Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 8:30
And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
Verse 30. A herd of many swine] These were in all probability Jewish property, and kept and used in express violation of the law of God; and therefore their destruction, in the next verse, was no more than a proper manifestation of the justice of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Both Mark and Luke interpose here something more. Mark saith, And He asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion; for we are many. Luke saith, And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. A Roman legion consisted of twelve thousand five hundred soldiers. Not that there were precisely so many evil spirits which had a power over this poor man, but many had. A certain number is named for one uncertain. Christ knew his case well enough, but probably asked him the question for the further glorifying of his Divine power in casting them out. Luke adds, Luk 8:31, And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. I cannot think that the meaning of that is, into the sea, for surely the devil did not fear drowning: the word is , into the abyss, that is, into hell, into the bottomless pit, where he could do no more mischief. Mark says, Mar 5:10, the devil besought him that he would not send them out of the country. Still, upon the same grounds, the devil hath an insatiable thirst to do mischief, and would gladly be where he may do it. In the mean time he knoweth it is in the power of Christ to send him whither he pleaseth. Now comes in Mat 8:30,31. They saw
an herd of many swine feeding. Mark saith, Mar 5:11, nigh unto the mountains. Luke saith, on the mountain. They beseech Christ to give them leave to enter into the swine, and the text saith, he suffered them. The devil cannot so much as trouble a swine without leave from God. The next verse tells us the consequent of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And there was a good way off from them,…. “Nigh unto the mountains”, as Mark says, or “on the mountain”, as Luke, bordering on the sea shore; so that though it was at some distance, yet within sight. The Vulgate Latin, and the Hebrew edition of Munster read, “not far off”; and the Persic version, “near them”: which agree with the accounts of Mark and Luke, who say, that there were “there”, or hard by, “an herd of many swine feeding”. Since swine’s flesh was forbidden the Jews to eat, Le 11:7 it may be asked, how came it to pass, that there should be any number of these creatures, or that such a herd of them should be kept in the land of Israel? To which may be replied, that though the Jews might not eat swine’s flesh, they were not forbid to bring them up; which they might do, in order to sell to the Gentiles, who dwelt among them; and particularly to the Romans, under whose government they now were, and with whom swine’s flesh was in great esteem: but still a difficulty remains; for it was not only forbidden by the law of God to eat swine’s flesh, but, by the Jewish canons, to bring them up, and make any advantage of them in any shape: their law was this,
, “an Israelite might not bring up hogs in any place” r: the reasons of this canon were many, partly because of the uncleanness of these creatures; hence one of their writers s observing, that next to those words, they “are unclean unto you”, are, “and the swine”, says, that this is to teach us, that “it is forbidden to bring up hogs”; and partly, because of the damage which these creatures do to other men’s fields: hence t
“the wise men say, cursed is he that brings up dogs and hogs, , “because they do much hurt”.”
But the chief reason given by the Gemafists u for this prohibition, was the fact following:
“When the Hasmonean family, or Maccabees, were at war with one another, Hyrcanus was within (Jerusalem), and Aristobulus without, and every day they let down to them money in a box; and they sent up to them the daily sacrifices: there was one old man who understood the wisdom of the Greeks, and he said unto them, as long as they employ themselves in the service (of God), they will not be delivered into your hands: on the morrow they let down their money, and they sent them up a hog; and when it came to the middle of the wall, he fixed his hoofs in the wall, and the land of Israel shook, c. at that time they said, cursed be the man , “that breeds hogs” and cursed is the man that teaches his son the learning of the Grecians.”
Before this time, it seems to have been lawful to bring them up, and trade with them: but now it was forbid, not only to breed them, but to receive any gain or profit by them; for this is another of their rules w.
“It is forbidden to bring up a hog, in order to get any profit by his skin, or by his lard, or fat, to anoint with, or to light (lamps) with; yea, though it may fall to him by inheritance.”
And nothing was more infamous and reproachful among them, than a keeper of these creatures: when therefore they had a mind to cast contempt upon a man, they would call him x, “a breeder of hogs”, or y, “a hog herd”. But after all, it was only an Israelite that was forbid this; a stranger might bring them up, for this is one of their canons z.
“A man may sell fetches to give to a stranger that breeds hogs, but to an Israelite it is forbidden to breed them.”
Yea, they say a,
“If others breed them to anoint skins with their lard, or to sell them to an Israelite to anoint with them, it was lawful: all fat may be sold, which is not for eating.”
And so some cities are supposed to have hogs in them, concerning which they observe b, that
“a city that has hogs in it, is free from the “mezuzah”;”
the schedules which were fastened to the posts of doors and gates: but now supposing this herd of swine belonged to Jews in these parts, it may easily be accounted for; for since they lived among Heathens, they might not have so great a regard to the directions of their Rabbins; and especially, since it was so much for their profit and advantage, they might make no scruple to break through these ordinances. Though this herd of swine may well enough be thought to belong to the Gentiles, that dwelt in this country; since Gadara was a Grecian city, and then inhabited more by Syrians, than by Jews, as Josephus relates c.
r Misn. Bava Kama, c. 7. sect. 7. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 77. 2. s Baal Hatturim, in Deut. xiv. 7, 8. t Maimon. Nezike Mammon, c. 5. sect. 9. u T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 82. 2. Menachot, fol. 64. 2. Sota, fol. 49. 2. w Tosaphot in Pesach, art. 62. x T. Hieros. Shekalim, fol. 47. 3. y lb. Trumot, fol. 46. 3. z Piske Tosaphot in Sabbat, art. 317. a Yom. Tob. & Ez. Chayim, in Misn. Bava Kama, c. 7. sect. 7. b Ib. art. 130. c De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 33.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “And there was a good way off from them,” (de makran ap’ auton) “Now there was afar off (in the distance) from them,” from the two demon-possessed men and Jesus and His disciples, yet in view of them, there in the neighborhood.
2) “An herd of many swine feeding.” (agele choiron pollon boskomene) “An herd of many pigs feeding,” Mat 7:6. They are declared to be “unclean,” by the Mosaic law, and were not to be eaten as food by the Jews, Luk 15:15-16. They were either owned by Jews living among the Gentiles, who raised them for greedy gain, or by Gentiles, Deu 14:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(30) An herd of many swine.We are surprised at first to find swine kept in a country where their flesh could not be an article of food. But though the Jews did not eat pork, Roman soldiers did, and the swine may have been kept to supply the wants of the legion with which the man was familiar. The pun of Augustus as to Herods swine and son (see Note on Mat. 2:16) seems to imply that the king kept them on his estates for some such purpose.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Now there was afar off from them a herd of many swine feeding.’
Had this been Jewish territory there would have been no herd of pigs, for to Jews pigs were ritually unclean. But this was Gentile territory, and here the keeping of herds of pigs was commonplace. That there were many pigs is important, for it brings out that there were many demons. ‘There was afar off’. We have here clear evidence of an eyewitness who remembered the herd in the distance. This description is against the idea that the herd were disturbed in any way by the behaviour of the demoniacs.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The expulsion of the evil spirits:
v. 30. And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
v. 31. So the devils besought Him, saying, If Thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
v. 32. And He said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine; and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. In the same neighborhood, at some distance from the place where Jesus was standing, and yet within sight. A great herd of swine, animals that were unclean to the Jewish people, by the Old Testament Law. It was a neighborhood in which the heathen element of the population predominated, where the strictness of the Law was no longer recognized. Knowing that their power over these two men was at an end, the evil spirits begged to be permitted to wreak their fiendishness on the swine, always with the purpose of destruction in mind. And having obtained the permission, their advent into the herd deprived the animals of even the instinct of self-preservation. Rushing down the declivity, they were drowned in the sea. The devil is a murderer from the beginning. If God hinders his work of destruction against human beings, he kills dumb animals. But he can do nothing without the permission of God. And this permission is granted sometimes in order to carry out some punishment of God.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 8:30-32. And there was a good way offmany swine, &c. Instead of a good way off, Dr. Doddridge reads at a considerable distance,at some distance;and by comparing Mar 5:11 and Luk 8:32 it will be found, that this is the true meaning of the word . St. Mark says, that there were about two thousand in the herd of swine; which will not seem strange, if it be considered that the generality of the inhabitants of that country were Gentiles. The devils, no doubt, requested permission to enter into the herd of swine, with a view to prevent any good effects which the miracle might have had on the Gadarenes, and to render Christ odious to them. Their design could not be hid from Jesus: nevertheless he granted their request, making it subservient to his own gracious purposes. He permitted the devils to enter into the swine, not only to shew the reality of the possession (which was thus undeniably proved; for nothing but such a possession could have forced so large a herd down a precipice into the water), but that we might understand how great the power of evil spirits is, and how terrible the effects of their malice would be, if they were not restrained: for no sooner was the permission granted, than the keepers who were with the swine, and the disciples who were at a distance, beheld, to their great astonishment, the whole herd running furiously down the mountain, and leaping from the tops of the rocks into the sea; while the possessed furious madmen immediately became meek and composed, having recovered the intire exercise of their reason. Jesus also might permit the devils thus to fall on the herd, as a punishment to the Gadarenes for keeping swine, which were a snare to the Jews; and to make trial of their disposition, whether they would become more affected with the loss of their cattle, than with the recovery of the men, and with the doctrine of the kingdom. Whatever were the reasons, it is certain, that though he might rightfully have used all men’s properties as he pleased; yet this, and the withering of the barren fig-tree, are the only instances wherein man suffered the least damage byany thing that our Lord ever did. But certainly, neither the owners of the herd, nor of the fig-tree, could justly complain of their loss, since the good of mankind, not in that period or corner only, but in every succeeding age, through all countries, has been so highly promoted at such a trifling expence to them. No miracles are more suspicious than pretended dispossessions, as there is so much room for collusionin them; but it was self-evident that the herd of swine could not be confederates in any fraud. Their death, therefore, in this instructive and convincing circumstance, was ten thousand times a greater blessing to mankind, than if they had been slain for food, as was intended. We may observe farther, that the devils, by making this request to Jesus, acknowledged that it was not in the power even of alegion of them to do any mischief to so contemptible a creature as a swine, without Christ’s permission; far less could they destroy the man in whom they lodged. See Doddridge, Macknight, and Bishop Pearce’s vindication of the miracles of Jesus.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 8:30 . ] relative idea, therefore not incompatible with in Mar 5:11 ; Luk 8:32 (Wilke, Holtzmann).
Seeing the Jews were forbidden (Lightfoot) to keep swine , as being unclean animals, the herd must either have been the property of Gentile owners, or been the subject of Jewish trade.
] not to be connected with , but with .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
Ver. 30. A herd of many swine feeding ] Suillo pecori anima pro sale data, saith Varro. Swinish epicures also have their souls but for salt to keep their bodies from putrifying. That was a rotten speech of Epicurus, that life eternal was nothing else but an eternal gormandizing, and swilling, and swallowing of nectar and ambrosia. a The kingdom of God is another manner of thing than meat and drink, Rom 14:17 . The devil desired to enter into the swine, because of their greediness. Eat not greedily, for this is os porci habere, to have the mouth of a pig, as that pope is said to have. Drink not to drunkenness; for this sin robs a man of himself, and lays a swine in his room. No creature, besides man, will be drunk, but swine: and not swine either, but as they are conversant about men; for wild swine will not, they say.
a Epicuri de grege, porci, .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30. ] The Vulgate rendering, ‘ non longe,’ does not seem accordant with the other accounts, both of which imply distance: , Mar 5:11 ; . , Luk 8:32 . These, especially the first, would seem to imply that the swine were on the hills, and the scene of the miracle at some little distance, on the plain.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 8:30 . : the Vulgate renders non longe , as if had stood in the Greek before . But there are no variants here. Mark and Luke have , which gives rise to an apparent discrepancy. Only apparent, many contend, because both expressions are relative and elastic: at a distance , yet within view; there , in that neighbourhood, but not quite at hand. Elsner refers to Luk 15:20 : , “et tamen in conspectu, ut, Luk 15:20 : , ”. On he remarks: “docet in ea regione et vicinia fuisse, nec distantiam describit”. Weiss against Meyer denies the relativity of , and takes it as meaning “a long way off,” while visible. : far removed from , and not to be joined with it as if the feeding were the main point, and not rather the existence of the herd there. The ill attested reading brings out the meaning better: a herd of swine which were feeding in the hill pastures. The swine, doubtless, belonged to Gentiles, who abounded in Pera.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
30. ] The Vulgate rendering, non longe, does not seem accordant with the other accounts, both of which imply distance: , Mar 5:11; . , Luk 8:32. These, especially the first, would seem to imply that the swine were on the hills, and the scene of the miracle at some little distance, on the plain.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 8:30. , of swine) The owners of the swine were either heathens dwelling among the Jews, or Jews greedy of gain.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
an: Lev 11:7, Deu 14:8, Isa 65:3, Isa 65:4, Isa 66:3, Mar 5:11, Luk 8:32, Luk 15:15, Luk 15:16
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0-31
Rather than go back to their previous place in Hades, these devils preferred to inhabit the swine because then (as they thought) they would get to remain on the earth until the judgment of the last day.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
[A herd of many swine feeding.] Were these Gadarenes Jews, or heathens?
I. It was a matter of infamy for a Jew to keep swine: “R. Jonah had a very red face, which a certain woman seeing said thus, Seignior, Seignior; either you are a winebibber, or a usurer, or a keeper of hogs.”
II. It was forbidden by the canon: “The wise men forbade to keep hogs anywhere, and a dog, unless he were chained.” Hogs upon a twofold account: 1. By reason of the hurt and damage that they would bring to other men’s fields. Generally, “the keeping smaller cattle was forbid in the land of Israel”; among which you may very well reckon hogs even in the first place: and the reason is given by the Gemarists, “That they break not into other men’s grounds.” 2. The feeding of hogs is more particularly forbidden for their uncleanness. It is forbidden to trade in any thing that is unclean.
III. Yea, it was forbid under a curse: “The wise men say, Cursed is he that keeps dogs and swine; because from them ariseth much harm.”
“Let no man keep hogs anywhere. The Rabbins deliver: When the Asmonean family were in hostility among themselves, Hyrcanus was besieged within Jerusalem, and Aristobulus was without. The besieged sent money in a box let down by a rope; and they which were without bought with it the daily sacrifices, which were drawn up by those that were within. Among the besiegers there was one skilled in the Greek learning, who said, ‘As long as they thus perform the service of the Temple, they will not be delivered into your hands.’ The next day, therefore, they let down their money, and these sent them back a hog. When the hog was drawing up, and came to the middle of the wall, he fixed his hoofs to the wall, and the land of Israel was shaken, etc. From that time they said, ‘Cursed be he who keeps hogs, and cursed be he who teacheth his son the wisdom of the Greeks.’ ” This story is cited in Menachoth.
Therefore you will wonder, and not without cause, at that which is related in their Talmud: “They said sometimes to Rabh Judah, There is a plague among the swine. He therefore appointed a fast.” What! is a Jew concerned for a plague among swine? But the reason is added: “For Rabh Judah thought that a stroke laid upon one kind of cattle would invade all.”
You may not, therefore, improperly guess, that these hogs belonged not to the Jews, but to the heathen dwelling among the Gadarene Jews; for such a mixture was very usual in the cities and countries of the land of Israel. Which we observe elsewhere of the town Susitha or Hippo, but some small distance from Gadara.
Or if you grant that they were Jews, their manners will make that opinion probable, as being persons whose highest law the purse and profit was wont to be. Since brawn and swine’s flesh were of so great account with the Romans and other heathens, there is no reason to believe that a Jew was held so straitly by his canons, as to value them before his own profit, when there was hope of gain.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 8:30. A good way off. Mark says: Nigh unto the mountains; Luke: thereon the mountain. The miracle probably took place on the plain.
A herd of many swine, according to Mark, two thousand.
Feeding, under the care of herdsmen (Mat 8:33). They were the property either of Gentiles or of Jews, engaged in a traffic, which was unclean, according to the Mosaic law.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. A notable evidence of Satan’s limited power, that a whole legion of devils had not power to destroy one man, nor were able to hurt the meanest creatures without permission.
Observe, 2. The devil’s acknowledgement of their own impotency, and Christ’s power; their asking leave of Christ to go into the swine shews that they could not go of themselves.
Learn hence, 1. The restlessness of Satan’s malice; he will hurt the swine rather than not hurt at all.
2. That though Satan’s malice be infinite, yet his power is limited and bounded; as he cannot do all the mischief he would, so he shall not do all he can.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 8:30-32. And there was a good way off from them That is, at a considerable distance, although, it seems, within their view; a herd of many swine Which it was not lawful for the Jews to keeps much less to eat: yet great numbers of them were bred up in that extreme part of the country, out of regard to the gain of such merchandise, for they sold them to the Roman soldiers, and other Gentiles, who were very numerous in these parts. So the devils besought him For they were entirely in his power, and under his control; saying, if thou castest us out Which they suspected he would do; suffer us to go into the herd of swine By making this request the devils acknowledged that it was not in the power even of a legion of them to do any mischief to so contemptible a creature as a swine without Christs permission, far less could they destroy the man in whom they lodged. Indeed the whole of this history teaches us to rely on the providence of God, and not to live in fear of evil spirits. They are under the strictest restraint, and cannot hurt us without the divine permission. Mark says that they first besought him much, that he would not send them out of the country; and Luke, that he would not command them to go into the deep, , into the abyss, meaning, doubtless, the place where wicked spirits are punished. By requesting to be permitted to enter into the swine, they doubtless proposed to prevent any good effect which the miracle of delivering the men from their power might have had on the Gadarenes, and to render Christ odious to that wicked people. Their design could not be hid from Jesus, nevertheless he granted their request, not only because he knew it would render the miracle more public, but because it would prove the reality of the possession, and make men understand both how great the power of evil spirits is, and how terrible the effects of their malice would be, if they were not restrained. For no sooner was the permission granted, than the keepers, who were with the swine, and the disciples, who were at a distance, beheld, to their great astonishment, the whole herd running furiously down the mountains, and leaping from the tops of the rocks into the sea, where they were drowned, to the number of two thousand; while the possessed furious madmen became all of a sudden meek and composed, having recovered the entire use of their reason, the first exercise of which doubtless would lead them to a high admiration of his goodness, who had delivered them from the oppression of the devil. Jesus might permit the devils thus to fall on the herd as a punishment also to the Gadarenes for keeping swine, which were a snare to the Jews, and to make trial of their disposition, whether they would be more affected with the loss of their cattle, than with the recovery of the men, and the doctrine of the kingdom. Whatever were the reasons, it is certain that, though he might rightfully have used all mens properties as he pleased, yet this, and the withering of the barren fig-tree, are the only instances wherein man suffered the least damage by any thing our Lord ever did. However, neither the owners of the herd nor of the fig-tree could justly complain of their loss, since the good of mankind, not in that period and corner only, but in every succeeding age, through all countries, has been so highly promoted at such a trifling expense to them. No miracles are more suspicious than pretended dispossessions, as there is so much room for collusion in them; but it was self-evident that a herd of swine could not be confederates in any fraud: their death, therefore, in this instructive and convincing circumstance, was ten thousand times a greater blessing to mankind than if they had been slain for food, as was intended. See Macknight and Doddridge.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:30 And there was {f} a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
(f) On a hill, as Mark and Luke witness: Now Gederah, as Josephus records, book seventeen chapter thirteen, lived after the order of the Greeks and therefore we must not be surprised if there were swine there.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The presence of so many pigs may have been due to Jewish disobedience to the Mosaic Law since for Jews pigs where unclean. However this is unlikely since the Jewish leaders were very particular about such flagrant violations of the Law. Probably they belonged to Gentiles who lived in large numbers in the Decapolis where this story took place.
The demons may have requested asylum in the swine because they hated the creatures and or because they wanted to stir up trouble for Jesus. Demons do not like to be homeless (Mat 12:43-45). Exorcized evil spirits sometimes expressed their rage with acts of violence and vengefulness (cf. Mat 17:14-20). What happened to the demons? Matthew did not tell us. Probably he wanted to impress us with Jesus’ power over them, not detract us by making them the central feature of the incident. Perhaps they went to the lake of fire.
"We can construct a ’statement of faith’ from the words of the demons. (Demons do have faith; see Jas 2:19.) They believed in the existence of God and the deity of Christ, as well as the reality of future judgment. They also believed in prayer. They knew Christ had the power to send them into the swine." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:34.]