Scythopolis (Bet She’an) was one of the 10 cities that formed the Greek Decapolis. They were grouped together because of their language, culture, location, and political status. The Decapolis cities in Jesus’ time were centers of Greek and Roman culture in a region that was otherwise Semitic. The original city may be as much as 7,000 years old. It has been conquered and re-conquered many times.
Matthew 4:25, Mark 5:20, and Mark 7:31 make reference to the Decapolis region in relation to Jesus’ ministry. Jesus probably had more contact with Gentiles in these areas than anywhere He went. This would account for the herd of pigs being present that Jesus sent the evil spirit Legion into (Mark 5) since Jews would not have been raising them.
Joshua 17:26 Bet She’an was inhabited by the Canaanites that Manasseh failed to drive out.
I Samuel 31:10 The Philistines fastened Saul’s dead body to the wall of Bet She’an. Men from Jabesh went and retrieved the body and carried it to their home in Jabesh where David finally claimed the bones.
I can well imagine that people hearing the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) would immediately imagine Bet She’an or one of the Decapolis cities as they listened.
Bet She’an was one of the sites for the filming of the 1973 movie “Jesus Christ Superstar”.
This is one of the better preserved/restored sites that we will visit.
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