Whether Perea may not also be called Galilee.
Share
This resource is exclusive for PLUS Members
Upgrade now and receive:
- Ad-Free Experience: Enjoy uninterrupted access.
- Exclusive Commentaries: Dive deeper with in-depth insights.
- Advanced Study Tools: Powerful search and comparison features.
- Premium Guides & Articles: Unlock for a more comprehensive study.
II. I suppose Perea, properly so called, to have gone also under the name of Galilee, for these reasons:
1. The whole land of Canaan, both that beyond and that on this side Jordan, was under the jurisdiction of Herod the Great. So that divide this whole country into four tetrarchies, the first Judea; the second Samaria; both which were under the government of Pilate; the third, Iturea and Trachonitis, under Philip; the fourth will be Galilee on this side, and Perea beyond Jordan. Whereas, therefore, St. Luke, in the division of the tetrarchies, names only Galilee, as that which belonged to Herod, it is manifest he includes Perea under that of Galilee, and speaks of it as a known and commonly-received thing.
2. In Luke 7:11, it is said of Jesus, that "as he went to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee." One would have thought it had been proper to have said, "through the midst of Galilee and Samaria." For when he went from Jerusalem to his own country, he then passed through Samaria, and so into Galilee; but going from home to Jerusalem, he in his passage went through Galilee, and then through Samaria: but now it is very certain, that in that journey he did pass through Perea, having first gone through the Samaritan country. Whence it is very probable that Perea is called, by our evangelist in this place, Galilee; in the very same manner as he had also included it in the mention of Galilee, Luke 3:1.
3. In that tragical feast, wherein the last mess was the head of John Baptist, those who then were treated by Herod are called the "great estates of Galilee," Mark 6:21. Now, that supper was kept in the palace Herodium, which was in the very extreme parts of Perea towards the south; and, therefore, surely those "great estates of Galilee," that were with him, must be no other than the great estates of Perea.
4. There is mention of Geliloth of Jordan, Joshua 22:11, when the passage was concerning Perea: whence that country might well take its name of Galilee.