Gadarenes

The inhabitants of Gadara, in Revised Version “Gerasenes” (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, 37). In Matt. 8:28 they are called Gergesenes, Revised Version “Gadarenes.”

men of Gadara, i.e., a place surrounded or walled

GAD'ARENES, COUNTRY OF, possibly the same as that of the Gergesenes. Matt 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26. A region about Gadara, an important city about 6 miles south-east of the Sea of Galilee, and 16 miles from Tiberias; now called Um Keis. The town is about 1215 feet above the sea level, on the western crest of a mountain. The tomb-caverns are very numerous, and some of them are still inhabited by the Arabs, illustrating Matt 8:28. The ruins of the ancient city cover a circuit of about 2 miles, including a street with basalt pavement having marks of chariot-wheels. There are rows of columns, two theatres. The place of the miracle of Matt 8:28-33 has been in doubt, but it cannot be Gadara, which is too far from the lake for the herd of swine to rush into it precipitantly in one short movement. Recent explorations fix it, with some certainty, about midway of the Lake of Galilee, on its eastern side and near Gerasa, or modern Kersa. Between two wadys, Seniakh and Fik, which are 3 miles apart, the hills come within 40 feet of the lake, and present a steep slope, so that a herd of swine running swiftly down it would be carried on into the water. This identification is supported by W. M. Thomson, Tristram, and the members of the Palestine Exploration Survey. W. M. Thomson suggests that Matthew, writing for the Hebrews, who knew the country, notices the more exact but less known locality of Gergesa, while

Mark and Luke, writing for those at a distance, refer simply to the country of Gadara, which was more widely known as the capital of that region,