Luke 8:26

And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26-39) And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes.—See Notes on Matthew 8:28-34, and Mark 5:1-20. Here again St. Mark and St. Luke agree in their order, and differ from St. Matthew. The better MSS. give “Gerasenes” or “Gergesenes.” See Note on Matthew 8:28 for the localities.

Which is over against Galilee.—St. Luke’s description of the region, which the other two Gospels name without describing, is characteristic of a foreigner writing for foreigners.

Benson Commentary

Luke 8:26-39. See the contents of these verses explained at large, on Matthew 8:28-34; and Mark 5:1-17. I beseech thee, torment me not — Let me continue where I am, and do not, before my time, cast me into the place of torments. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man — Being moved with pity at the sight of such a miserable spectacle; for oftentimes it had caught him — Therefore our compassionate Lord had made the more haste to cast it out. That he would not command them to go into the deep — This expression, the deep, in English, is invariably, the sea. In this sense it occurs often in Scripture. We find it in this gospel, Luke 5:4, where the Greek word, so rendered, is, το βαθος. That the sea is not meant here, is evident; for to the sea the demons went of themselves, when permitted, at their own request, to enter into the swine. The word αβυσσος, here used, evidently signifies the place where the wicked spirits are punished, as it does likewise Revelation 20:3, where it is translated, the bottomless pit. Indeed, it properly denotes a place without a bottom, or so deep that it cannot be fathomed. The Greeks describe their Tartarus in this manner: and the Jews, when they wrote in Greek, did not scruple to adopt their expressions, because they were universally understood. There was a herd of many swine feeding — Within their view, though at a distance. They besought him to suffer them to enter into them — Not that they could have any more ease in the swine than out of them: for had that been the case, they would not so soon have dislodged themselves, destroying the herd.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:22-40 Those that put to sea in a calm, even at Christ's word, must yet prepare for a storm, and for great peril in that storm. There is no relief for souls under a sense of guilt, and fear of wrath, but to go to Christ, and call him Master, and say, I am undone, if thou dost not help me. When our dangers are over, it becomes us to take to ourselves the shame of our own fears, and to give Christ the glory of our deliverance. We may learn much out of this history concerning the world of infernal, malignant spirits, which though not working now exactly in the same way as then, yet all must at all times carefully guard against. And these malignant spirits are very numerous. They have enmity to man and all his comforts. Those under Christ's government are sweetly led with the bands of love; those under the devil's government are furiously driven. Oh what a comfort it is to the believer, that all the powers of darkness are under the control of the Lord Jesus! It is a miracle of mercy, if those whom Satan possesses, are not brought to destruction and eternal ruin. Christ will not stay with those who slight him; perhaps he may no more return to them, while others are waiting for him, and glad to receive him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage explained in the Matthew 8:23-34 notes, and Mark 5:1-20 notes.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Lu 8:26-39. Demoniac of Gadara Healed.

(See on [1602]Mt 8:28-34; and Mr 5:1-20).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 26-40. We have had this whole story Matthew 8:28-34, and Mark 5:1-21. See Poole on "Matthew 8:28", and following verses to Matthew 8:34, and See Poole on "Mark 5:1" and following verses to Mark 5:21.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes,.... In Matthew 8:28 it is called the country of the Gergesenes; see Gill on Matthew 8:28 as it is here, in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions; and "of the Gerasenes", in the Vulgate Latin; but the Syriac and Persic versions read, "of the Gadarenes", as in Mark 5:1. See Gill on Mark 5:1.

which is over against Galilee: from whence the ship launched, and Christ and his disciples came.

Geneva Study Bible

And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Luke 8:26-39. See on Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20. Luke follows Mark freely.

κατέπλ.] they arrived. See Wetstein.

Luke 8:27. ἐκ τῆς πόλεως] does not belong to ὑπήντησεν, but to ἀνήρ τις, alongside of which it stands. To connect the clause with ὑπήντησεν would not be contradictory to ἐν οἰκίᾳ … μνήμασιν, but would require the presupposition, not presented in the text, that the demoniac had just rushed out of the city.

Luke 8:28. μὴ με βασαν] as at Mark 5:7.

Luke 8:29. παρήγγελλεν] not in the sense of the pluperfect, but like ἔλεγεν, Mark 5:8.

Nothing is to be put in a parenthesis.

πολλοῖς γὰρ χρόνοις κ.τ.λ.] To account for the command of Jesus the description of his frightful condition is given: for during a long time it had fared with him as follows. Comp. Romans 16:25; Acts 8:11; John 2:20; Herodian, Luke 1:6. 24 : οὐ πολλῷ χρόνῳ; Plut. Thes. vi.: χρόνοις πολλοῖς ὕστερον. See generally, Bernhardy, p. 81; Fritzsche, ad Rom. I. p. xl. In opposition to usage, Erasmus and Grotius render the words: often. So also Valckenaer.

συνηρπάκει] may mean: it had hurried him along with it (Acts 6:12; Acts 19:29; Acts 27:15, and very frequently in the classical writers), but also: it had (absolutely and entirely, συν) seized him (Ar. Lys. 437; 4Ma 5:3). It is usually taken in the latter sense. But the former is the more certain of the two according to the usage of Luke, corresponds better with its use elsewhere, and likewise agrees perfectly with the connection. For ἐδεσμεῖτο κ.τ.λ. then relates what was accustomed to be done with the sufferer in order to prevent this tearing and dragging by the demon; observe the imperfect, he was (accustomed to be) chained, etc.

Luke 8:31. αὐτοῖς] as Mark 5:10, from the standpoint of the consciousness of the several demons possessing the man.

ἄβυσσον] abyss, i.e. Hades (Romans 10:7). The context teaches that in particular Gehenna is meant (comp. Revelation 9:1 f., Luke 11:7, Luke 20:3). The demons know and dread their place of punishment. Mark is different and more original; in opposition to Baur, Markusevang. p. 42.

Luke 8:33. ἀπεπνίγη] of choking by drowning, Dem. 833, pen.; Raphel, Polyb. p. 199; Wakefield, Silv. Crit. II. p. 75. Even Hug (Gutacht. II. p. 17 f.) attempts to justify the destruction of the swine in a way which can only remind us of the maxim, “qui excusat, accusat.”—.Luke 8:35. ἐξῆλθον] the people from the city and from the farms.

παρὰ τ. πόδας] as a scholar with his teacher. The whole of this description, indeed, and the subsequent prohibition, Luke 8:39, is intended, according to Baur, Evang. p. 430 f., to set forth the demoniac as a representative of the converted heathen world.

Luke 8:36. καὶ οἱ ἰδόντες] the disciples and others who had seen it together. The καί places these in contrast even with the people who came thither and found the cure accomplished, and to whom the eye-witnesses also of the proceeding narrated it.

Luke 8:38. ἐδέετο] See on this Ionic form, which, however, was also frequent among Attic writers, Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 220; Schaefer, ad Greg. Cor. p. 431; Krüger, ad Xen. Anab. viii. 4. 8. The reading ἐδεῖτο (B L) is a correction, and ἐδεεῖτο (A P, Lachmann) is a transcriber’s mistake for this correction. Luke 8:39. πόλιν] Gadara, Luke 8:27. Mark, certainly with greater accuracy, has ἐν τῇ Δεκαπόλει.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 8:26-39. The demoniac of Gerasa (Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26-39. The Gergesene Demoniac.

26. at the country of the Gadarenes] In all three narratives, here, Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-19, the MSS. vary between Gergesenes, Gadarenes, and Gerasenes, and Tischendorf follows N in reading Gadarenes (by a clerical error Gazarenes) in St Matthew, Gerasenes in St Mark, and Gergesenes here.

i. Gadara, of which the large ruins are now seen at Um Keis, is three hours’ distance from the extreme south end of the Lake, and is separated from the scene of the miracle by the deep precipitous ravine of the Hieromax (Jarmuk). Gadarenes may be the right reading in St Matthew (א, B, C, M, A and MSS. mentioned by Origen) but, if so, it only gives the name of the entire district. Gadara was essentially a Greek city, and had two amphitheatres, and a literary Greek society, and the worst features of Hellenic life.

ii. Gerasenes may be the right reading in St Mark (א, B, D, &c.). Gerasa, now Djerash, is fifty miles from the Lake, and almost in Arabia, but it was an important town (Jos. B. J. III. 3), and like Gadara may have been used as the name of the entire district.

iii. Gergesenes is almost certainly the right reading here (א, L, X).

It was the reading which, because of the distance of Gerasa and Gadara, Origen wished .to introduce into Matthew 8:28, being aware that there was a small town called Gergesa in the Wady Semakh which was known also to Eusebius and Jerome, and was pointed out as the scene of the miracle. Yet the reading, “Gergesenes” of K, in St Luke, could hardly have been due to the mere conjecture of Origen in the parallel passage of St Matthew, for it is found in other uncials, in most cursives, and in the Coptic, Ethiopic and other versions. Gergesa has however nothing to do with the ancient Girgashites (Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 24:11), who were probably at the West of the Jordan. The question as to the place intended as the scene of the miracle (whatever reading be adopted) may be considered as having been settled by Dr Thomson’s discovery of ruins named Kerzha (the natural corruption of Gergesa) nearly opposite Capernaum. The name of this little obscure place may well have been given by St Matthew, who knew the locality, and by so accurate an enquirer as St Luke. The reading may have been altered by later copyists who knew the far more celebrated Gadara and Gerasa.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 26-39. - The evil spirit in the Gergesene demoniac is dismissed into the herd of swine. Verse 26. - And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes. There is a perplexing difference in the reading of the older manuscripts here, but it is simply a question of the precise name of the locality where the great miracle was worked. In the three narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke the older manuscripts vary between "Gergesenes," "Gerasenes," and" Gadarenes." Gatiara was a city of some importance, about three hours' journey distant from the southern end of the Lake of Gennesaret. Its ruins are well known, and are distinguished by the remains of two amphitheatres. Gerasa was also a place of mark, and was situate about fifty miles from the lake. These cities might in the days of our Lord have either given its name to a great district stretching to the borders of the lake. Gergesa was a small and very obscure town nearly opposite Capernaum. There are some ruins now on this spot still known by the very slight corruption of Kerzha. There is scarcely any doubt that the scene of the miracle on the poor demoniac, and of the subsequent possession of the swine, must be looked for on this spot. But it was an obscure, little-known spot, and in very early days the preachers who told the story of the great miracle may have often spoken of the country as the district of the well-known Gerasa or Gadara, rather than of the unknown village of Gergesa. Hence probably the variations in the name in the older manuscripts here. Luke 8:26

Vincent's Word Studies

They arrived (κατέπλευσαν)

The verb means literally to sail down from the sea to the shore. Compare launched forth, Luke 8:22. Only here in New Testament. The two prepositions, up and down, are used in our nautical terms bear up and bear down. See Introduction, on Luke's variety of words for sailing. Matthew and Mark have came (ἐλθόντος, ἦλθον).

Gerasenes

The texts vary, some reading Gadarenes, as A. V., others Gergesenes.

Over against (ἀντιπέρα)

Only here in New Testament.