Luke 8:28

When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(28) What have I to do with thee?—Note the exact agreement with St. Mark’s report rather than St. Matthew’s, both as to there being but one demoniac, and as to the words used by him.

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

See Poole on "Luke 8:26"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

When he saw Jesus,.... Even afar off, at some considerable distance, he ran towards him, Mark 5:6.

He cried out, and fell down before him; that is, the man possessed with the devil did so, under his impulse, and through his agitation of him:

and with a loud voice said; which was the unclean spirit in the man:

what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God, most high? I beseech thee torment me not; i.e. before the time; See Gill on Matthew 8:29.

Geneva Study Bible

When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

28. What have I to do with thee] i.e. Why should’st thou interfere with me? 2 Samuel 16:10; 2 Samuel 19:22. See Luke 4:24. Baur refers to obvious imitations of this narrative in the story of the Lamia expelled by Apollonius of Tyana (Philostr. Luke 4:25).

Song of Solomon of God most high] Probably the epithet was customary in exorcisms or attempted exorcisms, and hence we find it used by another demoniac (Acts 16:17). Jesus is not so called elsewhere, except in Luke 1:32.

torment me not] “The demons...believe and tremble,” James 2:19. On this conception of torment see Mark 1:24; Matthew 18:34.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 28. - When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice aid, What have I to do with thee, Jesus? "The sight of Jesus appears to have produced an extraordinary impression upon him. The holy, calm, gentle majesty, the tender compassion, and the conscious sovereignty which were expressed in the aspect of our Lord, awakened in him, by force of contrast, the humbling consciousness of his own state of moral disorder" (Godet). Thou Son of God most high. There seems some probability that this expression was frequently used in cases of exorcism of evil spirits; for again in Acts 16:17 the poor slave-girl, who we read had a Pythoness-spirit, which brought in no small gain to her masters, speaks of Paul and his friends, just before the apostle in his Master's Name cast the spirit out, as servants of the most high God. I beseech thee, torment me not. In this form of possession one remarkable and very terrible feature seems to have been the divided consciousness; the sufferer identifies himself with the demons, and now one speaks, now the other. St. Matthew adds a dread detail to this petition to the Lord, "before the time:" the evil spirits thus recognizing a period when certain torment would be their hapless destiny. The expression "torment" meets us in the parable of Lazarus; the dwelling-place of the rich man after death is a place of torment. In Matthew 18:34 the ministers of judgment are the tormentors. One very solemn reason why this special case of exorcism on the part of our Lord is related with so much detail and repeated by the three evangelists, SS. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, seems to be the glimpse which the dialogue between the evil spirits and the Master opens to us of the dread realities hidden in the future for those who sin deliberately against the will of God. The existence of the place or state of torment is affirmed very pointedly by our Lord and his disciples; but having done this they dwell but little on it. There is a striking and solemn quotation in Dr. Morrison's 'Commentary on St. Mark' on this clear but guarded reference to the final sufferings of those who will not be submissive to the moral will of God, "Further curiosity as to the when, the where, and the how, does not become beings whose main business and greatest wisdom is to fly from, not to pry too close into, these terrible secrets of the dark kingdom." Luke 8:28

Vincent's Word Studies

Fell down (προσέπεσεν)

Mark has προσεκύνησεν, which often implies religious or superstitious feeling, as Matthew 4:9, Matthew 4:10. This is the prostration of abject terror.

Cried out (ἀνακράξας)

The compound verb with ἀνά, up, implies what is conveyed by our phrase, lifting up the voice. See on Mark 5:5.

What have I to do with thee?

See on Mark 5:7.

Torment (βασαμίσῃς)

See on Matthew 4:24. Luke never uses the word of sickness, as Matthew 8:6. See on Luke 4:41.