important to the ancients as to people today. William of Tyre calls the city Jarras, and places it 16 miles East of Jordan (Hist, xii, 16). Gerasa, one of the cities of Decapolis and the capital of the country of the Gerasenes, lay around 37 miles/60 kilometres away from the Sea of Galilee in what is today the city of Jerash in Jordan.3The country of the Gerasenes did not reach the Sea of Galilee (an important point that we'll get to in a bit). This tell is crowned by an ancient Canaanite settlement. This seems to be the fountain called "Capharnaum" by Josephus (BJ, III, x, 8). Josephus names it as marking the eastern limit of Peraea (BJ, III, iii, 3). Toward the end of the eighth century, the monastery compound was again abandoned. At the center is a large prayer hall in the form of a basilica. The Syrians made reprisals, and took many prisoners. It was taken by Antiochus the Great when in 218 B.C. General Description:The sea lies in the deep trough of the Jordan valley, almost due East of the Bay of Acre. There is scarcely any doubt that the scene of the miracle on the poor demoniac, and of the subsequent possession of the swine, must be looked for on this spot. It was the seat of one of the councils instituted by Gabinius for the government of the Jews (Ant., XIV, v, 4; BJ, I, viii, 5). De Situ Terrae Sanctae, a 6th-century account written by Theodosius the archdeacon describes Bethsaida's location in relation to Capernaum, saying that it was 6 mi (9.7 km) distant from Capernaum. The fig and the vine are still cultivated with success. The pretty wild ride that the Black Obelisk took from Nimrud, where it was found, to the British Museum, where its displayed to this day. 10, Library of the Historical Jesus Studies (London; New Delhi; New York; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2013), 168. Harry M. Jol, Gloria I. Lpez, Haim Cohen, Michal Artzy, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39, Matthew 8:28-34, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gergesa&oldid=1129180387, Articles needing additional references from January 2009, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 24 December 2022, at 00:24. All three of these New Testament variants have solid textual support. The "green grass" of Mark 6:39, and the "much grass" of John 6:10, point to some place in the plain of el-BaTeichah, on the rich soil of which the grass is green and plentiful compared with the scanty herbage on the higher slopes. Jesus would naturally avoid those in which Greek influences were strong. So at least that part of the story adds up the pigs could have run into the lake from Gadaras territory. TIME. (London; New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 18, 72, 121. Pilgrimage was cut off and with it a major source of income. , Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13, vol. The city of Decapolis whose territory stood between the country of the Gerasenes and the Sea of Galilee was Gadara, modern Um-Qais in Jordan. It was given by Augustus to Herod the Great in 30 B.C. This describes the district in which Christ met and healed the demoniac from the tombs, where also took place the destruction of the swine. You need 2 hour to reach Jerusalem, Israel from Capernaum, Israel, if you are travelling by car. With these, however, the Gerasenes dealt mercifully, letting such as wished go free, and escorting them to the border (BJ, II, xviii, 1, 5). When he sees Jesus, the demoniac begs Jesus not to torment him. Storms:The position of the lake makes it liable to sudden storms, the cool air from the uplands rushing down the gorges with great violence and tossing the waters in tumultuous billows. 33A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 226. (ii) The Bethsaida of medieval writers was evidently on the West of the Jordan. We discovered these images when we lifted the columns and reopened the blocked doorways. Now a village is pointed out beside Lake Tiberias, into which the swine rushed down headlong.11. Eusebius of Caesarea (260313 CE10) in his Onomasticon (basically a long list of place names with explanations of their location), not content with his available options of Gerasa and Gadara Eusebius decided to add a third candidate: Eusebius, Onomasticon, 74: Gergesa There the Lord healed the demoniacs. Round the greater part of the lake there is a broad pebbly beach, with a sprinkling of small shells. It is overlaid with lava; and here and there around the lake there are outcrops of basalt through the limestone. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 673. distance from capernaum to gerasenes. Two paved streets with double colonnades cut through the city at right angles, four massive pedestals still marking the point of intersection. Kefar-nahum, "Village of Nahum") was a prosperous . Conclusion: we just dont know where this event is supposed to have taken place. 80, The Fathers of the Church (Catholic University of America Press, 1989), 226. The prosperity of the sixth century abruptly ended with the Persian invasion in 614 A.D. (NOTE.-The Textus Receptus of the New Testament reading. He gave it a free constitution. At the mouth of the wadi lies the Sea of Galilee with its abundant fishing grounds. At the beginning of the Jewish revolt the country around Gadara was laid waste (BJ, II, xviii, 1). "The advent of the railway has stirred afresh the pulses of life in the valley. 8:4-18 Sea of Galilee. He could have followed Mark, but he chose to do something else.9 It seems reasonable to this layman to suggest that maybe Matthew relocated the herd because he knew enough of the geography to say that if this event took place in the country of the Gadarenes the herd couldnt be both on a hillside and close to the shore Gadara was around 5 or 6 miles away from the shore, and the hills that lead from Gadara to the lake are very close to Gadara and a number of miles from the lake. It lay near the place where the Jordan enters the Sea of Gennesaret (Ant., XVIII, ii, 1; BJ, II, ix, 1; III, x, 7; Vita, 72). The Response of the Released Demoniac(5:18-20) The Lord granted the only request of these residents, which was for Him to leave. They brought a blind man to him, and begged him to touch him. On the shore, fully 2 miles from the Jordan, are the ruins of Tell Chum. Bacon, 6.211. JOHN. Within the apse is a bench subdivided into semicircular, plastered seats. The Second visit to Cana - Cure of the Nobleman's' Son at Capernaum. The heights of Naphtali, piled up in the North, seem to culminate only in the snowy summit of Great Hermon. (c) The words of Mark (Mark 6:45), it is suggested (Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, 42), have been too strictly interpreted: as the Gospel was written probably at Rome, its author being a native, not of Galilee, but of Jerusalem. Jesus is in Capernaum, he gets on a boat, sails across the Sea of Galilee, ends up in a storm, and calms the water. , Freeman-Grenville, Chapman, and Taylor, The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea (Carta Jerusalem, 2003), 45. Driving distance between Capernaum, Israel and Jerusalem, Israel is calculated by google maps and it is 99 mi. Modern methods of agriculture are being employed in the Jewish colonies, which are rapidly increasing in number. 2019 Dr. Andrew Jackson. Gadara was the capital of Matthews country of the Gadarenes. Calms a storm from . If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles per hour) between Nazareth to Capernaum, It takes 0.04 hours to arrive. Like, not even the alphabet. Ewing. A third city, Hippos, was similar in character to Gadara and Gerasa, and it may fit the biblical account even better. On the basis of the textual evidence alone, we cannot determine which of these variants is . The soil is deep, rich loam, of amazing fertility. it is a happy contention of the seasons, as if each of them claimed this country; for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruit beyond men's expectation, but preserves them a great while." (Ant., XV, vii, 3; BJ, I, xx, 3). For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. There are some ruins now on this spot still known by the very slight corruption of Kerzha. This courtyard provided an impressive space to meet, talk and restperhaps on the low benches whose remains we found on the western side. v. 37) describe Jesus' healing of the demoniac "Legion" and . All three Synoptic Gospels ( Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39; Matthew 8:28-34) mention the "swine miracle," although with variations. Occasionally, however, tempests break over the lake, in which a boat could hardly live. gad'-a-ra (Gadara):1. When it comes down to it we really have no idea where the event the narratives are based on took place. Judas of Gamala (Ant., XVIII, i, l) is also called Judas of Galilee (ibid., i, 6). Here the slopes descend swiftly almost into the sea, and animals, once started on the downward run, could not avoid plunging into the depths. Was Marks knowledge of the Decapolis shaky? The presence of a copious spring of sweet water makes it probable that the site has been occupied from olden time; but no trace remains of any ancient city. Nearby, halfway up the steep slope was a separate towerlike structure. If freedom and security be enjoyed in reasonable measure, the region will again display its long-hidden treasures of fertility and beauty.W. It gradually narrows toward the South, taking the shape of a gigantic pear, with a decided bulge to the West. 3. After all its not far off 300 years after the events. Did he just take a stab at a location that seemed possible based on what hed heard somewhere? Helmut Koester, Hermeneiaa Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 2001), 23. GADARA. (In Matthew, the story tells of two demoniacs.) Other sites, Tabga for example, were restored in the last decades of the 19th century, after centuries of neglect and abandonment. Such storms are fairly frequent, and as they are attended with danger to small craft, the boatmen are constantly on the alert. From this disaster it appears soon to have recovered, and the period of its greatest prosperity lay, probably, in the 2nd and 3nd centuries of our era. , Joel Marcus, Mark 18: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. [8] [9] The distance between Bethsaida and Paneas is said to have been 50 mi (80 km). They were both Gentile cities filled with citizens who were culturally more Greek than Semitic; this would account for the pigs in the biblical account. Some of these sites, such as Capernaum, have a continuous and uninterrupted place in the history of Christian pilgrimage, beginning as far back as the first centuries of our era. From Jerusalem to: Bethany - 2 miles Bethlehem - 6 miles Bethphage - 1 mile Caesarea - 57 miles Caesarea Philippi - 105 miles Capernaum - 85 miles Dead Sea - 6 miles Emmaus - 16 miles Jericho - 15 miles Joppa - 35 miles Jordan River - 21 miles Mediterranean Sea - 37 miles Salim - 50 miles Samaria - 36 miles Sea of Galilee - 70 miles Seen from the mountains the broad sheet appears a beautiful blue; so that, in the season of greenery, it is no exaggeration to describe it as a sapphire in a setting of emerald. Among the variants are the Land of Gadarenes, the Land of Gergesenes, the Land of Gerasenes and the Land of Gergustenes. (iii) The East coast of the sea was definitely attached to Galilee in A.D. 84, and Ptolemy (circa 140) places Julius in Galilee. Although the site was severely damaged, life continued as before, but with a lower living standard. Considerable portions have also passed into the hands of Jews. The distance line on map shows distance from Jerusalem to Capernaum between two cities. If Capernaum were at Khan Minyeh, then the two lay close together. Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than the Gergesenes. This condition is fulfilled only by the district immediately South of Wady Semak, North of Qal `at el-Chucn. The multitude following on foot along the northern shore of the lake would cross the Jordan by the ford at its mouth which is used by foot travelers to this day. Distances. Lucius Annius, at the instance of Vespasian, sacked and burned the city, with much slaughter (BJ, IV, ix, 1). As in the case of the other Bethsaida, no name has been recovered to guide us to the site. The most likely answer is to the country of the Gerasenes: i.e., Gerasa, a Greek town thought to be the same as the similarly-named Kersa on the east shore of Lake Tiberias. It continued to be a great and important city, and was long the seat of a bishop (Reland, Palestine, 776). He says that it supplies grapes and figs through ten months of the year, and other fruits as they ripen together throughout the year (same place). All three Synoptic Gospels mention this miracle, Matthew writes about two possessed men instead of just one, and only some manuscripts of his Gospel name the location as Gergesa, while the other copies, as well as all versions of Luke and Mark, mention either Gadara or Gerasa (see Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39, Matthew 8:28-34). As this is too far from the sea for a fishing village, Schumacher (The Jaulan, 246) suggests that el-`Araj, "a large, completely destroyed site close to the lake," connected in ancient times with et-Tell "by the beautiful roads still visible," may have been the fishing village, and et-Tell the princely residence. Your IP: The ruins include those of two theaters, a basilica, a temple, and many important buildings, telling of a once great and splendid city. Map 4 - The Travels and Acts of Jesus in Year Three of His Ministry c AD29-30 : THIRD PREACHING TOUR OF GALILEE [1] Jesus travels from Capernaum to "his own native town" of Nazareth ( Mk 6:1) [2] In Nazareth, he is rejected for a second time (Mt 13:54; Mk 6:1) [3] He continues through Galilee (Mt 13:58; Mk 6:6) and sends out the twelve apostles to preach the Gospel (Mt 10:5; Mk 6:7; Lk 9:1) The indigo plant is grown in the plain of Gennesaret. Description:Modern Jerash lies on both banks of Wady Jerash, about 6 miles from its confluence with Wady ez-Zerqa (the Jabbok). Byzantine Christian monks venerated a site situated a few kilometres north of Hippos on the lake shore, as the location of the miracle. To deal with it he changed country of the Gerasenes to country of the Gadarenes: Matthew 8:28 When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him.. The sultan of Damascus is said to have fortified it; but there is nothing to show that the Moslems occupied it for any length of time.3. Capernaum (in the original Hebrew. Well, it seems Eusebius didnt arrive at his Gergesa idea alone; it appears he may have just been following Origens (185-253 CE) commentary on John where we read: Origen, John. On the Sea of Galilee there are frequent storms. Identification and Description:Umm Cheis answers the description given of Gadara by ancient writers. Nevertheless, life continued at Kursi. The settlement was quite well planned and carefully organized. Unless they had moved their residence from Bethsaida to Capernaum, of which there is no record, and which for fishermen was unlikely, Bethsaida must have lain close to Capernaum. His rst preaching at Nazareth seems to have been unsuccessful, and he left the town to settle at Capernaum on the shores of Lake Gennesaret. The location of the incident of the "Gadarene . From this point the plain of Gennesaret (el-Ghuweir) sweeps round to el-Mejdel, a distance of about 4 miles. , For those who subscribe to inerrancy, get over yourselves and actually read the text. They are closed by carved stone doors, and are used as storehouses for grain, and also as dwellings by the inhabitants. The two towns were therefore practically in the same line. On the second occasion the wind blew from the East, and the phenomena described above were practically repeated.4. to Capernaum, to Bethsaida . Further, if the Gospel of Mark embodies the recollections of Peter, it would be difficult to find a more reliable authority for topographical details connected with the sea on which his fisher life was spent. It maybe taken as certain that the jurisdiction of Gadara, as the chief city in these regions, extended over the country East of the Sea, including the lands of the subordinate town, GERASA (which see). All Im able to say with any confidence is that Matthew felt compelled to change the location of the pigs. In the parallel passages (Mark 5:1 Luke 8:26, 37) we read: chora ton Gerasenon "country of the Gerasenes." Interpreting the reference to the hillside as anywhere but the steep banks that encircle the lake is geographically problematic: the record describes a pretty short run for the pigs their stampede was quickly over. Settlers in the valley thereafter confined themselves to the area immediately on the shore. Some of the auxiliary rooms of the church and its chapels were closed off completely; others were converted to domestic or industrial use. gad'-a-ra (Gadara): 1. Cana: 32.744999: 35.339758: Capernaum: 32.88033: 35.573307: Distance: 26.51 km: After Herod's death it was joined to the province of Syria, 4 B.C. They refuse to drink from the Jordan, alleging that "who drinks Jordan drinks fever." "(iv) There could hardly have been two Bethsaidas so close together.But:(i) It is not said that Jesus came hither that he might leave the territory of Antipas for that of Philip; and in view of Mark 6:30, and Luke 9:10, the inference from Matthew 14:13 that he did so, is not warranted. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. The Valley of Kursi, or Wadi Samak, is still rich in fertile farming land. If the boat was taken from any point in el-BaTeichah towards et-Tell, no east wind would have distressed the rowers, protected as that part is by the mountains. Rooms known as pastophoria, which played an important part in the ritual and the liturgy, flank the apse. Demonology, Although the ruins of this settlement, known as Tell el-Kursi, can still be seen, the site remains unexcavated. Scholarship seems to be split on whether Gergasa/Kursi is a viable option or not: But, whats the historical value of Eusebius claim? Country of the Gadarenes: This city is not named in Scripture, but the territory belonging to it is spoken of as chora ton Gadarenon, "country of the Gadarenes" (Matthew 8:28).In the parallel passages (Mark 5:1 Luke 8:26, 37) we read: chora ton Gerasenon "country of the Gerasenes."There is no good reason, however, to question the accuracy of the text in either case. A relatively large tell, no doubt the urban center of the area, stands about 300 yards from the monastery discovered by the bulldozer. This writer extols the productiveness of the plain. Mention is made of the strength of the site and the mighty masonry of its walls. Matthew, using Mark as a source for his own gospel, appears to have been aware of this geographic difficulty. It was used to drive certain mills, and also to refresh the neighboring land. The agreement of these two favors the strict interpretation. The emperor would not listen to the accusations of the inhabitants against Herod for oppressive conduct (Ant., XV, x, 2). Some would identify the place with RAMOTH-GILEAD, which see.The site is now occupied by a colony of Circassians, and there is reason to fear that, unless something is done to preserve them, many valuable remains of antiquity will perish.W. John 1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Capernaum is a Peru city located at the longitude of -77.488175 and latitude of -4.446235 . The abundance of fish at each place furnished a good reason for the recurrence of the name.W. Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. , Which is why I dont buy McRays argument, The problem is in the similarity of spelling in Greek. Gerasa, Gadara, Gergesa from where did the pigs stampede? History:The great and splendid city in the Decapolis is first mentioned as taken after a siege by Alexander Janneus, 85 B.C. It is applied to a district on the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:34 Mark 6:53), now known as el-Ghuweir, "little Ghor." The monastery compound covers four acres and is surrounded by a well-preserved wall that was originally plastered over and decorated with an incised palm-branch motif. The narrow ridge on which the ruins lie runs out toward the Jordan from the uplands of Gilead, with the deep gorge of Wady Yarmuk-Hieromax-on the North, and Wady el `Arab on the South. Facebook. When they arrive on the shore he gets out and is met by two demoniacs/a guy called Legion. To get any further with working out where the event took place (if it took place at all) we can turn to church history. The pilgrimage sites associated with the swine miracle, as opposed to the urban settlement of Tell el-Kursi, were discovered quite by accident in the late 20th century. The at some distance is a bit fluffy in the english it could mean anywhere from not far to miles away. "Jesus of Nazareth" was born in Bethlehem. Robert L. Webb and Mark Allan Powell, vol. From the northern parts of the lake the Horns of ChaTTin, the traditional Mount of Beatitudes, may be seen through the rocky jaws of the gorge. According to Luke, the demoniac wears no clothes and lives among the tombs. open map. After Jesus heals him/them, the demons are sent into a herd of pigs. After stilling the storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus lands with his disciples on the eastern shore of the lake. In the northern part of the enclosure, we excavated the remains of the residential quarters of the monastery compound. Frost is not quite unknown; but no one now alive remembers it to have done more than lay the most delicate fringe of ice around some of the stones on the shore. , William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 612. South of el-Mejdel the mountains advance to the shore, and the path is cut in the face of the slope, bringing us to the hot spring, `Ain el-Fuliyeh, where is a little valley, with gardens and orange grove. On the shore, fully 2 miles from the Jordan, are the ruins of Tell Chum. A Christian laymans perspective on the intersection between archaeology, historical criticism, text, and faith. Performance & security by Cloudflare. It is probably represented by the modern Jedur, not far from es-Salt (Buhl, Buhl, Geographic des alten Palastina, 255; Guthe). Josephus gives Pella as the northern boundary of Peraea (BJ, III, iii, 3). The place is not mentioned till later times. EVENT. These things, together with the frequent, and sometimes terribly destructive, earthquakes, sufficiently attest the volcanic character of the region. Why would he do that? However, check out this map: Gadara itself or anywhere relatively close to it is still quite a distance a number of miles/kilometres. If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles per hour) between Cana to Capernaum, It takes 0.03 hours to arrive. The surface is 680 ft. below the level of the Mediterranean. The hot springs, as noted above, are in the bottom of the valley to the North. In the small bay nearby, we can still see the remains of a well-constructed harbor used both for sea travel and by the fishing industry during the Roman period (first to fifth centuries A.D.). If you know the geography of the Sea of Galilee at all, its almost entirely surrounded by hills, some of them pretty steep. If Gamala, far down the eastern shore of the sea, were in Galilee, a fortiori Bethsaida, a town which lay on the very edge of the Jordan, may be described as in Galilee.But Josephus makes it plain that Gamala, while added to his jurisdiction, was not in Galilee, but in Gaulonitis (BJ, II, xx, 6). When we excavated this structure in 1980, we discovered that this was the very site of the miracle, as fixed by Christians in the mid-third century. In the South it is watered by the stream from Wady el-Chamam, the gorge that opens to the West of el-Mejdel.2. From this date the era of the city was reckoned. Cultivation was confined to the Southwest part; and the rest furnished grazing ground for a tribe of nomads. The Gadarenes captured some of the boldest of the Jews, of whom several were put to death, and others imprisoned (ibid., 5). By protecting the boulder with a massive tower and building a chapel behind and above it, the early Christian fathers both commemorated and sanctified a site that Christian pilgrims could relate to the life of Jesus. The house of Andrew and Peter seems to have been not far from the synagogue in Capernaum (Matthew 8:14 Mark 1:29, etc.). The ancient walls may be traced in almost their entire circuit of 2 miles. Decaplis, Here the mountains recede from the shore, leaving a crescent-shaped plain, largely covered with the ruins of the ancient city. The distance is about 19 miles from the river. Click to reveal Near by is the site at `Ain et-Tabigha, which many have identified with Bethsaida of Galilee. Gergesa was a small and very obscure town nearly opposite Capernaum. He deals with a remaining issue by locating the herd some distance away rather than on the hillside next to the lake. If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles per hour) between Tyre to Capernaum, It takes 0.06 hours to arrive. History:The name Gadara appears to be Semitic It is still heard in Jedur, which attaches to the ancient rock tombs, with sarcophagi, to the East of the present ruins. In their season the wild flowers lavish a wealth of lovely colors upon the surrounding slopes; while bright-blossoming oleanders fringe the shore.Coming westward from the point where the Jordan enters the lake, the mountains approach within a short distance of the sea. He says the "soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow upon it."3. Sites such as Capernaum, the center of Jesus mission before he left for Jerusalem; Bethsaida, the birthplace of the apostles Andrew, Peter and Philip; Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene; Tabga, where the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fishes occurred; and the Sea of Galilee itselfall are places that to the Christian recall events connected with Jesus life, the miracles he performed and the sacred words he uttered.