Luke 8:33

Luke 8:33, in plain English

The demons came out of the man and went into the pigs. The whole herd charged down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

Why it's here

The destruction of the pigs made the invisible horror visible. What had been destroying this man from the inside was now on full display. The demons' true nature was always destruction.

Who's speaking

Luke describes the dramatic scene after the demons leave the man.

Where it sits in the story

As soon as the demons entered the pigs, the entire herd went wild, stampeding down the hill and crashing into the lake. Every single pig drowned, revealing the destructive evil that had been living inside the man.

The scholarly reading

The demons exit the man and enter the pigs, which immediately hōrmēsen ('rushed headlong') down the krēmnos ('steep bank') into the lake and apepnigē ('were drowned'). The violent destruction of the herd visibly demonstrates the destructive nature of the demonic forces that had inhabited the man.

Language and setting

The drowning of approximately 2,000 pigs (cf. Mark 5:13) makes visible the invisible destruction the demons had been inflicting on the man. The economic loss becomes a focal point for the subsequent community response.

Voice

Luke narrates the dramatic aftermath of the exorcism.

Significance

The demons left the man and entered the pigs, which immediately stampeded down the steep hillside and plunged into the lake, drowning. The herd's violent destruction revealed the destructive power that had tormented the man.

31And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.

32There on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.

33Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

34When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside.

35So the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had left, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

Read all of Luke 8 — A storm, a legion of demons, a bleeding woman, and a dead girl — Jesus moves through a world of chaos and brings order with a word or a touch.