SEV Biblia, Chapter 8:28
¶ Y cuando l lleg a la otra ribera, a la provincia de los gadarenos, le vinieron al encuentro dos endemoniados que salían de los sepulcros, fieros en gran manera, que nadie podía pasar por aquel camino.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 8:28
Verse 28. The country of the Gergesenes] This word is variously written in the MSS, and versions; Gergasenes, Gerasenes, Gadarenes, Gergesions, and Gersedonians, The three first are supported by the greater authorities. They might have all been names of the same place or district; but, if we depend on what Origen says, the people mentioned here could not have been the inhabitants of Gerasa, which, says he, is a city of Arabia, oute qalassan, oute limnhn plhsion econta, which has neither sea nor lake nigh to it. "Gadara was, according to Josephus, the metropolis of Perea, or the region beyond Jordan: both the city and villages belonging to it lay in the country of the Gergasenes; whence Christ going into the country of the Gadarenes, Mark v. 1, is said to go into the region of the Gergasenes, ver. 28." WHITBY.
Two possessed with devils] Persons possessed by evil demons. Mark and Luke mention only one demoniac, probably the fiercer of the two.
Coming out of the tombs] It is pretty evident that cupolas were generally builded over the graves among the Jews, and that these demoniacs had their dwellings under such: the evil spirits which were in them delighting more in these abodes of desolation and ruin, as being more congenial to their fierce and diabolic nature, and therefore would drive the possessed into them.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 28. And when he was come to the other side , etc.] Of the lake, or sea of Tiberias, right over against Galilee, into the country of Gergesenes , the same with the Girgashites, ( Genesis 15:21 Deuteronomy 7:1 Joshua 3:10) whom Joshua drove out of the land of Canaan; and who, as a Jewish writer says, left their country to the Israelites, and went to a country, which is called to this day, ajsygrwg , Gurgestan, of which these people were some remains: both in ( Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) it is called the country of the Gadarenes; and so the Syriac and Persic versions read it here; which is easily reconciled by observing, not that Gergesa and Gadara were one and the same city, called by different names; but that these two cities were near each other, in the same country, which was sometimes denominated from the one, and sometimes from the other. Origen has a remarkable passage, showing the different situations of Gadara and Gergesa; and that the latter cannot be Gerasa in Arabia; and also the signification of the name, for the sake of which, I shall transcribe it. Gerasa (says he) is a city of Arabia, having neither sea nor lake near it; wherefore the evangelists, who well knew the countries about Judea, would never have said so manifest an untruth: and as to what we find in some few copies, into the country of the Gadarenes, it must be said, that Gadara indeed was a city of Judea, about which were many famous baths; but there was no lake, or sea in it, adjacent with precipices; but Gergesa, from whence were the Gergasenes, is an ancient city about the lake; now called Tiberias; about which is a precipice adjacent to the lake, from whence is shown, that the swine were cast down by the devils.
Gergesa is interpreted, paroikia ekbeblhkotwn , the habitation of those that cast out; being called so perhaps prophetically, for what the inhabitants of those places did to the Saviour, beseeching him to depart out of their coasts.
Dr. Lightfoot suggests, that this place might be so called, from atgrg , which signifies clay or dirt, and mentions Lutetia for an example. But to pass this, as soon as Christ was got out of the ship, and come to land in this country, there met him two possessed with devils . Both Mark and Luke mention but one, which is no contradiction to Matthew; for they do not say that there was only one; and perhaps the reason why they only take notice of him is, because he was the fiercest, had a legion of devils in him, and was the principal one, that spake to Christ, and with whom he was chiefly concerned. This is to be understood, not of any natural disease of body, but of real possession by Satan. These possessed men met him, not purposely, or with design, but accidentally to them, and unawares to Satan too; for though he knows much, he is not omniscient: had he been aware of Christs coming that way, and what he was about to do, he would have took care to have had the possessed out of the way; but so it was ordered by providence, that just as Christ landed, these should be coming out of the tombs . Their coemeteria, or burying places, were at some distance from towns or cities; wherefore Luke says, the possessed met him out of the city, a good way off from it; for the Jews say, ry[l ykwms twrbqh ytb wyh al , that the sepulchres were not near a city; (see Luke 7:12) and these tombs were built so large, that persons might go into them, and sit and dwell in them, as these demoniacs did, and therefore are said to come out of them. The rules for making them are these; He that sells ground to his neighbour to make a burying place, or that receives of his neighbour, to make him a burying place, must make the inside of the cave four cubits by six, and open in it eight graves; three here and three there, and two over against them; and the graves must be four cubits long, and seven high, and six broad.
R. Simeon says, he must make the inside of the cave six cubits by eight, and open within thirteen graves, four here, and four there, and three over against them; and one on the right hand of the door, and one on the left: and he must make rxj , a court, at the mouth of the cave, six by six, according to the measure of the bier, and those that bury; and he must open in it two caves, one here and another there: R. Simeon says, four at the four sides. R. Simeon ben Gamaliel says, all is according to the nature of the rock.
Now in the court, at the mouth, or entrance of the cave, which was made for the bearers to put down the bier or coffin upon, before the interment, there was room for persons to enter and lodge, as these possessed with devils did: which places were chosen by the devils, either because of the solitude, gloominess, and filthiness of them; or as some think, to confirm that persuasion some men had, that the souls of men after death, are changed into devils; or rather, to establish a notion which prevailed among the Jews, that the souls of the deceased continue for a while to be about their bodies; which drew persons to necromancy, or consulting with the dead. It is a notion that obtains among the Jews f525 , that the soul for twelve months after its separation from the body, is more or less with it, hovering about it; and hence, some have been induced to go and dwell among the tombs, and inquire of spirits: they tell us f526 , it happened to a certain holy man, that he gave a penny to a poor man, on the eve of the new year; and his wife provoked him, and he went twrbqh tybb lw , and lodged among the tombs, and heard two spirits talking with one another.
Or the devil chose these places, to render the persons possessed the more uncomfortable and distressed; to make them wilder and fiercer, by living in such desolate places, and so do more mischief to others: which was the case of these, who were exceeding fierce , wicked, malignant, mischievous, and troublesome, through the influence of the devils in them; so that no man might pass that way , without being insulted or hurt by them.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 28-34 - The devils have nothing to do with Christ as a Saviour; they neithe have, nor hope for any benefit from him. Oh the depth of this myster of Divine love; that fallen man has so much to do with Christ, when fallen angels have nothing to do with him! Heb 2:16. Surely here wa torment, to be forced to own the excellence that is in Christ, and ye they had no part in him. The devils desire not to have any thing to d with Christ as a Ruler. See whose language those speak, who will have nothing to do with the gospel of Christ. But it is not true that the devils have nothing to do with Christ as a Judge; for they have, an they know it, and thus it is with all the children of men. Satan an his instruments can go no further than he permits; they must qui possession when he commands. They cannot break his hedge of protectio about his people; they cannot enter even a swine without his leave They had leave. God often, for wise and holy ends, permits the effort of Satan's rage. Thus the devil hurries people to sin; hurries them to what they have resolved against, which they know will be shame an grief to them: miserable is the condition of those who are led captiv by him at his will. There are a great many who prefer their swin before the Saviour, and so come short of Christ and salvation by him They desire Christ to depart out of their hearts, and will not suffe his word to have place in them, because he and his word would destro their brutish lusts, those swine which they give themselves up to feed And justly will Christ forsake all that are weary of him; and sad hereafter, Depart, ye cursed, to those who now say to the Almighty Depart from us __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ ελθοντι 2064 5631 V-2AAP-DSM αυτω 846 P-DSM εις 1519 PREP το 3588 T-ASN περαν 4008 ADV εις 1519 PREP την 3588 T-ASF χωραν 5561 N-ASF των 3588 T-GPM γεργεσηνων 1086 N-GPM υπηντησαν 5221 5656 V-AAI-3P αυτω 846 P-DSM δυο 1417 A-NUI δαιμονιζομενοι 1139 5740 V-PNP-NPM εκ 1537 PREP των 3588 T-GPN μνημειων 3419 N-GPN εξερχομενοι 1831 5740 V-PNP-NPM χαλεποι 5467 A-NPM λιαν 3029 ADV ωστε 5620 CONJ μη 3361 PRT-N ισχυειν 2480 5721 V-PAN τινα 5100 X-ASM παρελθειν 3928 5629 V-2AAN δια 1223 PREP της 3588 T-GSF οδου 3598 N-GSF εκεινης 1565 D-GSF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
28. The tombs (mnhmeiwn). Chambers excavated in the mountain, which would afford a shelter to the demoniac. Chandler ("Travels in Asia Minor") describes tombs with two square rooms, the lower containing the ashes, while the upper, the friends performed funeral rites, and poured libations through a hole in the floor. Dr. Thomson ("Land and Book") thus describes the rock-cut tombs in the region between Tyre and Sidon: "They are nearly all of the same form, having a small chamber in front, and a door leading from that into the tomb, which is about six feet square, with niches on three sides for the dead." A propensity to take up the abode in the tombs is mentioned by ancient physicians as a characteristic of mad-men. The Levitical uncleanness of the tombs would insure the wretches the solitude which they sought. Trench ("Notes on the Miracles") cites the following incident from Warburton ("The Crescent and the Cross"): "On descending from these heights I found myself in a cemetery whose sculptured turbans showed me that the neighboring village was Moslem. The silence of night was not broken by fierce yells and howling, which I discovered proceeded from a naked maniac who was fighting with some wild dogs for a bone. The moment he perceived me he left his canine comrades, and bounding along with rapid strides, seized my horse's bridle, and almost forced him backward over the cliff."Fierce (calepoi). Originally, difficult, hard. Hence hard to manage; intractable.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
8:28 {The country of the Gadarenes} (ten cwran twn Gadarenwn). this is the correct text in Matthew while in #Mr 5:1 and #Lu 8:26 it is "the country of the Gerasenes." Dr. Thomson discovered by the lake the ruins of Khersa (Gerasa). this village is in the district of the city of Gadara some miles southeastward so that it can be called after Gerasa or Gadara. So Matthew speaks of "two demoniacs" while Mark and Luke mention only one, the leading one. "{The tombs}" (twn mnemeiwn) were chambers cut into the mountain side common enough in Palestine qen and now. On the eastern side of the lake the precipitous cliffs are of limestone formation and full of caves. It is one of the proofs that one is a maniac that he haunts the tombs. People shunned the region as dangerous because of the madmen.
