And may be rendered “As a result,” “Therefore,” or “After that.”

Great crowds, or simply “crowds,” are frequently mentioned as following Jesus. These same people are perhaps to be identified with the disciples of 5.1 (see comments there). Only toward the end of the Gospel, under the influence of the religious leaders, do the crowds become hostile to Jesus.

Here followed does not mean “became his disciples” but rather “went with him” or “went where he went.”

The crowds were from Galilee and the other places mentioned. It does not say that Jesus went to those places.

The Decapolis (Good News Translation “the Ten Towns”) was a league of Greek-speaking (and largely pagan) city-states. All except the city of Bethshan (Scythopolis) were east of the Jordan. Included among these cities were Damascus, Gadara, Pella, Gerasa, and Philadelphia. Most translations follow the example of Good News Bible and translate the Decapolis as “the Ten Towns” rather than writing the word in their language as it might be pronounced.

A possible model for this verse is “So great crowds of people came from Galilee and the Ten Towns, from Jerusalem and Judea, and from the region on the other side of the Jordan River, and they went with Jesus where he went.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .