And they came over unto the other side of the sea,.... Of Galilee, or Tiberias;
into the country of the Gadarenes: in the Evangelist Matthew it is called, "the country of the Gergesenes", as it is here in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions. The Vulgate Latin reads, "of the Gerasenes", and so some copies, from Gerasa, a place in the same country; but the Syriac and Persic versions read, "Gadarenes", as do most copies; so called from Gadara, a city either adjacent to, or within the country of the Gergesenes; which was called by both names, from these different places. It was not far from Tiberias, the place from whence this sea has its name, over which Christ and his disciples passed, John 6:1. Chammath was a mile from e Tiberias, and this Chammath was so near to the country of Gadara, that it is often called, חמת דגדר, "Chammath of Gadara" f; unless it should be rather rendered, "the hot baths of Gadara": for so it is g said, that at Gadara are the hot baths of Syria; which may be the same with the hot baths of Tiberias, so often mentioned in the Jewish writings h; hence the town of Chammath had its name, which was so near to Tiberias, that it is sometimes reckoned the same with it i: Pliny k places this Gadara in Decapolis, and Ptolemy l in Coelo Syria; and Meleager, the collector of epigrams, who is called a Syrian, is said m to be a Gadarene, a native of this Gadara. Mention is made of the whirlpool of Gadara n, which remained ever since the flood. It appears to be an Heathen country, both from its situation, and the manners of the people.
e T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 2. 2. f T. Hieros. Erubin, fol. 23. 3. & Trumot, fol. 41. 3. & Sabbat, fol. 5. 4. g Eunapius in Vita Iamblici, p. 26. h T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 108. 1. T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 6. 1. i T. Bab. Megilia, fol. 6. 1. k L. 5. c. 18. l L. 5. c. 15. m Fabricii Bibliotheca Grace. T. 2. p. 683. n T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 108. 1.