And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

MATTHEW 4:25KJV
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Matthew 4:25 (KJV)

What does Matthew 4:25 mean?

Matthew 4:25 describes Jesus drawing large crowds from a wide area, not just from the places where he had been teaching. People came from regions around Galilee, from Jerusalem and Judaea farther south, and from across the Jordan River.

After the account of Jesus teaching and healing in the preceding verses, Matthew describes the people who followed him. The list of places gives a picture of the distance over which people had heard about Jesus and traveled to join the crowds.

The Greek behind Matthew 4:25

  • “followed” — ἀκολουθέω (akoloutheō): This word carries the sense of going along with someone. Here, the crowds are described as accompanying Jesus, not merely hearing about him from a distance.
  • “Decapolis” — Δεκάπολις (Dekapolis): The name means “ten cities.” It refers to a group of cities in the region east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee, an area where many people followed Greek ways of life.

Why Matthew 4:25 matters

  • The crowd came from both nearby and distant places. “Galilee” was the region where Jesus had been active, while “Jerusalem” and “Judaea” lay farther south.
  • Jesus’ audience included people from areas beyond the Jordan River. The mention of “Decapolis” and “beyond Jordan” places some of the crowd’s origins east of the river.
  • The crowd sets the scene for what follows. In Matthew 5:1–2, Jesus sees the multitudes, goes up a mountain, and begins to teach his disciples.

Where else these words appear

“Decapolis” Greek G1179 · used in 3 verses

  • Mark 5:20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
  • Mark 7:31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

“Jordan” Greek G2446 · used in 15 verses

  • Matthew 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
  • Matthew 19:1 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;
  • Luke 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

“beyond” Greek G4008 · used in 23 verses

  • Matthew 4:15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
  • Mark 4:35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
  • John 1:28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

“Judaea” Greek G2449 · used in 44 verses

  • Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
  • Luke 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
  • Acts 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,