LANDS AND PLACES
Caesarea Philippi [Gr. Καισάρεια Φιλίππη, “Caesarea of Philip”] was a town in Northern Palestine, a center of pagan worship from Canaanite to New Testament times. Caesarea Philippi was built over an ancient Canaanite city northeast of the Sea of Kinneret, at the foot of Mount Hermon. It was first a Canaanite worship center, perhaps Baal Hermon (Judg. 3:1–7).The region was conquered by the tribe of Dan (Judg. 18). After the invasion of Alexander the Great, the Greeks built shrines at the spring dedicated to their god Pan. The city thus became known as Panias, even under Hasmonean rule. The Romans gave the area to the Arab Itureans, but later it came under the control of the Herodian rulers (Luke 3:1). The son of Herod the Great, the tetrarch Philip, transformed it into an important city named Caesarea Philippi to distinguish it from Caesarea Maritima.
Jesus made a trip to that area near the end of His earthly ministry. During that trip Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was, and Peter declared that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Jesus may have considered this place for a spiritual retreat because it was one of the most beautiful places in Palestine, with many streams flowing from the nearby mountains. He conveyed a significant message by referring to the reputation of Caesarea Philippi, which was associated with the gates of Hell and devoted to Pan, the god of fear. Jesus encouraged His disciples to believe in Him as the Christ, who is the sovereign Lord over fear and the powers of Hades (Matt. 16:18). He revealed his identity openly, because He wanted the disciples to learn to have confidence in His power to build and sustain His church against the odds that it would face while evangelizing the pagan world, of which Caesarea Philippi was a good representative.