Matthew 8:31

So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
So	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
devils	δαίμονες daimones	G1142	a dæmon or supernatural spirit (of a bad nature) · noun — nominative plural masculine
besought	παρεκάλουν parekaloun	G3870	to call near · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
him	αὐτὸν auton	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
saying	λέγοντες· legontes	G3004	properly · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
If	εἰ ei	G1487	if · conditional particle
cast	ἐκβάλλεις ekballeis	G1544	to eject (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person singular
us	ἡμᾶς hēmâs	G2248	us
out	ἐκβάλλω ekbállō	G1544	to eject (literally or figuratively)
suffer	ἐπίτρεψον epitrepson	G2010	to turn over (transfer) · verb — aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular
us	ἡμῖν hēmîn	G2254	to (or for
away	ἀπέρχομαι apérchomai	G565	to go off (i.e. depart)
into	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
herd	ἀγέλην agelēn	G34	a drove · noun — accusative singular feminine
swine	χοίρων. choirōn	G5519	a hog · noun — genitive plural masculine

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

Revelation 20:1-2 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Mark 5:12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
Luke 8:30-33 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto…
Mark 5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou to…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 8:28–end

We have here the story of Christ's casting the devils out of two men that were possessed. The scope of this chapter is to show the divine power of Christ, by the instances of his dominion over bodily diseases, which to us are irresistible; over winds and waves, which to us are yet more uncontrollable; and lastly, over devils, which to us are most formidable of all. Christ has not only all power in heaven and earth and all deep places, but has the keys of hell too. Principalities and powers were made subject to him, even while he was in his estate of humiliation, as an earnest of what should be at his entrance into his glory (Eph 1:21); he spoiled them, Col 2:15. It was observed in general (M…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 8:20

And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head--Few as there were of the scribes who attached themselves to Jesus, it would appear, from his calling Him Teacher, that this one was a "disciple" in that looser sense of the word in which it is applied to the crowds who flocked after Him, with more or less conviction that His claims were well founded. But from the answer which he received we are led to infer that there was more of transient emotion--of temporary impulse--than of intelligent principle in the speech. The preaching of Christ had riveted and charmed him; his heart had swelled; his enthusiasm had…

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John Gill on Matthew 8:31

So the devils besought him, saying,.... All the devils, the whole legion of them, who perceiving that they must be obliged to go out of these men, and after they had earnestly entreated they might not be sent out of the country where they had long been, and had made themselves masters of the tempers, dispositions, and circumstances of the inhabitants, and so capable of doing the more mischief, begged hard, if thou cast us out of these men, or "from hence", as the Vulgate Latin, the Ethiopic, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel read, or "out of our place", as the Persic; since we must depart, and cannot be allowed to enter into other men, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. This request sh…

The Church Fathers

(Mor. ii. 10.) For the Devil knows that of himself he has no power to do any thing, because it is not of himself that he exists as a spirit.
— Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The dæmons seeing that there is no longer any place left for them among the Gentiles, pray that they may be suffered to dwell among the heretics; these, seized by them, are drowned in the sea, that is, in worldly desires, by the instigations of the dæmons, and perish in the unbelief of the rest of the Gentiles.
— Hilary of Poitiers ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Slaves ask for suitable indignities: "Send us into the swine." Foulness begs to be sent from the tombs into the swine, so that it does not think of getting rid of its bad odors but of changing odors. "Send us into the swine." Plunging from the sky, they seek filth. After living in the upper world, they look for the sloughs of pigs. "Send us into the herd." A herd is sent into the herd, so that a gang of demons is brought forth, and it seems that two men have caused what a great number of pigs could not endure.
— Peter Chrysologus, SERMONS 16.7

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

Animals · Possessed of — Possessed of
Demons · The herd of swine — The herd of swine
Gadarenes · Jesus visits and works miracles among, but is rejected — Jesus visits and works miracles among, but is rejected
Miracles Of Christ, The · Devils cast out — Devils cast out
Swine · Jesus sends — Jesus sends

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).

Matthew 8:31

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 8:28–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 8:20

John Gill on Matthew 8:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Matthew 8:31

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 8:28–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 8:20

John Gill on Matthew 8:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Matthew 8:28–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 8:31