Luke 8:31 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And they brought him, &c.— It seems from Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20 that different evil genii presided over distinct legions, by the directionsof Satan their prince. These, who perhaps were spirits of distinguished abilities, might be appointed to reside hereabouts, to oppose as much as possible the beneficial designs of Christ; and having made their observations on the character and circumstances of the inhabitants, they might judge themselves capable of doing more mischief here than elsewhere, and on that account might desire leave to continue on the spot. See Mark 5:10. The word Αβυσσος, rendered deep in this passage, signifies the place where wicked spirits are punished; as it does likewise, Revelation 20:3 where it is translated the bottomless pit: properly it denotes a place without a bottom, or so deep that it cannot be fathomed. The Greeks describe their Tartarus in this manner: and the Jews, when they wrote Greek, did not scruple to adopt their expressions, because they were universally understood. Besides, the Hebrew language did not furnish proper words for these ideas; which was the reason that the first Christians also, when they had occasion to speak of the state of evil spirits, made use of terms purely Greek. See 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude, Luke 8:6.