Matthew 16:13 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

When Jesus came into the coasts, &c.— When Jesus came into the territories of, or was going towards, Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say I am? the son of man? Heylin. Cesarea Philippi, while it was possessed by the Canaanites, was called Leshem, Judges 19:47 and Laish, Judges 18:27. But when the children of Dan took it, they named it after their progenitor. In later times it was called Paneas, from the mountain beneath which it stood. The situation of Paneas pleased Philip the tetrarch so exceedingly, that he resolved to make it the seat of his court; for which purpose he enlarged and adorned it with many sumptuous buildings, and called it Cesarea in honour of the Roman emperor: the tetrarch's name, however, was commonly added to distinguish it from the other Cesarea, so often mentioned in the Acts, which was a fine port in the Mediterranean sea, and had been rebuilt by Herod the Great, and named in honour of Augustus Caesar. See the note on Acts 8:40. Josephus gave Philip so good a character, that some have thought our Lord retired into his territories for security from the insults of his enemies elsewhere. See Beausobre and Lenfant, Introduction, p. 27.