The Decapolis was a group of ten Hellenistic cities located in ancient Palestine, mentioned in the New Testament.
The Decapolis was a group of ten Hellenistic cities located in ancient Palestine, primarily in modern-day Jordan, Syria, and Israel. The cities were centers of Greek culture and were granted a degree of autonomy under Roman rule. In the New Testament, the Decapolis is mentioned as a region where Jesus traveled and performed miracles (Matthew 4:25; Mrk.5.20; 7:31). The most notable event connected to the Decapolis is the healing of the demon-possessed man in the region of the Gerasenes (Mrk.5.1-20). After being healed, the man went throughout the Decapolis proclaiming what Jesus had done for him, spreading the message of Christ in the region.
Approximate location: 32.682, 35.870 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
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.”
containing ten cities
DECAP'OLIS (ten cities), a region noticed three times in the Bible. Matt 4:25; Map of Decapolis. (From Schaff's "New Testament Commentary.") Mark 5:20; Mark 7:31 It lay near the Sea of Galilee probably on both sides of the Jordan. The cities were rebuilt by the Romans about b.c. 65; but as other cities grew up, writers are not agreed as to the names of the ten cities. Pliny gives them as follows: Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Raphana, Damascus. Six are deserted, and none have many inhabitants except Damascus.
DECAP'OLIS (ten cities), a region noticed three times in the Bible. Matt 4:25; Map of Decapolis. (From Schaff's "New Testament Commentary.") Mark 5:20; Mark 7:31 It lay near the Sea of Galilee probably on both sides of the Jordan. The cities were rebuilt by the Romans about b.c. 65;
but as other cities grew up, writers are not agreed as to the names of the ten cities. Pliny gives them as follows: Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Raphana, Damascus. Six are deserted, and none have many inhabitants except Damascus.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
3 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G1179
Large crowds followed Him, having come from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
So the man went away and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.
Then Jesus left the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.