Note 1 at Mt 16:13: Caesarea Philippi was a small town located about twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee and about thirty miles east of the Mediterranean coast. This area, near the slopes of Mount Hermon, was presented to Herod the Great by Augustus Caesar. Herod built a temple there in honor of Augustus Caesar, and later Philip the tetrarch, Herod's son, added to the town and named it Caesarea Philippi after himself and Tiberius Caesar and to distinguish it from the Mediterranean port of Caesarea (see note 1 at Lu 3:1).

The town where Herod built his temple was originally called Paneas, in honor of the Greek god, Pan, and was part of a very pagan area. The city today is called Banias (after ancient Paneas).