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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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DECAPOLIS*

Group of city-states where Greeks settled following Alexander the Great’s conquest of the area in the fourth century BC. They were located to the southeast of the Sea of Galilee, with the exception of Scythopolis, which was west of the Jordan River. About AD 77 Pliny gave what is the earliest known list of the cities: Canatha, Damascus, Dion, Gadara, Gerasa, Hippos, Pella, Philadelphia, Raphana, and Scythopolis.

With the rise of Jewish nationalism in the second century BC, the Jewish king Alexander Janneus seized control of a few of these cities; they remained in the hands of Israel until they were recaptured by the Roman general Pompey in 63 BC. During the lifetime of Jesus, the cities of the Decapolis, which had become moderately prosperous trade centers, were consolidated into a Roman alliance against a possible Jewish uprising.

The Decapolis is mentioned three times in the NT. The first is in Matthew 4:25 OET (RV-only · LV-only), where great crowds (mostly Greeks and Canaanites) followed Jesus during his early ministry. As we see in Mark 5:20 OET (RV-only · LV-only) the demoniac who was healed by Jesus went and proclaimed Jesus throughout the Decapolis region. Finally, Mark 7:31 OET (RV-only · LV-only) says Jesus passed through the Decapolis region on his way from Tyre and Sidon to the Sea of Galilee.