Dalmanutha

Mark viii. 10.DALMANUTHA. St. Mark says, that Jesus Christ embarked with his Disciples upon the sea of Tiberias, and came to DalmanuthaMatth. xv. 39.. St. Matthew relating the same event, says, that our Saviour went to Magedan, and many manuscripts of St. Mark read it thus. But in the Greek of St. Matthew, it is Magdala. The Syriac, Arabic, and several old Greek Copies read Magdan. The question is where Magedan and Brocard. Descriptio Terræ Sanctæ, c. 3.Dalmanutha were situated. Brocard was of opinion that Magedan or Medan was one of the two sources of the river Jordan called Dan, at the foot of mount Libanus. It is Vide Reland Palæst. t. 1. c. 41. p. 265.certain, that in the places about the lake Phiala, which is the true source of Jordan, great numbers of Saracens, Arabians, and Parthians keep a fair, and dwell there, invited by the beauty of the situation, and the conveniency of trade: for which reason it is called Medan; that is to say, in Arabic, fair. Hegesip. p. 108.Hegesippus calls this place Melda or Meldan, which he interprets fair, or market. Of Meldan may be made Delmana, or Delmanata, or Delmanutha. Thus Medan, Magedan, Delmana, and Delmanutha will be the same thing; and we must say, that Jesus Christ having passed the lake of Tiberias, advanced towards the sources of Jordan, and went to Medan. Eusebius and St. Jerom place Magedan somewhere about Gerasa, beyond Jordan. They tell us, that in their time this canton was still called Magedene. Now Gerasa was eastward of the sea of Tiberias, and on the other side of it. Cellarius and Lightfoot follow that reading, which has Magdala instead of Magedan. They place Magdala in the neighbourhood of Gadara and Tiberias, eastward of the lake Genezareth; and say, that Dalmanutha lay near the city of Magdala. Hammond and some others suppose, that St. Mark intended Zech. xii. 11. 2 Kings ix. 27. 2 Kings xxiii. 29.to speak of the city of Megiddo, called Megiddon in Zechary, made famous by the death of two kings, Ahaziah and Josiah, who were killed there. Jesus Christ did not go so far as Magedo, but as far as the confines of Magedan, as the text of St. Mark expresses. We followed this opinion in our Comment on St. Matthew xv. 39. But since what we have found relating to Medan, or the fair held near Phiala, we prefer their opinion who place Dalmanutha there.

Read this article in its place on the printed pages