Bible Dictionaries
Perea

Holman Bible Dictionary

(peh ree' uh)A Roman district in Transjordan which became a part of Herod the Great's kingdom. The capital was Gadara, where KJV says Jesus healed the demoniac. (Modern translations follow other manuscripts reading Gerasenes.) Other important sites in the province were the fortress of Machaerus, where John the Baptist was beheaded, and Pella, where Christians from Jerusalem fled just before the Roman destruction of the Holy City in A.D. 66. Perea was the area through which the Jews traveled to avoid going through Samaria. Although not referred to by name in the New Testament, it is mentioned as “Judea beyond the Jordan” in several texts (Matthew 19:1; Mark 10:1 RSV). See Gadara; Machaerus; Pella; Transjordan .