Luke 8:32-33

8:32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹  and the demonic spirits ²  begged Jesus ³  to let them go into them. He gave them permission. ⁴  8:33 So ⁵  the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd of pigs ⁶  rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned.

Luke 15:15

15:15 So he went and worked for ⁷  one of the citizens of that country, who ⁸  sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ⁹ 

¹ tn Grk “mountain,” but this might give the English reader the impression of a far higher summit.

² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the demonic spirits) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn Many have discussed why Jesus gave them permission, since the animals were destroyed. However, this is another example of a miracle that is a visual lesson. The demons are destructive: They were destroying the man. They destroyed the pigs. They destroy whatever they touch. The point was to take demonic influence seriously, as well as Jesus’ power over it as a picture of the larger battle for human souls. There would be no doubt how the man’s transformation had taken place.

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate a conclusion and transition in the narrative.

⁶ tn The words “of pigs” are supplied because of the following verb in English, “were drowned,” which is plural.

⁹ tn Grk “joined himself to” (in this case an idiom for beginning to work for someone).

¹⁰ tn Grk “and he.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) and the personal pronoun have been translated by a relative pronoun to improve the English style.

¹¹ sn To a Jew, being sent to the field to feed pigs would be an insult, since pigs were considered unclean animals (Lev 11:7).