Luke 8:34

Luk 8:34-39 . The sequel . Lk. tells the second part of the story very much as it is given in Mk., with slight stylistic variations. In Luk 8:36 he substitutes the expression πῶς ἐσώθη ὁ δαιμονισθείς , how the demoniac was saved, for Mk.’s “how it happened to the demoniac, and concerning the swine,” suggesting the idea that the destruction of the swine was a part of the cure. They had to be drowned that he might be restored to sanity.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 34. They fled, and went and told it] απελθοντες, They went, is omitted by almost every MS. of repute, and by the best of the ancient versions. Griesbach leaves it out, and with propriety too, as it is not likely that so correct a writer as Luke would say, They fled, and WENT and told it.

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

(34) In the country.—Better, in the farms. The noun is in the plural, and is so rendered in Mat_22:5.

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

34. what was done] Rather, what had happened.

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.

Then they went out to see what was done,.... That is, the inhabitants of the city, or cities and villages, and houses in the fields; these went out from their respective places of abode, to see with their own eyes, what the swine herds had related to them, concerning the man that had been possessed with devils, and what was become of the swine:

and came to Jesus; where he was, which was not far from the sea shore:

and found the man out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus; quiet and serene, in an humble posture, and as a disciple of Christ, receiving instructions from him:

clothed, and in his right mind, and they were afraid; See Gill on Mar 5:15.

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

When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. The men who kept the swine had witnessed the whole transaction; and as the Master uttered the word "Go," they saw a change in a moment pass through the vast herd. A wild panic seemed to seize the creatures, something: had filled them with a great fear, they would hurry from the unseen but felt presence; the cool blue waters of the lake, clearly seen from the upland down where they were feeding, seemed to premise the best refuge; they rushed from the plateau down a steep incline, which travellers since think they have identified, and the deep waters or" (Gennesaret put a quick end to the creatures" torments.

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

The consequences:

v. 34. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.

v. 35. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man out of whom the devils were departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

v. 36. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.

v. 37. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought Him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear; and He went up into the ship, and returned back again.

v. 38. Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought Him that he might be with Him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,

v. 39. Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done, unto him.

The swineherds were taken by surprise at this strange action of the animals entrusted to them. When this supernatural thing happened before their eyes, they fled and brought the news to the people of the district, both in city and country, wherever such lived as owned some of the drowned swine. They knew or felt that there must be some connection between the coming of Jesus and His speaking to the demoniac and the misfortune which struck the entire countryside. And the people, undoubtedly with some resentment, went out to the spot to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, not in a gentle, receptive, but in an aggressive mood. They found many things which should have set them to thinking and praising God. He that formerly roamed over the country without rest was now quietly sitting at the feet of Jesus; he that formerly was plagued with the devils was now freed from that scourge; he that had scorned shame and clothing was now fully dressed; he that had been a raving maniac was in full possession of rational powers of thinking and speaking. The feeling of the presence of the supernatural took hold of them all, and they were afraid. They did not learn the lesson which was held before them; they did not realize that this was a time of gracious visitation for them. Neither did they understand when those that were present told them how the demoniac had been delivered from his terrible condition. This rather increased their superstitious terror, they were possessed with a great fear, they were panic-stricken. And the entire countryside, as one man, arose and begged Jesus to leave their coasts. Their pigs, in their eyes, exceeded both the value of the one former demoniac and of the Prophet of their salvation. Note: Even today there are many people that neglect Jesus, the Savior of their souls, and His holy Word, for the sake of some petty earthly property. People act as though there were always plenty of time for preparing for death and for believing in Jesus after their hoard has grown large enough for their greed, forgetting, meanwhile, that the time of grace may never come again.

Jesus complied with their request, since for Him to stay in the country under the present circumstances would have been foolish. He entered into the boat and returned to Galilee. But when the healed man begged Him that he might join Him and become one of the disciples that were always with Jesus, He denied the request. The Lord wanted a witness of His power in these parts. And since they did not want Him, this man would be the best substitute, as he would speak from personal experience and conviction. It was good for the man that he should return to his home and people, and tell them all that had befallen him through the mercy of God. The man, following the order of Christ, promptly became a missionary throughout the city and region, declaring what Jesus had done for him. His faith would not permit him to remain silent; he must needs declare the great works of God. Every Christian has received such wonderful gifts of God in and through Christ, though perhaps not in the body, yet surely in the soul. And it behooves every one that loves the Lord Jesus to speak of the great things which God has done for him, as far as his personal influence reaches.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

found the man from whom the demons had gone out

"saw the man whom the demons had left"

in his right mind

"sane" or "behaving normally"

sitting at the feet of Jesus

"sitting at the feet" here is an idiom that means "sitting humbly nearby" or "sitting in front of." AT: "sitting on the ground in front of Jesus" (See: Idiom)

they were afraid

It may be helpful to state explicitly that they were afraid of Jesus. AT: "they were afraid of Jesus" (See: Ellipsis)

translationWords

report

Jesus

demon

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

34. ἀπήγγειλαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν. A breviloquentia for ‘They went into the city and reported,’ as in Mat 8:33, ἀπελθόντες εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπήγγειλαν πάντα.

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.

34. τὸ γεγονός. Chiefly the destruction of the swine. In ver. 36 οἱ ἰδόντες means the disciples and others near to Jesus, not the swineherds.

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

Vers. 34-39. The Effect produced.

First, on the people of the country; next, on the afflicted man. The owners of the herd dwelt in the city and neighbourhood. They came to convince themselves with their own eyes of the loss of which they had been informed by the herdsmen. On reaching the spot, they beheld a sight which impressed them deeply. The demoniac was known all through the country, and was an object of universal terror. They found him calm and restored. So great a miracle could not fail to reveal to them the power of God, and awaken their conscience. Their fears were confirmed by the account given them of the scene which had just occurred by persons who were with Jesus, and had witnessed it (οἱ ἰδόντες, Luk 8:36). These persons were not the herdsmen; for the cure was wrought at a considerable distance from the place where the herd was feeding (Mat 8:30). They were the apostles and the people who had passed over the sea with them (Mar 4:36). The καί, also, is undoubtedly authentic; the latter account was supplementary to that of the herdsmen, which referred principally to the loss of the herd.

The fear of the inhabitants was doubtless of a superstitious nature. But Jesus did not wish to force Himself upon them, for it was still the season of grace, and grace limits itself to making its offers. He yielded to the request of the inhabitants, who, regarding Him as a judge, dreaded further and still more terrible chastisement at His hand. He consents, therefore, to depart from them, but not without leaving them a witness of His grace in the person of him who had become a living monument of it. The restored man, who feels his moral existence linked as it were to the person of Jesus, begs to be permitted to accompany Him. Jesus was already in the ship, Mark tells us. He does not consent to this entreaty. In Galilee, where it was necessary to guard against increasing the popular excitement, He forbade those He healed publishing abroad their cure. But in this remote country, so rarely visited by Him, and which He was obliged to leave so abruptly, He needed a missionary to testify to the greatness of the Messianic work which God was at this time accomplishing for His people. There is a fine contrast between the expression of Jesus: “What God hath done for thee,” and that of the man: “What Jesus had done for him” Jesus refers all to God; but the afflicted man could not forget the instrument. The whole of the latter part of the narrative is omitted in Matthew. Mark indicates the field of labour of this new apostle as comprising not his own city merely, but the whole of the Decapolis.

Volkmar applies here his system of allegorical interpretation. This incident is nothing, according to him, but the symbolical representation of the work of Paul amongst the Gentiles. The demoniac represents the heathen world; the chains with which they tried to bind him are legislative enactments, such as those of Lycurgus and Solon; the swine, the obscenities of idolatry; the refusal of Jesus to yield to the desire of the restored demoniac, when he wished to accompany Him, the obstacles which Jewish-Christians put in the way of the entrance of the converted heathen into the Church; the request that Jesus would withdraw, the irritation caused in heathen countries by the success of Paul (the riot at Ephesus, ex. gr.). Keim is opposed to this unlimited allegorizing, which borders, indeed, on absurdity. He very properly objects, that the demoniac is not even (as is the case with the Canaanitish woman) spoken of as a heathen; that the precise locality, so little known, to which the incident is referred, is a proof of its historical reality; that the request to Jesus to leave the country is a fact without any corresponding example, which does not look like imitation, but has the very features of truth. In short, he only objects to the episode of the swine, which appears to him to be a legendary amplification. But is it likely that the preachers of the gospel would have admitted into their teaching an incident so remarkable, if it could be contradicted by the population of a whole district, which is distinctly pointed out? If possession is only, as Keim thinks, an ordinary malady, this conclusion is certainly inevitable. But if there is any degree of reality attaching to the mysterious notion of possession, it would be difficult to determine à priori what might not result from such a state. The picture forms a whole, in which each incident implies all the rest. The request made to Jesus to leave the country, in which Keim acknowledges a proof of authenticity, is only explained by the loss of the swine. Keim admits too much or too little. Either Volkmar and his absurdities, or the frank acceptance of the narrative,—this is the only alternative (comp. Heer’s fine work, already referred to, Kirchenfreund, Nos. 10 and 11, 1870).

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.