[Stultis]

Hmm. Every English Bible, aside from the NIV, seems to agree with you too. It's often been asserted that the NIV has an inerrantist bias. This appears to be an illustration. From here:

Stephens 1550 Textus Receptus
kai palin exelqwn ek twn oriwn turou kai sidwnos hlqen pros thn qalassan thV galilaiaV ana meson twn oriwn dekapolewV

Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus
kai palin exelqwn ek twn oriwn turou kai sidwnos hlqen pros thn qalassan thV galilaiaV ana meson twn oriwn dekapolewV

Byzantine Majority
kai palin exelqwn ek twn oriwn turou kai sidwnos hlqen pros thn qalassan thV galilaiaV ana meson twn oriwn dekapolewV

Alexandrian
kai palin exelqwn ek twn oriwn turou hlqen dia sidwnos eis thn qalassan thV galilaiaV ana meson twn oriwn dekapolewV

Hort and Westcott
kai palin exelqwn ek twn oriwn turou hlqen dia sidwnoV eiV thn qalassan thV galilaiaV ana meson twn oriwn dekapolewV

Latin Vulgate
7:31 et iterum exiens de finibus Tyri venit per Sidonem ad mare Galilaeae inter medios fines Decapoleos

King James Version
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.

American Standard Version
7:31 And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.

Bible in Basic English
7:31 And again he went out from Tyre, and came through Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the country of Decapolis.

Darby's English Translation
7:31 And again having left the borders of Tyre and Sidon, he came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

Douay Rheims
7:32 And they bring to him one deaf and dumb; and they besought him that he would lay his hand upon him.

Noah Webster Bible
7:31 And again, departing from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, he came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.

Weymouth New Testament
7:31 Returning from the neighbourhood of Tyre, He came by way of Sidon to the Lake of Galilee, passing through the district of the Ten Towns.

World English Bible
7:31 Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.

Young's Literal Translation
7:31 And again, having gone forth from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis,

[pby]

So...given all of these translations Stultis, what was Jesus's exact route and where exactly was He in the region of Decapolis?

In order to help the good Professor make his ultimate point (that Mark's report is inaccurate), you are going to have to, at least, answer those two questions.

In addition to that you will have to provide evidence that Jesus didn't go from Tyre, to Sidon, by the Sea of Galilee to the region/district/boundary of Decapolis as Mark said.

Nice map though.

[zeeba neighba]

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis.

Mark is careful to tell us this took place in the area called the Decapolis, the ten Greek cities on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. And he points out that Jesus went into this region in a rather strange way. Instead of coming directly back into Galilee, he left Tyre and Sidon and went by a northern route through what is presently the country of Syria, and continued down the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee into the southern part of that region. It would be very much like starting out for Los Angeles from San Francisco, but going by way of Reno and Las Vegas. Many scholars feel that this journey took about eight months, so that he spent a long time in the Gentile regions ministering to those who were not Jews.

For Christians, those who have ears to hear, in the middle of this section is the pericope re the Syrophenician woman, thus the geography.

[P-Marlowe]

So what is the problem?

Jesus left Tyre and went around to the borders of Decapolis (which included Hippus on your little map) then approached the sea of Galilee from the back side. Is there some kind of law against that?

Is there a law that Jesus had to follow some straight line route to get where he was going? And if he was going to the back side of the Sea of Galilee, wouldn't he have naturally taken this route?

Frankly the fact that this detour is mentioned is evidence of its truth. There was a reason why this was mentioned. The detour was important. Everything in the Bible is important.

Why was it important? Roberston's Word Studies gives us some insight:

Through the midst of the borders of Decapolis (ana meson twn oriwn Dekapolewv). Jesus left Phoenicia, but did not go back into Galilee. He rather went east and came down east of the Sea of Galilee into the region of the Greek cities of Decapolis. He thus kept out of the territory of Herod Antipas. He had been in this region when he healed the Gadarene demoniac and was asked to leave.