Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 3:8

"and from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and beyond the Jordan, and about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came unto him." — Mark 3:8 (ASV)

The crowds that came to Jesus were not only from the regions in the vicinity of Capernaum but also from the south (Jerusalem, Idumea), the east (across the Jordan including Perea and the Decapolis), and the northwest (Tyre and Sidon). The fact that the renown of Jesus reached the Jerusalem authorities, who sent their representatives up to Galilee to observe what was going on, suggests an advanced stage in the ministry of Jesus.