Bible Dictionaries
Dalmanutha

　　DALMANUTHA.—Mark 8:10 only. The textual and geographical problems involved in this name have not found as yet a satisfactory explanation. After the feeding of the 4000, Jesus embarked with His disciples, and came, according to Matthew 15:39, Μαγαδάν (all critical editions); according to Mark 8:10 ὁρια, ὁρη. Cod. DΜαγαδάν is the reading of ᾶν), מנרן, cur מנרו (Magdu; so also the Arabic Tatian). Most uncials and cursives τὰ μέρη is replaced by τὰ μέρη is replaced by τὸ ὁρος in 28, syrsin; but in the latter the addition of a dot makes the plural; syrcur is missing; B has the spelling Δαλμουνουθά; Vulgate Dalmanutha (with unimportant variations); arm. Dalmanunca. But this is now replaced by:

　　Μαγαιδά (not Μαγεδά in 28, 81.

　　מנרל, Got. , Old Lat. , -an, -am, Magidan. It is a natural supposition that in Mk. all readings differing from ὁρη ( [Note: Sinaitic.] to Tatian?’ On the Cod. 28 which supports the reading of syrsin, see WH [Note: SS Manuscripts.] of Mk. points to the fact that there were several stages in the revision of our MSSΜαγαδὰ Γαδ for Δαλμανουθά from τὰ ὄρια in Mt. and εἰς τὰ ὅρια (TRΤύρου (יד, קץ) reappear among the 22 Heb. equivalents of מליסאן), which cave, however, according to Neubauer, was in the neighbourhood of Herod’s Caesarea. J. W. Donaldson (Jashar: fragmenta archetypa carminum Hebraicorum, editio secunda, 1840, p. 16) suggested: ‘מנדל־אל, ΜέΡΗ conversam habemus.’ A similar idea was struck out independently by R. Hams (Codex Bezœ, p. 188) and the present writer (Philologica Sacra, p. 17; ExpT [Note: note.] 2; and against the whole suggestion, Dalman, Words of Jesus, p. 66 f. Dalman doubts whether [Note: xpT Expository Times.] viii. 563, ix. 95, 426). Others, finally, give no explanation, and consider Magadan and Dalmanutha as the names of two different places near each other, neither being very well known. But this leads to the topographical problem.

　　Eusebius in his Onomasticon has but one paragraph on a name beginning with M immediately after names from the prophet Jeremiah (Mephaath, Maon, Molchom, 48:21, 23, 49:1). It runs (in Klostermann’s edition, p. 134 [= Lagarde, OS p. 282]):

　　ὠί ὁ Ματθαῖος, Μαγαιδάν (as D*) and Μέμφις in Jeremiah 51 (44):1, which he quotes a few lines before (ed. Klost. p. 134, l. 15). At all events it follows from the entry, that Eusebius did not find Dalmanutha in his text of Mark, and that he sought the place on the eastern side; but Gerasa seems too far from the Lake, unless we are to suppose that it had some sort of enclave on its shores.

　　A strange identification is that with the ‘Phiala’ Lake mentioned by Josephus BJ 1ff. x. 7 as one of the sources of the Jordan. See the Maps published by Röhricht, i. (ZDPV [Note: The Land and the Book.] 393) suggests a ruined site up the Yarmûk half a mile from the Jordan called Dalhamia or Dalmamia (Robinson, BRPαὐτούς of πάλιν he regards as a harmonistic insertion. He believes that Mark 8:13 originally followed immediately upon Mark 8:22