GLOSSARY OF TERMS
To which city did the original account refer?
Scholarly conclusions supporting each of the six options
1. Gadara
The healing of the demoniacs is recounted by all three Synoptic Gospels, and in each account there are three principal variant readings referring to the place at which the miracle occurred: Gadarenon [English: Gadarene], Gerasenon [English: Gerasene], Gergesenon [English: Gergesene]...
Gerasa was a city of the Decapolis (modern Jerash in Transjordan) located more than thirty miles to the southeast of the Sea of Galilee and, as Origen perceived (Commentary on John, v, 41 (24)), is the least likely of the three places.
Another Decapolitan city was Gadara, about five miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee (modern Um Qeis). Although Origen also objected to Gadara (which he says, was read by a few manuscripts) because neither lake nor overhanging banks were there, Josephus (Life, ix, 42) refers to Gadara as possessing territory "which lay on the frontiers of Tiberias" (= the Sea of Galilee). That this territory reached to the Sea may be inferred from the fact that ancient coins bearing the name Gadara often portray a ship.
Origen prefers Gergesa, not because it occurs in manuscripts - he is silent about this - but on the dubious basis of local tradition (it is the place "from which, it is pointed out, the swine were cast down by the demons") and of the still more dubious basis of etymology ("the meaning of Gergesa is 'dwelling of those that have drven away,' and thus the name contains a prophetic reference to the conduct shown the Savior by the citizens of those places...").
Mat 8:28 - Of the several variant readings [associated with Mat 8:28] the Committee preferred Gadarenon [English: Gadarene] on the basis of (a) what was taken to be superior external attestation [including manuscripts known to Origen].., and (b) the probability that Gergesenon [English: Gergesene] is a correction, perhaps proposed originally by Origen, and that Gerasenon [English: Gerasene] (which is supported only by versional evidence) is a scribal assimilation to the prevailing text of Mark (5.1) and/or Luke (8.26,37).
Mar 5:1 - Of the several variant readings [associated with Mar 5:1], a majority of the Committee preferred Gerasenon [English: Gerasene] on the basis of (a) superior external evidence.., and (b) the probability that Gadarenon [English: Gadarene] is a scribal assimilation to the prevailing text of Matthew (8.28), and that Gergesenon [English: Gergesene] is a correction, perhaps originally proposed by Origen.
2. Gerasa
Luk 8:26 - The fact that the man is associated with Gerasa, a city two days' journey from the sea of Galilee, is an expansion of the theme in 8:16-18. Jesus' new relations are to be found also in an area heavily populated by Gentiles. For the outreach of the apostolic mission this account would be especially stimulating.
Luk 8:26 - Gerasenes. The question of the original reading here and in Mark v. 1 is difficult. It might appear from the evidence that 'Gergesenes' is the most likely original reading in Luke: Origen had a marked preference for it from his personal knowledge that there was a town Gergesa at the place demanded by the story (Commmentary on St. John, vi. 41), he is also influenced by his own mystical interpretations. Luke does indeed speak of the demoniac as belonging to a town, an idea which he retains in verse 39, where Mark records the spread of the report in the whole Decapolis. But 'Gerasenes' is the best attested reading, and may perhaps be retained also on the ground of being the most difficult, since Gerasa was two days' journey away from the edge of the lake.
3. Gergesa
Mar 5:1 - One who aims at fuller understanding of the holy Scriptures must not neglect the careful examination of the proper names in it. Concerning Palestinian place names the Greek copies are often incorrect, and one might be misled by them. The displacement of the swine, who were driven down a steep place by the demons and drowned in the sea, is said to have taken place in the country of the Gerasenes. Now, Gerasa is a town of Arabia, and has no sea or lake near it. The evangelists would not have made a statement so obviously and demonstrably false; for they were men who informed themselves carefullyof all matters connected with Judea. But in a few copies we have found, "into the country of the Gadarenes." On this reading, Gadara is described as a town of Judea. In its neighborhood are the well-known hot springs. There is no lake there with overhanging banks, nor any sea. But Gergesa, from which the name Gergesenes is taken, is an old town in the neighborhood of the lake now called Tiberias. On the edge of it there is a steep place bordering on the lake, from which the pigs could have been driven down by the demons. Now, the meaning of Gergesa is the "dwelling of the one who drives out," and may contain a prophetic reference to the response of the citizens toward the Savior..
Mat 8:28 - According to an allegorical interpretation, the demoniacs who met the Lord in the country of the Gerasenes, that is, the country of the Gentiles, might be understood to have the appearance of the descendants of Ham and Japheth, Noah's two sons, as distinguished from the Jewish people, who take their origin from Shem the firstborn son of Noah. Or they might be understood as all of those held captive by the devil in the error of idolatry. They are burdened by the chains of their offenses and the fetters of their sins. They were not living in the town, that is, in the covenant community where the law and the divine precepts were in force. Rather, they dwell in the tombs, worshiping idols and venerating the memories of potentates or images of the dead.
4. Khersa
Luk 8:26 - Gerasa was probably the small village of Khersa on the eastern shore of the lake. It is not to be confused with Gerasa in Perea, forty miles farther south. The variant readings 'Gadarenes' and 'Gergesenes' were probably scribal attempts (by scribes who knew of the Perean Gerasa but not of the lakeshore village) to correct what appeared to be an error in topography.
5. Somewhere in the Decapolis
Mar 5:1 - Except that the scene is laid on the east shore of the lake, the locality is not certain. (1) [Many reliable manuscripts] read 'Gerasenes'. Geras, the modern Jerash, was a brilliant and flourishing Syro-Greek city of the Decapolis league, but it lies many miles away to the east. If this well attested reading is correct, Gerasa would have had to control a small area not continugous with its other territory. (2) The same objection applies to 'Gadarenes'..; Gadara was nearer than Gerasa but still distant. There are, however, many tombs there. Gadara is evidently the reading of Matt. viii. :28 (3) 'Gergesenes' .. is thus a 'Caesarean' reading which may represent old MS. tradition or a conjecture on Origen's part. On the east shor of the lake, at el-Kursi, near the Wadi es-Samak, a monastery and church have been excavated, which were evidently believed to be the site of the miracle. Nearby there is a cliff which fits the story of the pigs. The name could have arisen from Gergesa. A passage in the Talmud states that the Girgashites of Deut. vii. 1 held the territory in this region. In any case, the east shore is the neighbourhood of the Decapolis (i.e. 'ten cities'). This was a league of Greek-speaking and generally pagan city-states, which had been hellenised by the Maccabees but restored to their independence by Pompey the Great after 63 B.C. The cities mentioned by Pliny (Hist. Nat. v. 18 [74]) as belonging to the league were east of the Jordan with the exception of Scythopolis (Bethshean). In addition to Gerasa, Gadara and Scythopolis the Decapolis included such places as Damascus, Pella, Philadelphia (Amman) and Hippos. The last-named was nearest to the locality of this story.
Mar 5:1 - Since Gerasa is more than thirty miles away from the lake, it is hard to believe that its territory would have extended that far. For this reason Matthew has transferred the story to Gadara, which is situated about six miles from the shore. It seems that Mark no longer had any firsthand knowledge of the geography of Palestine. In any case the story takes place in the semi-Gentile region of the Ten Towns [Decapolis], which were under direct Roman rule.
6. Completely inconclusive
Mar 5:1 - The exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac (5:1-20) is one of the longest and most vivid of the NT miracles. Mark has here adapted an early folkloric narrative to his theology. (Geographical details that puzzled even ancient commentators, such as the location of Gerasa some thirty miles from the sea of Galilee, are not important to Mark.)
Mar 5:1 - Gerasenes: Gerasa was 30 mi. SE of the Sea of Galilee; 5:2 (see also 5:13) suggests that it was by the shore. Perhaps Mark intended to describe a general area between Gerasa and the Sea. Some mss. read "Gadarenes" (see Matt 8:28), but Gadara was 6 mi. SE of the Sea. Still others read "Gergesenes," following the conjecture made by Origen. The most probable Marcan reading is "Gerasenes" It can [be] explained either as a general term for the area or as proof that Mark did not possess precise knowledge of the geography of Palestine.
Mar 5:1 - The general location is reported to be the E shore of the Sea of Galilee, but the exact location is reported in different ways. The oldest and best manuscripts have Gerasa, but this is too far from the Sea of Galilee to fit well. Matt. changes this to Gadara ("the country of the Gadarenes," 8:28), but this, though nearer, is still too far from the water. Later copyists change both to "Gergesa," which may correspond to some ruins on the E. side of the sea. It remains a problem.
Dictionary descriptions/conclusions regarding Gadara and Gerasa
Harper’s Bible Dictionary
edited by Paul J. Achtemier (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985)
You are strongly recommended to add to your library the excellent revised edition of Harper's Bible Dictionary titled, The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition [book review], edited by Paul J. Achtemeier, with the Society of Biblical Literature (NY: Harper Collins, 1996). It is currently the best one-volume Bible dictionary in English, and it is available at Border's Books, Christian Science Reading Rooms, http://www.borders.com, or http://www.christianbook.com.
Gadara (inhabitants: Gadarenes, site (modern Umm Qeis) of Jesus’ healing a demoniac (Mark 5:1-10); one of the hellenized cities of the Decapolis in which Jesus is reported to have ministered (Matt. 4:23-25; Mark 7:31). It lies about six miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee. A number of Cynic philosophers, orators, and poets are associated with the city. One of the love poems of Meleager of Gadara (first century b.c.) mentions the Jewish Sabbath: ‘If your love is a ‘sabbath-keeper,’ no great wonder. Not even love burns on cold Sabbaths.’ The city was granted to Herod by Augustus. In an inscription from the Hellenistic period it calls itself ‘cultivator of the arts.’ There seems to have been only a small Jewish population in the city.
Gerasa (modern Jerash), one of the three greatest cities of Roman Arabia. It is thirty-three miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee in the mountains of Gilead. Hence Luke’s identification of it with Jesus’ healing of the demoniac (8:26) cannot be correct. The city was administered by an appointee of the legate of Syria and officially known as ‘Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas.’ Excavations have revealed extensive remains of public buildings from the first and second centuries a.d. The city wall, gates, and towers, several main streets, the forum, as well as remains of the hippodrome, theaters, triumphal arch, and temples of Zeus and Artemis have been found. A coin from the reign of Commodus attests that the city was founded by Alexander the Great. The earliest dates for the city come from the second century b.c. Josephus, a Jewish historian, reports that the Jews living in the town were spared by the Gentile population when the city was attacked by Jewish rebels during the Jewish revolt (War 2.480).
by W.R.F. Browning (NY: Oxford University Press, 1996)
Gadara. A city of the Decapolis, 9.6 km. (6 miles) DE of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus healed two demoniacs in Matt. (8:28), and one demoniac in Mark (5:2). (The best Greek MSS of the corresponding passage in Mark (5:1) gives the place as 'Geresa' which is 48 km (30 miles) from the lake, and therefore geographically less plausible.) Gadara was a Gentile city and a centre of philosophical speculation. Whereas Mark (5:19) records Jesus' instructions to the demoniac to tell his friends about his cure, this is omitted by Matt. This may possibly be because Matt. intends to show that the Church's mission to the Gentiles is yet to come; it will take place, but later.
Gerasa. An impressive city of the Decapolis in NT times rebuilt by the Romans with theatres and forum. It lies between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee and is alluded to in Mark 5:1. It was incorporated into the province of Syria in 63 BCE.
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