the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Bible Dictionaries
Decapolis
Holman Bible Dictionary
The “Decapolis” is mentioned only in Matthew and Mark in the Bible. In Mark 5:20 , Jesus healed a demoniac after which the man “began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him.” Mark 7:31 states that after Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon he went “through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.” Matthew 4:25 adds no more to our knowledge of these cities.
Traditionally the Decapolis is assumed to be a league of cities which preserved the stronghold of Greek thought and life in Palestine and resisted the Semitic influences of the Jews. According to Pliny, however, it was not a very solid political alliance. A recent view is that it was not even a league, but a geographical region. These cities do seem to have much in common; they were centers for the spread of Greco-Roman culture and had no great love for the Jews. They were associated with one another closely enough that in some ways they were considered as a group, if not as a league. See Palestine .
W. Thomas Sawyer
These dictionary topics are from the Holman Bible Dictionary, published by Broadman & Holman, 1991. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Broadman & Holman.
Butler, Trent C. Editor. Entry for 'Decapolis'. Holman Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​hbd/​d/decapolis.html. 1991.