Luke

8:26-39

The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50

5. The dawning of the kingdom in the words of Messiah, 8:1-56

iv] Dark powers stilled - a demoniac healed

This episode in Luke's gospel sits neatly with Jesus' calming of the storm, 8:22-25. In the healing of the Gentile demoniac we are given a glimpse of the coming cosmic confrontation between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, a confrontation played out in the ministry of Jesus. Satan's kingdom is shaken; a Gentile freed; a sign of things to come.

The episode of the Gerasene demoniac's exorcism sits closely with Jesus' stilling of the storm. Both stories image the powers of darkness which constantly engulf humanity, and both display the defeat of those powers by a powerful word. "Jesus has power over sea and demons, that is, over all that is hostile to man", Danker.

In the six episodes which make up The dawning of the kingdom in the words of Messiah, 8:1-56, Luke's focus is on the meaning of the kingdom message. As Ellis puts it, "the new creation, like the old, comes into being by a word. Jesus speaks to the wind, the demons, the dead - and they obey!"

katepleusan (kataplew) aor. "they sailed" - they sailed toward shore, they approached the shore*. The word serves to illustrate the transition from sea to shore. Mark's "came" doesn't do it for Luke, since this episode actually began with v22 where Jesus sets off from Galilee to confront the dark powers resident in the Gentile territory opposite. Jesus confronts these powers upon the lake and stills them, and now he arrives to confront them again. As they were defeated on the lake, so they will be defeated on the land and confined once move to the deep.

twn Gerashnwn "of the Gerasenes" - There is a geographical problem associated with the identification of Gerasa, given that it is too far away to be the village and environs identified in this story. Gerasa was 25Km from the lake (a Hellenistic city between lake Galilee and the Dead sea). Gadara, some 12Km from the lake, although found in most New Testament manuscripts, is probably a product of journalistic license. Both had considerable attached territory running up to the lake. Solutions abound, but none are convincing. Cranfield's suggestion that the locality is to be identified with a village carrying the modern name of Kersa / Koursi, is worthy of consideration. The problem may not be Luke's (Mark's?), but the someone who felt at liberty to correct the author's geography.

antipera "across" - apposite. One of the 42 improper prepositions in the NT, here using the adverb followed by the genitive of "Galilee".

exelqonti (exercomai) part. sing. dat. "when Jesus stepped ashore" - having gone out. Singular = The focus is on Jesus, even though the disciples are present. NIV takes the participle as temporal, but it can be simply read as "disembarking from the boat, Jesus ...."

uJphnthsen (uJpantaw) aor. "he was met" - came near to, met. An interesting use of the word here with the sense that Jesus and the man (more particularly the evil powers possessing him) intend this meeting; "a certain man met him, possessed by demons [lit. having demons]"

ecwn (ecw) pres. part. "-" - [a certain man from the city] having [demons]. The participle is adjectival; "a certain man who had demons" = "who was demon possessed."

ek thV polewV "from the town" - Given the rest of the verse, the phrase means: "who formerly lived in the village nearby."

idwn (oJraw) aor. part. "when he saw [Jesus]" - having seen. The participle is adverbial, temporal, as NIV.

anakraxaV (anakrazw) aor. part. "he cried out" - having cried out. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "he fell down before". A strong word, so more like "he began to scream out".

prosepesen (prospiptw) aor. "fell at his feet" - fell down before. Note how Mark uses the word for "worship", but Luke doesn't want to convey the idea that these dark powers reverence Jesus. Fitzmyer suggests "lunged at", but this would imply that the dark powers are, at least partly, in control of the situation.

deomai "I beg [you]" - A request or entreaty. Not as strong as Mark's "adjure", as if the dark powers have any power in Christ's presence.

ti emoi kai soi "what do you want with me" - what to me and to you. A rather enigmatic statement, but probably expressing dread. "What good can come to me from contact with you?", Nolland. cf. 4:34.

uiJe tou qeou "son of [the most high] God" - The dark powers are well aware of Jesus' divine origins, so "son" is probably filial rather than messianic. The title can be linked to the following sentence, or, as in the NIV, with "what do you want with me, ....."

mh ... basanish/V (basanizw) aor. subj. "don't torture [me]" - Subjunctive of prohibition. The word is used of torture (lit. twisting) imposed by a court to extract a confession, inflict punishment... So, the dark powers may be calling on Jesus not to punish them before the judgment day, but they may also just be saying "don't inflict pain."

gar "for" - Here expressing cause/reason.

parhggeilen (paraggellw) aor. "Jesus had commanded" - he commanded. Read as a pluperfect. Jesus had already told the demons to leave the man and they are trying to talk him out of it. Some ancient texts have an imperfect, which would then imply that the spirits were addressing Jesus while he was commanding them to come out.

exelqein (exercomai) inf. "to come out" - This infinitive in the clause "the evil spirit to come out of the man" forms a noun clause, an object clause depending on the verb "commanded". As such it reports on the words Jesus used, rather than quoting the actual words (as in Mark).

tw/ pneumati tw/ akaqartw/ "the unclean spirit" - Dative of indirect object.

exelqein (exercomai) aor. inf. "to come out [of the man]" - to come out [from the man]. The infinitive forms a dependent statement of commanding, indirect speech, expressing what Jesus had commanded.

gar "for" - "The reason why Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man was because ....."

polloiV gar cronoiV "many times" - on many occasions. The man had bouts of demon possession, or bouts when the possession was evident.

sunhrpakei (sunarpazw) pluperf. "it had seized [him]" - This time the verb is pluperfect to make the timing of the man's possessed condition prior to Jesus' arrival.

edesmeueto (desmeuw) imperf. "though he was chained [hand and foot]" - had been bound [with chains and fetters]. This verb, with its attendant circumstance participle, "being guarded" may form a concessive clause, as NIV, but it is possible that the participle is adverbial, final, expressing purpose, so giving the sense "in order to hold him he was bound in chains and fetters; "on may an occasion it had seized the man with great violence, people then binding him with chains and fetters so as to make him safe", Cassirer.

diarrhsswn (diarrhssw) part. "he had broken" - breaking apart. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "he was being driven". The agent of both actions is the demon; "the demon broke his bonds and drove him into the wilderness." Illustrating the power of the possession and therefore, the might of Jesus in dealing with it.

de "-" - Resumptive. Back we go to the story.

ti soi onoma estin "what is your name?" - This is the only record of Jesus having a conversation with demonic powers. Some commentators suggest that Jesus asks for the name of the evil powers so he can gain mastery over them, but only the demons believe in this tactic. Jesus is already the master. So, why ask for the name?

legiwn (ov) "Legion" - The evil powers have identified who they are, but not their names. A Roman legion consisted of some 5,000 soldiers, but the term may refer to the brutality of the army. "We are brutally powerful."

oJti "because" - Here expressing cause/reason.

daimonia polla "many demons" - many demon. Demon is singular, but is read as plural. There were many of them, just as Mary had many, seven to be precise.

parekaloun (parakalew) pl. imperf "they begged him repeatedly" - they besought him. The "repeatedly" my be intended by the imperfect, or the imperfect may just imply that their pleading fell of deaf ears; they didn't get what they wanted. Of course, the imperfect is often used for speech since it is durative by nature. Note that Luke finally moves the verbs into the plural "they" when referring to the demons.

iJna + subj. "-" - that. Forming a dependent statement, indirect speech, entreating, expressing what they begged Jesus for.

abusson (oV) "Abyss" - very deep hole, bottomless pit, underworld, hell, dwelling place of Satan and his minions ........ Luke obviously sees the abyss as a place of confinement for dark powers, and as noted by some commentators, probably understands the depths of the sea as this place. It is the dwelling place of the great leviathan, the personification of evil. Mark has the spirits asking that they be cast "out of the district."

iJkanwn adj. "large [herd]" - sufficient. "Quite a lot". "Many", rather than "large", or Mark's "great".

baskomenh (boskw) pres. pas. part. "feeding" - The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "pigs", and with "on the hillside" forms an adjectival clause; "a large heard of pigs who were grazing on the hillside."

en tw/ orei "on the hillside" - on the mountain/hill. Although the definite article doesn't necessarily refer to a particular hill, a nearby hill, from which the pigs fall into the lake, is obviously intended. Better than Marks "by the mountain."

parekalesan (parakalew) pl. aor. "the demons begged" - they besought. The aorist may seek to imply that they sensed that their request would be granted / permitted / allowed. There is much debate over why Jesus would agree to a request from demonic forces. The answer probably lies in the humour of the story. It is quite comical that dark powers, normally confined to the ocean deep, should think that they had tricked Jesus into leaving them to their mischief (in "the country", Mk), but then they find themselves back in the deep.

exelqonta (exercomai) part. "when [the demons] came out" - having come out. Participle forming a temporal clause "after coming out" or "when ..."

wJrmhsen (oJrmaw) aor. "[the herd] rushed" - rushed [headlong].

krhmnou (oV) "steep bank" - precipice, bank, cliff, slope.

apepnigh (apopnigw) aor. pas. "drowned" - choked. Mark uses the imperfect, "proceeded to choke/drown". The demons didn't want to end up in the abyss, but they drove the pigs mad and so ended up there.

idonteV (eidon oJraw) part. "when [they] saw" - having seen. The participle here may form a temporal clause, "when .....", but can also be rendered "they saw what had happened ...."

oiJ boskonteV (boskw) part. "those tending the pigs" - the ones feeding. The participle forms a substantive (a verbal phrase functioning as a noun).

to gegonoV (ginomai) acc. perf. part. "what had happened" - the thing having become. The participle functions as a substantive, object of "saw".

aphggeilan (apanggellw) aor. "reported this" - told, reported. The verb is without an object, so the object may be rendered as "this / it / what they had seen / ....." What they saw obviously scared them.

eiV thn polin kai eiV touV agrouV "in the town and countryside" - to the city/town/village and to the farms. "To the residents of the nearby village and the surrounding farming community."

exhlqon (ercomai) pl. aor. "the people went out" - they went out. The villagers and farming community, rather than the herdsmen. idein (oJraw) aor. inf. "to see" - The infinitive here forms a purpose clause; "in order to see what had happened." hlqon (ercomai) aor. "when they came" - The temporal sense is implied by the context, but not by the grammar; "when they reached Jesus", Moffatt. kaqhmenon (kaqhmi) pres. part. "sitting" - This participle, along with the participles "having been dressed" and "being of sound mind" function as object complements of the accusative object "man". "They discovered the man ........ seated [at the feet of Jesus], clothed and sane", Moffatt.

para touV podaV tou Ihsou "at the feet of Jesus" - beside the feet of Jesus. The image here is of the man now functioning as a disciple.

efobhqhsan (fobew) aor. pas. "they were afraid" - This is an initial first step toward either belief or unbelief. The scene is one of powerful calm; the pigs gone, the man sane, and so the townsfolk are afraid.

oi idonteV (eidon oJraw) part. "those who had seen it" - the ones having seen. The participle functions as a substantive: "the eyewitnesses (swine herders)".

autoiV "the people" - to them. The pronoun is best rendered as the noun "people / spectators / villagers ..."

oJ daimonisqeiV (daimonizomai) aor. pas. part. "the demon-possessed man" - the one having been demon-possessed. The participle functions as a substantive.

eswqh (swzw) aor. pas. "had been cured" - was healed/saved. For Luke, a healing like this serves as a visible expression of salvation.

hrwthsen (erwtaw) aor. "asked" - A much softer Greek word than the previous "begged/besaught" used by the demons. Used of ask a question.

aJpan to plhqoV "all the people" - all the multitude, the whole crowd. Is Luke making the point that the conversion of the Gentiles is still in the future? Mark is nowhere near as definite. Anyway, given such a demonstration of divine power (not just economic disruption as suggested by some), fear drives the people to ask Jesus to leave.

apelqein (apercomai) aor. inf. "to leave [them]" - to depart [from them]. The infinitive forms a dependent statement, indirect speech, entreating, expressing what they asked; "they asked that he depart from them."

oJti "because" - Here expressing cause/reason.

uJpestrefen (uJpostrefw) aor. "and left" - returned (to Galilee)

edeito (deomai) imperf. "begged" - begged, pleaded, prayed.. The imperfect may indicate a constant pleading on the part of the man, "he was begging." Luke is treating v38 and 39 as a new episode with its own message which is why the "pleading" is following the "leaving".

einai "to go [with him]" - to be [with him]. The infinitive of the verb "to be" may be understood as forming a final (purpose) clause, but is more likely serving to form a dependent statement, indirect speech, entreating, expressing what the man asked Jesus; "begged that he might be with him", NRSV.

apelusen (apoluw) aor. "sent [him] away" - dismissed/released [him]. Jesus has not refused him, but has given him another direction to follow. His following Jesus will not so much entail being with Jesus, but rather being with his own people. Is this the message of the episode?

legwn (legw) pres. part. "saying" - Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "sent away"; "Jesus sent him away and said".

uJpostrefe (uJpostrefw) imp. "return [home]" - return [to the house of you]. "Return to your local community."

soi dat. "for you" - with you. Possibly "to you", in the sense of witnessing to the sign of his healing.

dihgou (dihgeomai) imp. "tell" - explain, communicate, relate.

kai "so [the man went away]" - and [he went away]. This conjunction is not normally inferential, but is more properly connective. None-the-less the context implies an inferential sense; "so he went away and all over the town he proclaimed all that Jesus had done for him", Barclay.

khrusswn (khrussw) part. "told" - preaching, proclaiming. This episode prefigures the coming Gentile mission recorded in Acts. Interestingly, Mark notes the response of the people, namely "amazement". For Mark, amazement is the first response toward Jesus, from which comes either belief or disbelief. Luke has already mentioned the people's "fear" and this seems to be enough for him.

Luke Introduction

lectionarystudies.com