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Bible Dictionaries
Peraea
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or PERAEA
1. Name and extent.—The name (ἡ Περαία), while constantly used by Josephus, is not found in LXX Septuagint or NT, in both of which it is represented by the equivalent πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου = עֵבֶר־הַיַּרְדֵּן (cf. Isaiah 9:1 [Heb. 8:23], Matthew 4:25, Mark 10:1). Judaea, Galilee, and Peraea were reckoned by the Jews themselves as the three Jewish provinces. The division is repeatedly assumed in the Mishna (Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] , ii. i. 2; cf. Josephus BJ, iii. iii. 3). The population of Peraea was, however, never so thoroughly Jewish as that of Judaea, or even of Galilee. In both Galilee and Peraea political vicissitudes had occasioned a large intermingling of Jewish and Gentile elements. Notwithstanding the close neighbourhood of the three provinces, the differences of their experience had produced differences of customs and manners, which gave to each of them an independent life of its own, and caused them to be regarded as in certain respects different countries (Schürer, l.c.).
The name ‘Peraea,’ like the names of many of the districts east of the Jordan, was somewhat loosely used, having a wider and a narrower signification. Josephus (l.c.) states the length of Peraea as from Machaerus to Pella, i.e. from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and its breadth as from Philadelphia and Gerasa to the Jordan, limits corresponding with those of the modern Belkâ. But in BJ, iv. vii. 3, he calls Gadara ‘the metropolis of Peraea.’ In what sense he uses this term there is no means of ascertaining, but he must intend to include under the name ‘Peraea’ the region extending north from the Jabbok to the Yarmuk (Hieromax), close to which river Gadara stood, that is to say, all that the Hebrews meant by ‘beyond the Jordan.’ His usage may depend on whether he happened at the moment to be referring to the district which was more completely Jewish, or to the whole region, which was governed as one, and which included the Hellenistic towns of the Decapolis (Ant. xiii. ii. 3, iv. 9). Peraea in its more limited sense corresponded with the kingdom of Sihon, or Reuben and a part of Gad. In its larger signification it was from 80 to 90 miles from north to south, and about 25 from east to west.
2. Characteristics.—As regards its physical features, Peraea consists for the most part of an elevated tableland, rising rapidly from the Jordan valley, but broken by frequent gorges and mountain torrents. It was, according to Mukaddasi, proverbially cold. Josephus (BJ, iii. iii. 3) says that, while larger than Galilee, it is mostly desert and rough, and much less adapted than that province for the cultivation of fruit. Still he admits that it is in parts very fertile, and produces all kinds of fruits, and its plains are planted with various trees, chiefly the olive, the vine, and the palm. It is sufficiently watered by streams from the mountains and by springs which do not fail even in summer.
Mukaddasi (c. 985 a.d.) says that the Belkâ district is rich in grain and flocks, and has many streams which work the mills. He divides Syria into four belts, from the Mediterranean eastwards. Of the third and fourth he writes: ‘The Third Belt is that of the valleys of the Ghaur (the Jordan valley), wherein are found many villages and streams, also palm trees, well-cultivated fields, and indigo plantations.… The Fourth Belt is that bordering on the desert. The mountains here are high and bleak, and the climate resembles that of the waste; but it has many villages, with springs of water, and forest trees.’ He also mentions the hot springs of the district, naming those of Al-Hammah. Guy le Strange, whose translation has just been quoted, thinks that the hot springs of Gadara or Amatha in the Yarmuk valley are those referred to, and he adds in regard to them, that ‘round the large basin may still be seen the remains of vaulted bath-houses. The sanitary properties of these sulphurous waters are highly extolled by many ancient writers, and to this day they have maintained their reputation among the Bedawin and fellahîn of Palestine, so much so that the bathing-place is regarded by all parties as a neutral ground’ (Description of Suria, by Mukaddasi, translation by Guy le Strange [Pal. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.] Pilgr. Text Soc.]). Of the Jordan valley Merrill (East of the Jordan, p. 438) says: ‘From the Zerka (Jabbok) to the Sea of Galilee (ib.) it is exceedingly fertile; and in any period when the country was settled and a good government in power, it must have been one of the most wealthy and important sections of Palestine for the raising of wheat and other products, while the foot-hills would afford excellent pasturage,’
3. History, population, etc.—Under the will of Herod the Great, Galilee and Peraea were united for purposes of government under Antipas, and this arrangement was confirmed by Augustus. As these two provinces had but a very short common boundary where Galilee touched the Jordan north of Samaria, it might have seemed more natural to combine Peraea with the regions north of the Yarmuk, or with Samaria. But affinities of race and religion (cf. Josephus Ant. xx. i. 1; G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] , p. 539) plainly suggested the wisdom of governing them together. For the same reasons Jews journeying between Galilee and Judaea often preferred to go by way of Peraea, where they were among their own countrymen, rather than pass through Samaria (the more direct route), where they incurred the risk at least of insult (Luke 9:53, John 4:4; John 4:9; cf. Edersheim, LT [Note: T Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Edersheim].] , i. 394; Josephus Ant. xx. vi. 1). They used the fords opposite Beisan, north of Samaria, and Jericho, south of it. The northern parts of Peraea mingled with the region of the Decapolis, where in the towns there was a vigorous Hellenistic civilization, and apparently north of the Yarmuk the Jewish element of the population was inconsiderable. The strongly Jewish character of Peraea is indicated in the Gospels. John the Baptist worked there during part of his ministry (John 3:26; John 10:40). In Peraea multitudes gathered round Christ, among whom were Pharisees who entered into controversy with Him and displayed all the animus of their sect (Matthew 19:3 ff.). Mothers, evidently Jewish, brought their children to be blessed (Mark 10:13), and the ruler who had kept the whole Law sought an answer to his question (Matthew 19:16). The mission of the Seventy was to Peraea, and although the restriction laid upon the Twelve (whose number corresponded with that of the tribes of Israel), ‘Go not into any way of the Gentiles’ (Matthew 10:5-6), is significantly absent in the case of the Seventy (whose number is typical of the nations of the earth), yet the scope of our Lord’s ministry makes it evident that they were to encounter, at least for the most part, Jews.
The immigration of Greek settlers into the country east of Jordan probably began with the presence there of Alexander the Great, and the towns of Pella (no doubt named from the Macedonian city which was Alexander’s birthplace) and Dion may have been founded by him, as Steph. Byz. states in a somewhat corrupt passage, or by some of his followers. Besides these towns, many other powerful Hellenistic communities sprang into existence, and flourished in the midst of a population from which they were separated by their distinctive culture, and, in so far as it was Jewish, by the practice of heathen worship. The Maccabees (b.c. 166–135) endeavoured to withdraw the Jews (who presumably were at that time the smaller section of the inhabitants) to Judaea (1 Maccabees 5:45-54). John Hyrcanus (b.c. 135–105) possibly first adopted the opposite policy, which was vigorously carried out by Alexander Jannaeus (b.c. 104–78), who brought the country from Lake Merom to the Dead Sea completely under his control (Josephus Ant. xiii. xv. 4; Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] , i. i. 192, 297, 306). He took Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Dion, and other important towns, and extinguished the Greek culture which had flourished in them. He forced them to assimilate Jewish manners and ideas, and those places which would not submit he destroyed. In b.c. 64 the Roman province of Syria was formed, and under Pompey and Gabinius the procurator the ruined cities were rebuilt, and the Hellenistic communities regained their independence. Indeed, the sympathy of Pompey was long remembered by them, as is attested by the numerous coins which have been found impressed with his era. It was probably he who organized the Decapolis (the term ἡ Δεκάπολις is found first in the Roman period). See Decapolis.
In b.c. 20, Herod the Great obtained permission to appoint his brother Pheroras tetrarch of Peraea (Ant. xv. x. 3; BJ, i. xxiv. 5). Pheroras afterwards incurred the enmity of Herod, and retired or was driven to Peraea, where he died, not improbably by poison (BJ, i. xxix. 4). At his death (b.c. 4) Herod left Galilee and Peraea to his son Antipas (Ant. xvii. viii. 1). The tribute paid by these provinces was 200 talents (Ant. xvii. xi. 4). Antipas ruled with the title of tetrarch till his banishment in a.d. 39 by Caius Caesar, who added his tetrarchy to the dominions of Agrippa (Ant. xviii. vii. 2). Antipas was therefore in authority in Galilee and Peraea during the whole lifetime of John the Baptist and of Christ.
Among the towns of Peraea, Pella has a special interest as having been twice the refuge of the Christians fleeing from Jerusalem, in a.d. 68, and again in a.d. 135, when under Hadrian Jerusalem was taken for the second time and its name changed to aelia. The fact that Pella was a heathen city may have been an inducement to the Christians of Jerusalem to seek refuge in it, as it would not attract the hostility of the Romans. Merrill (East of the Jordan, p. 462 f.) thinks that Christ probably several times passed through the Jordan valley and may well have visited Pella itself. His preaching may have been successful there, and His connexion with the town such as to suggest it as a refuge to the Christians.
Literature.—Besides authorities cited above, see Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible , artt. ‘Peraea,’ ‘Gadara,’ ‘Decapolis,’ ‘Machaerus’; Thomson, Land and Book. For later history, Guy le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems.
A. E. Ross.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Peraea'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/p/peraea.html. 1906-1918.
