Region
Country of the Gadarenes
- Ancient name
- Country of the Gadarenes
- Modern location
- The area around Umm Qais, south-east of the Sea of Galilee
- Location
- Approximate location
Editorial summary
Across the sea from Galilee. Mark and Luke say that here a man with an unclean spirit, who lived in the tombs, met Jesus and was healed, and that the people of the district, afraid, asked Jesus to leave.
What happened here
1Healing among the Gadarenes
In the country of the Gadarenes a man with an unclean spirit met Jesus out of the tombs. When Jesus asked his name, the reply was Legion, for they were many. With Jesus’ permission the spirits entered about two thousand pigs, which drowned in the sea, and the man proclaimed in Decapolis what Jesus had done.
Mark says they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes, and that the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea; the spot is not named. Luke also has the country of the Gadarenes, opposite Galilee; Matthew’s account, which tells of two men, has the country of the Gergesenes. The marker is a representative point for the district.
People here
1On these journeys
Scripture
Nearby in the atlas
Location certainty
A district, not a single place. In the WEB, Mark and Luke name it after the people of Gadara, and the marker is the site of that city, Umm Qais, on the heights south-east of the lake (OpenBible.info). The text places the event by the shore but does not name the spot. Matthew’s account in the WEB says the country of the Gergesenes, and many manuscripts and modern translations read Gerasenes in Mark and Luke. Kursi, on the east shore, is a traditional site of the event.
- Coordinates
- 32.6560° N, 35.6794° E