Bible Location
Meaning: containing ten cities · 3 cross references · Modern-day map available
The Decapolis was the league or district of ten largely Greek cities east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee. It is important because it marks the Gentile urban world touched by Jesus' ministry. First appears in Matt 4:25.1
Place meaning
containing ten cities
Coordinates
33.52, 36.31
First appears
Matt 4:25
AI summary: Decapolis is significant because it gives the Gospels a clearly non-Jewish regional setting close to Galilee. Jesus' movements into or near the Decapolis show the reach of his ministry beyond traditional Jewish boundaries, while the name itself reflects a strongly Hellenized urban network. The cross references present the Decapolis as a Greek-city district where the gospel crosses cultural lines.1
Place meaning
containing ten cities
Latitude
33.52
Longitude
36.31
Bible references
3
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.” 3
Source note: this 1893 dictionary language reflects its period and may be culturally insensitive or outdated. It is presented as historical source material, not as ai-BIBLE’s language, interpretation, or endorsement.
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, place metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.