Mark 5:1–20
1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
The actual location of this miracle had been a topic of debate among scholars for some time. Some manuscripts identified individual cities which lay too far inland to be a possible site for this miracle. For example the city of Gerasa lay 37 miles inland to the southeast of the lake. That's a 2 day commute on foot as Jesus disciples were traveling. That location is then out of question with our story. "Region of the Geresenes" is the most likely reading as all modern translations indicate.
Still the exact location was in question. Some of the early church fathers, Origen and Eusebius, identified the miracle with a town called Gergesa on the eastern side of the lake. But that town no longer exists so it was difficult to know for sure if that was indeed the location. In 1970 however, a bulldozer clearing space for a road along the lake unearthed an ancient town in the valley of Gersa. The location and the date of the town suggest this to be the city Gergasa described here in Mark. (see map below) This city would've been in the administrative district of Hippos, an important city of the Decapolis (confederation of 10 cities in northern Palestine) and a key city for the Roman occupation. A monastery and a basilica have been uncovered there as well giving further credibility to the claim that the early church knew this to be the location of the miracle. About 2 miles to the south of this ancient city there is even a ridge that runs about up to the lake and terminates in a steep cliff that fits the description of the story here. This is likely the city in which these events took place.
Again, we see the gospel accounts holding up to scrutiny and proving to be an accurate historical witness to the life of Jesus.
