GADARA, găd’ ə rə GADARENES, -renz (Γαδαρά; Γαδαρήνες). A city of Transjordania, about six m. SE of the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, one of the cities of the Decapolis; the inhabitants of the city and surrounding countryside, which were predominantly non-Jewish.
1. The gospels. The only NT reference to Gadara (Matt 8:28), is the account of the healing of two demoniacs and the drowing of the swine in the Sea of Galilee. The parallel passages (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26; cf. v. 37), though mentioning the one demoniac, refer to the same episode.
In each gospel reference there is a textual variant concerning the spelling of the name. The RSV reading of “Gadarenes” (Matt) and “Gerasenes” (Mark and Luke) is correct according to the textual evidence, and suggests some difficulty in identifying the place. This problem of harmonization is resolved if one remembers that each reference is to the country (ἡ χώρα) of the Gadarenes-Gerasenes. The geography and history sources show that the area designations prob. overlapped; Gadara was the chief city of the immediate area, whereas Gerasa may have referred to a wider area including the lesser city of Gadara. Matthew gives a specific reference to the Gadarenes, Mark and Luke a more general reference to Gerasenes. The third reading “Gergesenes,” although it has poor MS evidence and obviously is a late, confused effort to harmonize the synoptic texts, yet gives the best location for the incident near the village of Gergesa. Although topographical maps show hills all along the SE shore of the Sea of Galilee, geographers who visited the area say the only place to locate the drowning swine incident is a strip of steep coastline near Gergesa, the present-day Kersa (cf. Gerasa, Gergesa).
2. History. Several references to Gadara appear in Josephus. In the Maccabean wars, Alexander Jannaeus took the city after a tenmonth siege (Jos. Antiq., XII, iii. 3; Jos. War, I. iv. 2) and demolished it. After the Rom. conquest it was rebuilt by Pompey in 63 b.c. (War. I. vii. 7) and made a “free” city. Gabinius made it the capital of one of the five districts of occupied Pal. Herod the Great received it as a gift from Augustus in 30 b.c. (Jos. Antiq. XV. vii. 3; Jos. War. I, xx. 3). Herod ruled it harshly and was sustained in his policy by the emperor (Jos Antiq. XV. x. 3). At Herod’s death it was annexed to Syria (Jos. Antiq. XVII. xi. 4; Jos. War, II. xviii. 1). During the rebellion of a.d. 68-70 it fell quickly to Vespasian, who burned it and plundered the countryside (Jos. War, III. vii. 1). Rebuilt again, it flourished, as coins from the city show, until a.d. 240. It had a Christian church from the 2nd cent. and was the seat of a bishop from a.d. 325 until the Moslem conquest.
3. Archeology. Gadara is identified today as Muqeis, or Umm Qeis, overlooking the S valley of the Yarmuk river. The ruins are extensive, including remnants of two amphitheaters, a basilica, a temple, colonnades, large residences, and an aqueduct, all showing the size, beauty, and importance of the city.
Another Gadara is mentioned by Josephus as “the capital of Perea” (Jos. War, IV. vii. 3), but he may have confused it with Gerasa.
Bibliography W. A. Thomson, The Land and the Book (1882) 333-338, 353-359; A. Plummer, Gospel According to St. Matthew (1909), 132, 133; M. F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament (1962), 139-141.