The Definition of the word Caesara Philippi

Caesara Philippi

A city on the northeast of the marshy plain of el-Huleh, 120 "miles north of Jerusalem, and 20 miles north of the Sea of" "Galilee, at the "upper source" of the Jordan, and near the base" of Mount Hermon. It is mentioned in Matt. 16:13 and Mark 8:27 as the northern limit of our Lord's public ministry. According to "some its original name was Baal-Gad (Josh. 11:17), or" "Baal-Hermon (Judg. 3:3; 1 Chr. 5:23), when it was a Canaanite" "sanctuary of Baal. It was afterwards called Panium or Paneas," from a deep cavern full of water near the town. This name was given to the cavern by the Greeks of the Macedonian kingdom of "Antioch because of its likeness to the grottos of Greece, which" were always associated with the worship of their god Pan. Its "modern name is Banias. Here Herod built a temple, which he" dedicated to Augustus Caesar. This town was afterwards enlarged "and embellished by Herod Philip, the tetrarch of Trachonitis, of" "whose territory it formed a part, and was called by him Caesarea" "Philippi, partly after his own name, and partly after that of" the emperor Tiberius Caesar. It is thus distinguished from the Caesarea of Palestine. (See [87]JORDAN.)