Luke 8:31

8:31 And they began to beg ¹  him not to order ²  them to depart into the abyss. ³ 

Luke 8:37

8:37 Then ⁴  all the people of the Gerasenes ⁵  and the surrounding region ⁶  asked Jesus ⁷  to leave them alone, ⁸  for they were seized with great fear. ⁹  So ¹⁰  he got into the boat and left. ¹¹ 

[8:31]  ¹ tn One could also translate the imperfect tense here with a repetitive force like “begged him repeatedly.”

[8:31]  ² tn Or “command.”

[8:31]  ³ tn This word, ἄβυσσος (abusso"), is a term for the place where the dead await the judgment. It also could hold hostile spirits according to Jewish belief (Jub. 5:6-7; 1 En. 10:4-6; 18:11-16).

[8:37]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:37]  ⁵ tc See the tc note on “Gerasenes” in v. 26 for the same geographical options for the textual variants.

[8:37]  ⁶ tn Grk “all the people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes,” but according to L&N 1.80, “περίχωρος may include not only the surrounding region but also the point of reference, for example…‘the Gerasenes and the people living around them’ Lk 8:37.”

[8:37]  ⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:37]  ⁸ tn Or “to depart from them.”

[8:37]  ⁹ sn Again there is great fear at God’s activity, but there is a different reaction. Some people want nothing to do with God’s presence. Mark 5:16 hints that economic reasons motivated their request.

[8:37]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ departure was the result of the Gerasenes’ response. A new sentence was started in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

[8:37]  ¹¹ tn Grk “returned,” but the effect is that he departed from the Gerasene region.