Gerasenes or Gadarenes and the demon pigs

 

I was in a dialogue with an atheist regarding what he believes is one of “many” so-called “biblical contradictions.” The odd guy I am, I find this sort of thing fun. In any event, I love defending the Bible and Christianity.

He brought up the story of Jesus casting out demons and sending them into pigs, which promptly ran over a cliff into the sea. The Gospels use different names for the places where this occurred:

Mark 5:1 ... the country of the Ger’asenes. (Luke 8:26 is identical)

Matthew 8:28 ... the country of the Gadarenes ... 

This is supposedly a “contradiction.” Gerasa is (as we know) some 30-35 miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee but may have also been the name of the larger region. Wikipedia states, "In the second half of the 1st century AD, Jerash achieved great prosperity.” 

Gadara is about six miles from the sea. Its ruins include two amphitheatres, a basilica, a temple, a hippodrome, aqueducts and colonnades, showing its importance and stature. “Gergesenes” is also in some manuscripts (Khersa or Gersa was a town on the shore of the sea). Commentator R. C. H. Lenski states:

“The distance of these cities from the lake is immaterial for the narrative since this deals with the region near the lake and not with the vicinity of either of the cities to the lake.”

Note that the texts don’t say Gerasa or Gadara, so they don’t necessarily refer to one of the cities. They all say “country of ” (in the sense of region, not “nation”). “Gerasenes” could have had a sense of reference to the entire area (as well as to a city, just as “New Yorker” can refer to the state or city), and “Gadarenes” likely was a reference to the most prominent city of the region at the time. Smith’s Bible Dictionary provides what I find to be a pretty plausible explanation (not “special pleading” at all) and analogous to how we still use place names today:

“These three names are used indiscriminately to designate the place where Jesus healed two demoniacs. The first two are in the Authorized Version. (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) In Gerasenes in place of Gadarenes. The miracle referred to took place, without doubt, near the town of Gergesa, the modern Kersa, close to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and hence in the country of Gergesenes. But as Gergesa was a small village and little known, the evangelists, who wrote for more distant readers, spoke of the event as taking place in the country of the Gadarenes, so named from its largest city, Gadara, and this country included the country of the Gergesenes as a state includes a county. 

“The Gerasenes were the people of the district of which Gerasa was the capital. This city was better known than Gadara or Gergesa; indeed, no city of Palestine was better known in the Roman age. ‘It became one of the proudest cities of Syria.’ It was situated some 30 miles southeast of Gadara, on the borders of Peraea and a little north of the river Jabbok. It is now called Jerash and is a deserted ruin.

The district of the Gerasenes probably included that of the Gadarenes so that the demoniac of Gergesa belonged to the country of the Gadarenes and also to that of the Gerasenes, as the same person may, with equal truth, be said to live in the city or the state, or in the United States. For those nearby the local name would be used, but in writing to a distant people, as the Greeks and Romans, the more comprehensive and general name would be given.”

I think the coup de grâce is to look up the Greek word for “country” in these passages to see what latitude of meaning it has. In all three instances, the word is chōra (Strong’s word #5561). Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines it as “the space between two places or limits ... region or country.” The Sea of Galilee was clearly one of the limits.

Luke 2:8 applies to Bethlehem, and Acts 18:23 applies to Galatia and Phrygia. In Mark 1:5, it is used for “the land of Judaea” (KJV), and in Acts 10:39, for “land of the Jews” (KJV). In Acts 8:1, we have the “regions of Judaea and Samaria” (KJV), and in Acts 16:6, Galatia alone. Thus, it is not always used for one specific country (nation), but rather, usually for regions or areas of either small (Bethlehem) or large (Judaea and Samaria) size, including regions surrounding large cities.

This sure seems perfectly consistent with calling the same area the “country” (chōra) of the Gerasenes or the Gadarenes, after the two major cities. Why is this even an issue, I wonder? Well, it is because atheists, in their zealous rush to make fun of Christians, Christianity, and the Bible, start to lose their logical rigour and rationality, leading them to contend for implausible things, as presently.

Bible scholar Gleason Archer (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties) argues, “It is entirely possible that the political control of this region was centred in Gadara as the capital city. Hence it would be called ‘the land of the Gadarenes.’”

Another approach is to note the different intentions of the Gospel writers. Matthew is habitually more oriented to a Jewish readership, so he refers to “Gadarenes” because Gadara was the most important Jewish city in the area. Mark and Luke, on the other hand, wrote to more general audiences, and Gerasa was the central Greek-Roman city in the area. So, they refer to Gerasenes.

All these attempts to harmonize what may initially seem like a contradiction are plausible, respectable, and adequate.