Located about 25 miles to the north of the Sea of Galilee, Caesarea Philippi was situated at the foot of Mt. Hermon, near the source of the Jordan River. The city was developed by and named after Philip the Tetrarch, one of the many sons of Herod the Great, who ruled the region during the ministry of Christ. Only mentioned twice in the New Testament (Mark 8, paralleled by Matthew 16), the region was almost exclusively pagan. It was here, far away from the multitudes, that Peter made his famous confession of Jesus as the Messiah. Many scholars also think that the unnamed “mount of transfiguration” may be found close by. Caesarea Philippi is to be distinguished from Caesarea Maritima (see last week), which the New Testament refers to simply as “Caesarea.”
