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Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.
A term meaning “ten cities” that designates a group of Hellenistic cities predominately located on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.
Lexham Bible Dictionary
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The Lexham Bible Dictionary
Decapolis
Decapolis (Δεκάπολις, Dekapolis). A term meaning “ten cities” that designates a group of Hellenistic cities predominately located on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
Decapolis
DECAPOLIS. A group of Hellenistic cities E of the Jordan and Lake Tiberias which were of considerable importance in the history of the region and figure in the Gospels in the ministry of Jesus. The term is from Gk and means literally “Ten Towns,” although the number of cities actually included by the
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
Decapolis
Decapolis. Group of city-states where Greeks settled following Alexander the Great’s conquest of the area in the fourth century bc. They were located to the southeast of the Sea of Galilee, with the exception of Scythopolis, which was west of the Jordan River. About ad 77 Pliny gave what is the earliest
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised
Decapolis
Decapolis de-kapʹə-lis [Gk. Dekapolis—‘ten-city (area, confederation, etc.)’]. A loose confederation of ten essentially independent Hellenistic cities; or the region in which they were located, S and E of the Sea of Galilee.The historical background of the Decapolis is somewhat elusive, as the historical
Tyndale Bible Dictionary
Decapolis
DECAPOLIS* Group of city-states where Greeks settled following Alexander the Great’s conquest of the area in the fourth century bc. They were located to the southeast of the Sea of Galilee, with the exception of Scythopolis, which was west of the Jordan River. About ad 77 Pliny gave what is the earliest
The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated)
Decapolis
Decapolis (di-kap´uh-lis), a federation of ten Hellenistic cities in an area east of Samaria and Galilee. The Roman scholar Pliny the Elder (ca. 77 ce) lists them as Damascus, Philadelphia, Raphana, Scythopolis, Gadara, Hippos, Dion, Pella, Gerasa, and Canatha. Great crowds from the Decapolis are said
The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
Decapolis
The circular forum and main street of Jerash, one of the cities of the Decapolis. G. TrimboliDECAPOLIS (Gr. deka, “ten,” and polis, “city,” meaning “the league of ten cities”). Pliny called the territory “Decapolita regio” (Natural History, V, 16). It began on the W side of the Jordan where the plain
The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition
Decapolis
DECAPOLIS. A large territory S of the Sea of Galilee, mainly to the E of Jordan, but including Beth-shean to the W. The Greeks had occupied towns like Gadara and Philadelphia as early as 200 bc. In 63 bc Pompey liberated Hippos, Scythopolis and Pella from the Jews. He annexed the cities to the province
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
Decapolis
Decapolis (Gk. Dekápolis)A group of cities (Gk. “Ten Cities”) in southern Syria and northern Jordan (except Scythopolis, located S of the Sea of Galilee just W of the Jordan River), functioning under that name in the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods. Ancient literary sources identify as many as
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary
Decapolis
Decapolis [dĭ kăpˊə lĭs;] (Gk. Dekapolis “ten cities”). A confederation of some ten Hellenistic cities (cf. Josephus Vita 65[341], déka póleis) settled after the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.). For a number of years after Alexander Janneus (103–76 B.C.) had conquered some of them, these
The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land
Decapolis
DECAPOLIS A league of ten Hellenistic cities (Josephus, Life 342; 410) with a Jewish minority, all (with the exception of Scythopolis) situated in Transjordan. The membership of the league, originally ten as indicated by its name, was never constant. Pliny (Nat. Hist. v, 74) enumerates Damascus, Philadelphia
Catholic Bible Dictionary
Decapolis
DECAPOLIS (Greek, “ten cities”) A confederation of ten Hellenistic cities mainly east and south of the Sea of Galilee; it extended from Damascus in the north to Philadelphia in the south. The cities were established initially by Greek soldiers following the campaigns and death of Alexander the Great.
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