Luke 8:37 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Luke 8:37
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.
absolutely all or (singular) every one · adjective — nominative singular neuter
multitude
πλῆθοςplēthos
G4128
a fulness · noun — nominative singular neuter
country
περιχώρουperichōrou
G4066
around the region · noun — genitive singular feminine
Gadarenes
ΓαδαρηνόςGadarēnós
G1046
a Gadarene or inhabitant of Gadara
about
περίχωροςperíchōros
G4066
around the region
besought
ἠρώτησενērōtēsen
G2065
to interrogate · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
him
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
depart
ἀπελθεῖνapelthein
G565
to go off (i.e. depart) · verb — second aorist active infinitive
from
ἀπ᾽ap᾽
G575
"off · preposition
them
αὐτῶν,autōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
for
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
with
συνείχοντο.¶suneichonto
G4912
to hold together · verb — imperfect passive indicative, 3rd person plural
great
μεγάλῳmegalō
G3173
big (literally or figuratively · adjective — dative singular masculine
fear
φόβῳphobō
G5401
alarm or fright · noun — dative singular masculine
and
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
he
ΑὐτὸςAutos
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — nominative singular masculine
up
ἐμβὰςembas
G1684
to walk on · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
ship
πλοῖονploion
G4143
a sailer · noun — accusative singular neuter
again
ὑπέστρεψεν.hupestrepsen
G5290
to turn under (behind) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 16:39 And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Deuteronomy 5:25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.
1 Samuel 6:20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
1 Kings 17:18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay m…
Job 21:14-15 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
Matthew 8:34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
Mark 5:17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 8:22-39
We have here two illustrious proofs of the power of our Lord Jesus which we had before - his power over the winds, and his power over the devils. See Mk. 4 and 5.
I. His power over the winds, those powers of the air that are so much a terror to men, especially upon sea, and occasion the death of such multitudes. Observe,
1. Christ ordered his disciples to put to sea, that he might show his glory upon the water, in stilling the waves, and might do an act of kindness to a poor possessed man on the other side the water: He went into a ship with his disciples, Luk 8:22. They that observe Christ's orders may assure themselves of his presence. If Christ sends his disciples, he goes with them. And…
JESUS CROSSING THE LAKE, STILLS THE STORM. (Luk 8:22-25)
filled--literally, "were getting filled," that is, those who sailed; meaning that their ship was so.
Adam Clarke on Luke 8:34
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.
John Gill on Luke 8:37
Then the whole multitude,.... For it seems, a very large number of people were presently gathered together, from all parts of the country, upon the report of the swine herds, who fled, it is very likely, some one way, and some another:
of the country of the Gadarenes round about; of the country that was round about Gadara. The Vulgate Latin reads, "of the Gergesenes"; and the Arabic and Ethiopic versions, "of the Gergesenes": and they all, with one accord,
besought him to depart from them, for they were taken with great fear: lest they should suffer other and greater losses, than the loss of the swine; choosing rather that the devils should be retained among them, than Christ continue with…
(de Qu. Evan. l. ii. q. 13.) But by the Gerasenes, when they knew what was done, asking Jesus to depart from them, for they were struck with great fear, he represents the multitude delighting in their old pleasures, honouring indeed, but unwilling to endure the Christian law, saying that they cannot fulfil it, while they still marvel at the faithful released from their former abandoned mode of life.
But they ought to have besought the Lord not to depart from them, but to be the guardian of their country, that no evil spirits might come near them; but through fear they lost their own salvation, asking the Saviour to depart. It follows, 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.
Or there seems to have been a kind of synagogue in the city of the Gerasenes who besought our Lord to depart, because they were seized with great fear. For the weak mind receives not the word of God, nor can it endure the burden of wisdom. And therefore He no longer troubled them, but ascends from the lower parts to the higher, from the Synagogue to the Church, and returned across the lake. For no one passes from the Church to the Synagogue without endangering his salvation. But whoever desires to pass from the Synagogue to the Church, let him take up his cross, that he may avoid the danger.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Gadarenes — The inhabitants of Gadara, in Revised Version “Gerasenes” (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, 37). In Matt. 8:28 they are called Gergesenes, Revised Version “Gadarenes.”
Converts · .Gadarenes — .Gadarenes
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Luke 8:26-39
Luke 8:26-39
Matthew 8:28-34
Mark 5:1-20
Luke 8:26-39
28. And when he had come to the opposite bank, [542] into the country of the Gergesenes, two demoniacs, who had come from among the tombs, met him: and they were fierce beyond measure, so that no man could pass along that road. 29. And, lo, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Son of God? Hast thou come hither before the time to torment us? 30. And at a distance from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31. And the devils entreated him, saying, If thou cast us out, permit us to remove into the herd of swine. 32. And he said to them, Go. And when they had gone out, they went away into the heard of swine.…
begged Jesus to go away: Jesus’ power over spiritual forces frightened the townspeople, and their loss of property (the pigs) angered them. Their rejection contrasts with the faith of the healed man.
