John Calvin Commentary Matthew 15:29

"And Jesus departed thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there." — Matthew 15:29 (ASV)

And Jesus departing from there. Though it is unquestionably the same journey of Christ, on his return from the neighborhood of Sidon, that is related by Matthew and by Mark, yet in some points they do not quite agree. It is of little moment that the one says he came to the borders of Magdala, and the other, that he came to the coasts of Dalmanutha; for the cities were adjacent, being situated on the lake of Gennesareth, and we need not wonder that the district which lay between them received both names.⁴²²

Decapolis was so called from its containing (δέκα πόλεις) ten cities; and as it was contiguous to Phoenicia and to that part of Galilee which lay towards the sea, Christ must have passed through it, when he returned from Phoenicia into Galilee of Judea.

There is a greater appearance of contradiction in another part of the narrative, where Matthew says that our Lord cured many who suffered from various diseases, while Mark mentions only one deaf man. But this difficulty need not detain us; for Mark selected for description a miracle which was performed during the journey, and the report of which was no sooner circulated than it aroused the inhabitants of every part of that country to bring many persons to Christ to be cured.

Now we know that the Evangelists are not anxious to relate all that Christ did, and are so far from dwelling largely on miracles, that they only glance at a few by way of example. Besides, Mark was satisfied with producing one instance, in which the power of Christ is as brightly displayed as in others of the same sort which followed shortly afterwards.

⁴²² “Est nomme maintenant de l’une, maintenant de l’autre ville;” — “was named sometimes from the one, and sometimes from the other town.”;” — “was named sometimes from the one, and sometimes from the other town.”