Bible Locations

Magadan appears in Matthew 15:39: "After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan." This was after He fed the four thousand. The parallel in Mark 8:10 says "the region of Dalmanutha," and some manuscripts of Matthew read "Magdala." When He arrived, the Pharisees and Sadducees came and asked Him for a sign from heaven, and He said, "A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Most scholars think Magadan was Magdala or near it, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, the hometown of Mary Magdalene. Excavations at Magdala since 2009 have uncovered a first-century synagogue with a carved stone showing a menorah, fish-salting pools, streets and a harbor. The western shore was Jewish territory, fitting the Pharisees' presence.