[Right Wing Professor]

The Greek text says 'ana meson ton orion dekapoleos'. Ana meson translates as through the middle of; orion can be 'boundaries' , similarly to Latin fines. Clearly this means through the boundaries of the Decapolis. The Vulgate is a word-for-word translation of the Greek. The point is, they went through he territory of the Decapolis to get to the Sea of Galilee, which is geographically ridiculous if you're coming from Tyre and Sidon. And since you mention Matthew 15, that also states they ended up by the Sea of Galilee, though it doesn't mention the Decapolis (the author of Matthew was likely a Jewish Christian who knew Palestine, so he probably decided to leave out the bit about the Decapolis).

One thing is certain, no matter how you translate "orion", you can't prove that Mark's statement is inaccurate geographically.

I can prove it's like going from D.C. to New York via Boston.

The logical conclusion is that the author of Mark was working from (at best) someone else's account, and got this bit wrong.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Cosmic ray reference?

Ana meson from Orion?

[pby]

Your conclusion isn't logical, if Mark's report is accurate.

One could have been by the Sea of Galilee and also in the region, district or border/boundary of Decapolis...The region of Decapolis was a big place and you are, without evidence, going farther south to make your point.

Even if it was like going from D.C. to New York via Boston, you don't know, or can't prove, that Jesus didn't do it (and thus, that Mark's report is inaccurate).

But...You are a man of many talents, Professor - very interesting.

[pby]

"I can prove that it's like going from D.C. to New York via Boston."

Decapolis is a huge area, with some of it bordering near the Sea of Galilee...How are you going to do that?

Do you know exactly where Jesus was in the region/district/border of Decapolis?