Matthew 8:34

πᾶσα ἡ πόλις : an exaggeration of course, cf. accounts in Mark and Luke. εἰς ὑπάντησιν … Ι., to a meeting with Jesus. The noun occurs again in Matthew 25:1, and John 12:13; in Matthew 25:6 ἀπάντησιν is used instead of it. εἰς ἀπαν. occurs in Sept [56] for לִקְרָאת. The two nouns are little used in Greek authors. The change from one to the other in Matthew 25:1; Matthew 25:6 implies a slight difference in meaning; ὑπάντησις = accidental chance, or stealthy meeting; ἀπάντησις = an open designed meeting. The stealthy character of the meeting implied in ὑπὸ is well illustrated in ὑπήντησαν, Matthew 8:28, of this narrative. The statement that the whole city went out to meet Jesus implies a report laying the blame of the occurrence on Him. But Matthew's account is very summary, and must be supplemented by the statements in Mark and Luke, from which it appears that some came from the town to inquire into the matter, “to see what had happened,” and that in the course of their inquiries they met Jesus and learned what they had not known before, the change that had come over the demoniac. It was on their giving in their report to their fellow-townsmen, connecting the cure with the catastrophe, that the action reported in Matthew 8:34 took place.

[56] Septuagint.

Matthew 8:34. παρεκάλεσαν : same word as in Matthew 8:31 in reference to the demoniacs. They did not order or drive Him out. They besought in terms respectful and even subdued. They were afraid of this strange man, who could do such wonderful things; and, with all due respect, they would rather. He would withdraw from their neighbourhood.

This would be an oft-told tale, in which different versions were sure to arise, wherein fact and explanation of fact would get mixed up together. The very variations in the synoptical accounts witness to its substantial historicity. The apologist's task is easy here, as distinct from that of the harmonist, which is difficult. The essential outline of the story is this. A demoniac, alias a madman, comes from the tombs in the limestone caves to meet Jesus, exhibiting in behaviour and conversation a double consciousness. Asked his name, he calls himself Legion. In the name of the “Legion” he begs that the demons may enter the swine. Jesus orders the demons to leave their victim. Shortly after a herd of swine feeding on the hills rushed down the steep into the sea and were drowned. Tradition connected the rush of the swine with the demons leaving their former victim and entering into them. But, as already remarked, the causal connection could not be a matter of observation but only of inference. The rush might, as Weiss suggests, be caused by the man, in his final paroxysm, chasing them. But that also is matter of conjecture. The real cause of the catastrophe is a mystery. Rosenmüller suggests that at a hot season of the year one in a herd of swine might undergo a morbid seizure, begin to run wildly about, and be followed sequaciously by the whole flock. He mentions an occurrence of the kind at Erfurt, recent when he wrote. Lutteroth, no rationalist, suggests “vertigo,” permitted by Jesus to befall the swine, that the demoniac might have in their behaviour a sensible sign of deliverance, and so be rid of his fixed idea (vide his Essai D'Interp., 3 eme Partie, p. 27, note). On the nature of demoniacal possession, vide my Miraculous Element in the Gospels, pp. 172 190; vide also notes on Mark.