Decapolis is the league of ten towns on the Gentile side of the lake where a man from the tombs went home talking.
He went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him,
and everyone marveled.
Jesus returned from Tyre through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
in the region of the Decapolis.
They brought Him a deaf man.
A crowd stayed three days and ate from seven loaves.
Ten cities that spoke Greek and kept pigs heard mercy in a language the graves already feared.
The name means ten cities—a Hellenistic belt east and southeast of Galilee, Rome’s urban stamp on old tribal ground. Gerasa and Gadara sit in the arguments about the exact beach. The point is the culture: tombs, swine, a town that would rather keep its herd than its Healer. Mark sends the delivered man not into the boat but into that circuit. Go home to your friends. The first apostle of that shore is a former legion of screams. Later Jesus Himself walks the region. Ephphatha is spoken over Gentile ears. He has done all things well, they say—almost Genesis on a pagan tongue. Then four thousand eat in a desolate place and seven large baskets remain. Matthew notes crowds from the Decapolis already in the early Galilean press. Isaiah had promised light to Galilee of the Gentiles. The ten towns are that light leaking east across the water. Capernaum was His own city. Decapolis was the other side He named before the wind rose. A woe never falls on these ten in the same sentence as Bethsaida. A preacher with a right mind does.
- Ten cities means a network, not one alley. The rumor had roads.
- Pigs on the hillside tell you where you are. Moses is not the town charter.
- Go home and tell is how the gospel first colonized the league.
- He has done all things well is high praise from a shore that begged Him to leave once.
- Four thousand on this side answers five thousand on the other. Two tables. One Lord.
- The other side was a promise, not a detour.
- Greek towns can marvel. Marvel is not yet a woe—and not yet a church unless someone speaks.
- Ten Towns – Hellenistic cities; east of the lake.
- The Beach – Gerasenes; tombs; the herd.
- The Preacher – Clothed; in his right mind; sent home.
- The Circuit – Tyre, Sidon, Galilee, Decapolis.
- Ephphatha – A deaf mouth opened on that ground.
- Seven Loaves – Three days; four thousand; large baskets.
- The Crowds – Already mixed into the Galilee press in Matthew.
- Mark 5:18-20 – As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged Him that he might be with Him. And He did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
- Mark 7:31 – He returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.
- Mark 7:36-37 – He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.
- Mark 8:1-10 – In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered… they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people.
- Matthew 4:24-25 – So His fame spread throughout all Syria… And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
- Matthew 8:28-34 – The country of the Gadarenes… they begged Him to leave their region.
- Luke 8:39 – Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.
- Isaiah 9:1-2 – Galilee of the nations—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.
- Mark 4:35 – Let us go across to the other side.
- Acts 10:34-35 – God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him.
Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you. He began to proclaim in the Decapolis, and everyone marveled.
He went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.
He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.
Four thousand ate and were satisfied. Seven baskets left over.
Great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis.
Let us go across to the other side.
Do not leave the ten towns as a footnote to the pigs. The other side got a preacher, opened ears, and a wilderness table. Marvel is a start. Tell the mercy. The Most High is not a Galilee-only name.
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