GERASENES

(Gerʹa·senes) [Of (Belonging to) Gerasa].

In “the country of the Gerasenes,” of which at least a portion lay E of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus Christ healed two demon-possessed men. (Mr 5:1-20; Lu 8:26-39; compare Mt 8:28-34.) The exact limits of this region are today unknown, and the identification is uncertain. Some scholars link it with the area on the E shore of the Sea of Galilee around Kursi, the site identified by Origen and Eusebius as Gergesa. It is only here that there are cliffs near the shore. Others suggest it is the large district radiating from the city of Gerasa (Jarash).​—See GADARENES.