| Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
| CAESAREA-PHILIPPI | A city three or four miles east of Dan, near the eastern source of the Jordan; anciently called Paneas, now Banias, from an adjacent grotto dedicated to Pan, from which one of the sources of the Jordan flowed. It stood where the mountains south-west of Hermon join the plain above lake Huleh, on an elevated plateau surrounded by ravines and water-courses; and its walls were thick and strong. It was enlarged and embellished by Philip the tetrarch of Trachonitis, and called Caesarea in honor of Tiberius Caesar; and the name Philippi was added to distinguish it from Caesarea on the Mediterranean. Our Savior visited this place shortly before his transfiguration, Mt 16:13-28 Mr 8:27-38 Lu 9:18,27. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Titus here made the captive Jews fight and kill each other in gladiatorial shows. In the time of the crusades it underwent many changes, and is now a paltry village amid extensive ruins. |