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Decapolis in the Bible.

Decapolis is a region in the Bible, its middle about 117 km (73 miles) north-east of Jerusalem. The King James Version names it in 3 verses, from Matthew 4:25 to Mark 7:31.

About Decapolis.

Ten cities=deka, ten, and polis, a city, a district on the east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee containing “ten cities,” which were chiefly inhabited by Greeks. It included a portion of Bashan and Gilead, and is mentioned three times in the New Testament (Matt. 4:25; Mark 5:20; 7:31). These cities were Scythopolis, i.e., “city of the Scythians”, (ancient Bethshean, the only one of the ten cities on the west of Jordan), Hippos, Gadara, Pella (to which the Christians fled just before the destruction of Jerusalem), Philadelphia (ancient Rabbath-ammon), Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Raphana, and Damascus. When the Romans conquered Syria (B.C. 65) they rebuilt, and endowed with certain privileges, these “ten cities,” and the province connected with them they called “Decapolis.”

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).

People named with Decapolis.

Near Decapolis.

All 3 verses that name Decapolis.

Matthew 1

  • Matthew 4:25And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Mark 2

  • Mark 5:20And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
  • Mark 7:31And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

Questions about Decapolis.

Where is Decapolis in the Bible?

Decapolis is a region its middle about 117 km (73 miles) north-east of Jerusalem. BibleLectio shows it on a painted map of the Bible’s world, with every verse that names it.

How many times is Decapolis named in the Bible?

The King James Version names Decapolis in 3 verses, in 2 books, from Matthew 4:25 to Mark 7:31.

Every place in the Bible, on one map.

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