from Greek: peran (Iordanou)
District on the east
side of the Jordan river whose northern border was south of
Pella in the Decapolis
& whose southern border was guarded by the frontier fortress
In antiquity the region had belonged to Israel's bitter rivals,
the kingdoms of Ammon & Moab, which were conquered by David (10th c.
BCE). After Solomon,
during the time of the divided monarchy (9th-8th c.
BCE), it was known as Gilead & was the
homeland of Elijah. For about 600 years the region was lost to
Israelite control, but was reconquered by Johanan
Hyrcanus (ca. 120
& its inhabitants forcibly converted to Judaism. Augustus
assigned Perea to Herod,
who willed it to Antipas. After
Herod's death Perea became the center of a brief but bloody revolt
led by a former royal slave named Simon.
This was the area of the activity of Johanan the Baptizer
[according to John 1], including his imprisonment &
execution at Machaerus [according to Josephus]. According to the
synoptic gospels, Jesus took the Jordan valley road through
Perea that ran from the southern end of the Sea of Galilee to
the ford at Jericho
on his way to Jerusalem.
13.50; 15.294; 17.188, 276, 318; 18.240; 20.2-3.
1.586; 2.57-59, 94-95, 168, 566-568.
Mark 3:8 // Matt 4:25
Mark 10:1 // Matt 19:1
John 1:28, 3:26, 10:40
For further recent information about archaeological & historical evidence, see:
Buttrick, G. A., ed. Interpreter's
Dictionary of the Bible. vol. 3 (NY/Nashville: Abingdon Press,
1962) pp. 728-729.
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