Luke 8:33

Verse 33. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine] Some critics and commentators would have us to understand all this of the man himself, who, they say, was a most outrageous maniac; and that, being permitted by our Lord, he ran after the swine, and drove them all down a precipice into the sea! This is solemn trifling indeed; or, at least, trifling with solemn things. It is impossible to read over the account, as given here by Luke, and admit this mode of explanation. The devils went out of the man, and entered into the swine; i.e. the madman ran after the swine! On this plan of interpretation there is nothing certain in the word of God; and every man may give it what meaning he pleases. Such comments are intolerable.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(33) Down a steep place.—Better, down the cliff.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. down a steep place] Rather, down the precipice. Near Kherza is the only spot on the entire lake where a steep slope sweeps down to within a few yards of the sea, into which the herd would certainly have plunged if hurried by any violent impulse down the hill. If it be asked whether this was not a destruction of property, the answer is that the antedating of the death of a herd of unclean animals was nothing compared with the deliverance of a human soul. Our Lord would therefore have had a moral right to act thus even if he had been a mere human Prophet. Besides, to put it on the lowest ground, the freeing of the neighbourhood from the peril and terror of this wild maniac was a greater benefit to the whole city than the loss of this herd. Jesus did not command the spirits to go into the swine; if He permitted any thing which resulted in their destruction it was to serve higher and more precious ends. “God the Word,” says Lord Bacon, “wished to do nothing which breathed not of grace and beneficence;” and after mentioning the stern miracles of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, St Peter and St Paul, he adds, “but Jesus did nothing of this kind...the spirit of Jesus is the spirit of the Dove. He wrought no miracle of judgment, all of beneficence.” Meditt. Sacr. on Mar_12:37. The miracles of Christ were all redemptive acts and spiritual lessons.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When they that fed them saw what was done,.... That the devils went out of the man possessed by them, and entered into the herd of swine, which becoming mad therewith, ran furiously down the precipice into the sea, and were drowned:

they fled; as persons affrighted, at these uncommon and surprising events, and as afraid to see their owners:

and went and told it in the city; that is, of Gadara, or some other city near at hand; the Syriac and Ethiopic versions read, "in the cities"; in all the cities round about, in that country:

and in the country, or "fields", in the villages adjacent, and in the houses which were scattered about in the fields for conveniency, for rural business.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

32 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.

33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

Ver. 33. And the herd ran violently] So would the possessed man soon have done, but that God preserved him.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This event shews what was before asserted, that many devils had possession of the man. The obstinacy of the Sadducees, who denied the existence of evil spirits, was thus likewise refuted; as well as the cavils of certain moderns, who pretend that these effects which appeared in the demoniacs, were not produced by the power of the devil, but were the consequences of some violent natural malady. (Jansenius, conc. Evang.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. Some exception has been taken at our Lord"s action here in connection with the swine, but it has been well said "that the antedating of the death of a herd of unclean animals was as nothing compared with the deliverance of a human soul." But it seems better to see, in the permitted destruction of the herd, the Lord"s grave rebuke to the open disregarders of the holy ritual law of Israel, for the sake of selfish lucre.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ. ‘Down the precipice.’ Near Kherza is the only spot on the entire lake where a steep slope sweeps down to within a few yards of the sea, into which the herd would certainly have plunged if hurried by any violent impulse down the hill. (Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 462). If it be asked whether this was not a destruction of property, the answer is that the antedating of the death of a herd of unclean animals was nothing compared with the deliverance of a human soul. Our Lord would therefore have had a moral right to act thus even if He had been a mere human Prophet. Besides, to put it on the lowest ground, the freeing of the neighbourhood from the peril and terror of this wild maniac was a greater benefit to the whole city than the loss of this herd. Jesus did not command the spirits to go into the swine; if He permitted anything which resulted in their destruction it was to serve higher and more precious ends. “God the Word,” says Lord Bacon, “wished to do nothing which breathed not of grace and beneficence;” and after mentioning the stern miracles of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, St Peter and St Paul, he adds, “but Jesus did nothing of this kind … the spirit of Jesus is the spirit of the Dove. He wrought no miracle of judgment, all of beneficence.” Meditt. Sacr. on Mar 12:37. The miracles of Christ were all redemptive acts and spiritual lessons.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. ὥρμησεν ἡ ἀγέλη κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ. These words also are in all three. The word κρημνός need not mean an abrupt precipice: a steep and rocky slope suffices. MacGregor, Stanley, Tristram, Wilson, and others believe that the spot which suits the description can be identified. The art. implies that it was well known. Comp. 2Ch 25:12. The use of ἀπεπνίγη for suffocation by drowning is classical (Dem. p. 883).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ran violently [ωρμησεν] . Rev., more neatly, rushed. Only Mark gives the number of the swine, two thousand.

A steep place. See on Mt 9:32.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.