Lukas 8:26-29

Healing of a Demoniac

8:26 So ¹  they sailed over to the region of the Gerasenes, ²  which is opposite ³  Galilee. 8:27 As ⁴  Jesus ⁵  stepped ashore, ⁶  a certain man from the town ⁷  met him who was possessed by demons. ⁸  For a long time this man ⁹  had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among ¹⁰  the tombs. 8:28 When he saw ¹¹  Jesus, he cried out, fell ¹²  down before him, and shouted with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, ¹³  Jesus, Son of the Most High ¹⁴  God! I beg you, do not torment ¹⁵  me!” 8:29 For Jesus ¹⁶  had started commanding ¹⁷  the evil ¹⁸  spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so ¹⁹  he would be bound with chains and shackles ²⁰  and kept under guard. But ²¹  he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted ²²  places.) ²³ 

[8:26]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate a summary and transition in the narrative.

[8:26]  ² tc The textual tradition here is quite complicated. Most mss, especially later ones (A W Ψ Ë¹³ Ï sy), read “Gadarenes,” which is the better reading in Matt 8:28. Some mss (א L Θ Ξ Ë¹ 33 579 700* 1241 pc) have “Gergesenes.” But early and important representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (Ì⁷⁵ B D latt) have “Gerasenes,” the reading followed in the translation. The difference between Matthew and Luke may well have to do with uses of variant regional terms.

[8:26]  sn The region of the Gerasenes would be in Gentile territory on the (south)eastern side of the Sea of Galilee across from Galilee. Matthew 8:28 records this miracle as occurring “in the region of the Gadarenes.” “Irrespective of how one settles this issue, for the Third Evangelist the chief concern is that Jesus has crossed over into Gentile territory, ‘opposite Galilee’” (J. B. Green, Luke [NICNT], 337). The region of Gadara extended to the Sea of Galilee and included the town of Sennabris on the southern shore – the town that the herdsmen most likely entered after the drowning of the pigs.

[8:26]  ³ sn That is, across the Sea of Galilee from Galilee.

[8:27]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:27]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:27]  ⁶ tn Grk “stepped out on land.”

[8:27]  ⁷ tn Or “city.”

[8:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “who had demons.”

[8:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the demon-possessed man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in.”

[8:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And seeing.” The participle ἰδών (idwn) has been taken temporally. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:28]  ¹² tn Grk “and fell,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[8:28]  ¹³ tn Grk “What to me and to you?” (an idiom). The phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί (ti emoi kai soi) is Semitic in origin, though it made its way into colloquial Greek (BDAG 275 s.v. ἐγώ). The equivalent Hebrew expression in the OT had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12; 2 Chr 35:21; 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his own, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13; Hos 14:8). These nuances were apparently expanded in Greek, but the basic notions of defensive hostility (option 1) and indifference or disengagement (option 2) are still present. BDAG suggests the following as glosses for this expression: What have I to do with you? What have we in common? Leave me alone! Never mind! Hostility between Jesus and the demons is certainly to be understood in this context, hence the translation: “Leave me alone….”

[8:28]  ¹⁴ sn On the title Most High see Luke 1:35.

[8:28]  ¹⁵ sn The demons’ plea “do not torment me” is a recognition of Jesus’ inherent authority over evil forces. The request is that Jesus not bother them. There was an appointed time in which demons would face their judgment, and they seem to have viewed Jesus’ arrival on the scene as an illegitimate change in God’s plan regarding the time when their sentence would be executed.

[8:29]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Although the external evidence favors the aorist παρήγγειλεν (parhngeilen, “he commanded”; Ì⁷⁵ B Θ Ξ Ψ Ë¹³ 579 700 1241 1424 2542 pm), the internal evidence favors the imperfect παρήγγελλεν (parhngellen, here translated “he had started commanding”; א A C K L W Γ Δ 1 33 565 892 pm). The aorist is suspect because it can more easily be taken as a single command, and thus an immediate exorcism. The imperfect would most likely be ingressive (BDF §§328; 329; 331), suggesting that Jesus started to command the evil spirit to depart, and continued the command.

[8:29]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “unclean.”

[8:29]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so,” introducing a clause that gives the result of the man being seized by the demon.

[8:29]  ²⁰ tn Or “fetters”; these were chains for the feet.

[8:29]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:29]  ²² tn Grk “into the deserts.” The plural use here has been translated as “deserted places,” that is, uninhabited areas.

[8:29]  ²³ sn This is a parenthetical, explanatory comment by the author.