
	Gadara Photos Scriptures ref. Deliverance of the Demoniac

Gadara - location profile

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Location and Setting

Gadara is located on a steep hill, six miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee and two miles above the Yarmuk River Valley.

Gadara was one of the Decapolis cities' Greek-styled city-states founded as a result of Alexander the Great's extension of his empire into the region. Predominantly Gentile, they reflected Greek and Roman culture and religious practices.

In Matthew's account (8:28), the demon-possessed men Jesus delivered were "of the country of the Gadarenes." The exact location of this miracle is questioned because Mark and Luke refer to them as being "of the country of the Gerasenes" (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26).

The Decapolis region was not clearly defined politically. Individual cities controlled their immediate areas, and sometimes these overlapped. The audiences for which Mark and Luke wrote would be familiar with Gerasa (Jerash) with its impressive temples, its theaters, and its hippodrome and elegant public buildings. Gerasa controlled considerable territory, extending even to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Matthew's reference to the men as coming from Gadara is consistent with the discovery of coins of that city that depict a ship and contain the word "Gadara." Further, Josephus mentions that Gadara possessed territory on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It is therefore possible to conclude.

Known as "the Athens of the East," Gadara required access to the lake for purposes of transportation and trade. Assuming that the deductions made above concerning the use of the names in the three Gospels are correct, the deliverance would have occurred near the present Ha'On campground on the southeastern shore of the lake.

The high ridge of the Lower Golan Heights that rises above the harbor of Gadara would account for the destructive descent of the swine when the demons entered into them. Further, the groves of oak trees on the plateau above would have provided the acorns they favored.

All three Gospel writers, then, are referring to the same event and the same participants. While Mark and Luke apparently identify the scene in a general way, locating the miracle in the extended region of the better-known city of Gerasa, Matthew, a Galilean, seems to be the more precise in his reference to Gadara.

NOTE: Most commentators have located the healing of the demoniacs and the pigs drowning in the sea at Kursi, about the mid-point along the eastern shore of the Lake. Support for this site includes the obvious high hill nearby (for the pigs to run down) and the discovery of tombs in the area, which Mark mentions. The connection between the words "Kursi" (used in the Babylonian Talmud) and "Geresenes" would seem to offer an attractive alternative to the more remote Gadara, perched on a cliff above the Yarmuk Valley. However, Mendel Nun, a long time resident of the area and student of the literature and terrain, concludes: "Thus, for one reason or another, because of the influence of the Gospels and travelers' accounts, Kursi is known in Christian circles by the names of Gergesa and – with no justification – Gerasa. Local residents preserved the name, Kursi from antiquity to our day." (Nun, 1989, 15).

The discussion here is intended to explore geographically and linguistically the problem of the variation of the place names as they appear in the text. Whether Jesus' restoration of these two men took place at Kursi or near the harbor of Gadara farther along the shore, is not of primary importance for our understanding of the event. Both locations lie within the predominantly Gentile Decapolis region. (An interesting consideration of the question can be found in the works listed below which reflect the contribution of recent research and discoveries not previously available.)

Jesus and His disciples crossed the lake, apparently from the "Sower's Cove" near Capernaum, to the southeastern shore of the lake, presumably landing at or near the harbor for the city of Gadara (Matt 13:53; 8:24-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25).

In contrast to the deliverance of the demon-controlled Jews in Capernaum the same day, here in the Decapolis, a Gentile context, Jesus restored two Gentile men to normal lives. This miracle further demonstrated His person and power for His disciples, who earlier had been faced with the Pharisees' charge that the deliverance from demons in Capernaum depended on Satan's power (Matt 12:24).

Redirecting the man whom He had restored to witness to his own people, Jesus initiated the penetration of the whole Gentile region by one of their own. It may be significant that Damascus was also a Decapolis city, a city where a few years later there was a church strong enough to draw the Pharisee, Saul, to attack it.

Laney, J. Carl. "Geographical Aspects of the Life of Christ." Doctoral Dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1980.
Bimson, John J., ed. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1995.
Nun, Mendel. Gergesa (Kursi). Kibbutz Ein Gev: Kinnereth Sailing Co., 1989. that Jesus met these two citizens of Gadara in Gadarene territory on the southeastern shore of the lake.