The passage
      v26. Luke tells us that Jesus has entered Gentile territory, although there is confusion as to the exact location. The region referred to by Luke is probably associated with a village near the lake, possibly the village today called Kersa.
      v27. Luke wants us to see Jesus' meeting with the demoniac as a planned occasion rather than accidental. This is a continuation of Jesus' confrontation with dark powers, following on from his stilling of the storm. The demoniac is quite mad (those who live in the midst of a cemetery were regarded as deranged). He was once a village resident ("from the town"), now his neighbors are the dead.
      v28. At this point the demons do the talking. Falling before Jesus indicates submission, but not reverence. The demons see no good coming out of their contact with Jesus ("what do you want with me?" = what good can come to me from contact with you?"). They know well who Jesus is and ask him to restrain from judging them just yet, given that the last-day judgment is yet to come.
      v29. The demonic powers asked Jesus to restrain his judgment because he had just ordered them to come out of the man. The description of the demoniac's condition illustrates the power of this particular possession. No chain could bind him.
      v30. Again, the use of the military term "legion" (5,000 to 6,000 men), illustrates the power of the demons.
      v31-33. In Jewish cosmology the "abyss" is the watery deep under the earth (a place of chaos, as opposed to the created order of the earth) in which the powers of darkness are confined until the day of judgment. The demons don't want to go back there, thank you very much. Yet, they can't help driving the pigs to that very place. In giving them "permission" to enter the pigs, Luke reminds us that Jesus' mission is not to destroy the demonic powers, but rather to deliver a people from their control.
      v34-35. The herdsmen gather a crowd of locals. Returning to the scene, they witness the peaceful hand of God's power and are afraid.
      v36-37. The whole Gentile region gets caught up in the consequences of the exorcism. Filled with fear, they ask Jesus to leave and take with him this manifestation of divine presence and power.
      v38-39. As a Gentile, the healed demoniac has no place in the Jewish mission of Jesus, but he may proclaim the mighty acts of God to his own people. Here, we see an echo of the coming Gentile mission.

Liberty
      It's not easy to define the character of Western democratic societies, but they probably rest on two qualities held in tension. The two qualities are liberty and fraternity. Independence is enshrined in a do-your-own-thing attitude, a dislike of authority along with a love of freedom, free enterprise, capitalism. Fraternity is enshrined in giving a helping hand, social care, justice, egalitarianism, socialism. A characteristic of Western democracies is the tension that exists between liberty and fraternity. We are constantly trying to resolve this tension, moving from one to the other. We find it very difficult to approach the issue laterally and accept both together.
      From the 1970's to the 1990's the pendulum swung to the left. Social justice ruled at the expense of free enterprise, and became well entrenched within the bureaucracy and within government-funded instrumentalities. For example the media, particularly the government sponsored media organizations, become a bastion for the social justice agenda of the left.
      Today, the pendulum is swinging back toward freedom, toward individual, rather than community responsibility. Social justice issues, such as multiculturalism, affirmative action, indigenous rights, welcoming asylum seekers ..., are now being questioned by a growing number in the Western democracies. Political correctness is not so correct. The emergence of the new right is like a red rag to a bull for those on the left. Their reaction is similar to the neurotic tendencies of the right in the 50's and 60's when it was all about "reds under the bed."
      Although it is often said that Jesus was the greatest socialist who ever lived, it is actually very hard to find him embarking on any social justice agenda whatsoever. Not that he didn't believe in fraternity. His disciples were to "love one another." Yet, the poor will always be with us, along with the institutions that impoverish. Darkness shall reign, certainly for this life. The notion of a heaven on earth at the hands of a cleansed proletariat was certainly not the dream of Jesus. Yet, darkness will be condemned, will even condemn itself.
      For the present the darkness remains, although in Jesus we are no longer its slaves. Jesus sets us free. The world may still be wrong, but our souls are free from the darkness about us. We are free to eternally sit at the feet of Jesus - true liberty.

v27
      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 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]"
      ek thV polewV "from the town" - Given the rest of the verse, the phrase means: "who formerly lived in the village nearby."

v28
      anakraxaV (anakrazw) part. "he cried out" - having cried out. 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, ....."
      basanish/V (basanizw) aor. subj. "torture" - 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."

v29
      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).
      sunhrpakei (sunarpazw) pluperf. "it had sized" - This time the verb is pluperfect to make the timing of the man's possessed condition prior to Jesus' arrival.
      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.
      diarrhsswn (diarrhssw) part. "he had broken" - breaking apart. Illustrating the power of the possession and therefore, the might of Jesus in dealing with it.

v30
      de " - untranslated -" - 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"
      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.

v31
      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. Note, Luke finally moves the verbs into the plural "they" when referring to the demons.
      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 ask not to be cast "out of the district."

v32
      iJkanwn adj. "large [herd]" - sufficient. "Quite a lot". "Many", rather than "large", or Mark's "great".
      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 they had tricked Jesus into leaving them to their mischief (in "the country", Mk), but then they find themselves back in the deep.

v33
      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.

v34
      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)
      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."

v35
      exhlqon (ercomai) pl. aor. "the people went out" - they went out. The villagers and farming community, rather than the herdsmen.
      para touV podaV tou Ihsou "[sitting] 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 belief. The scene is one of powerful calm; the pigs gone, the man sane, and so they are afraid.

v36
      autoiV "the people" - to them. The pronoun is best rendered as the noun "people / spectators / villagers ..."
      oi idonteV (eidon oJraw) part. "those who had seen it" - the ones having seen. The participle here, particularly as it doesn't have an object, is best taken as a substantive: "the eyewitnesses (swine herders)"
      eswqh (swzw) aor. pas. "had been cured" - was healed/saved. For Luke, a healing like this serves as a visible expression of salvation.

v37
      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.
      uJpestrefen (uJpostrefw) aor. "and left" - returned (to Galilee)

v38
      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 sun autw/ "to go with him" - to be with him. The infinitive of the verb "to be" may be understood as forming a final (purpose) clause and is taken this way by the NRSV "begged that he might be with him."
      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?