And when he was come to the other side— The storm being hushed, they came to land. St. Matthew says, in the country of Girgasa, or of the Gergasenes; St. Mark and Luke, in the country of Gadara; but the Evangelists do not differ here; if, as it is probable, the one gives us the general name of the country, the other the denomination of a particular spot only; though indeed there is no necessity for this supposition, as many manuscripts and versions of great authority read Gadarenes here, in agreement with St. Mark and St. Luke. Josephus says, Gadara was the metropolis of Peraea, and that it was sixty furlongs from Tiberias. Gadara therefore is rightly placed opposite to Tiberias, at the south end of the sea. Farther; speaking of the country of Gadara, he says, it bounded Galilee to the east. See Luke 8:26. Gadara, therefore, must have been situated on the east side of the lake, about eight miles from Tiberias, in such a manner, that part of its territory was contiguous to the Lower Galilee, but separated from it by the Jordan; and part of it was opposite thereto, with a lake between. The city was one of those called Decapolis, and, according to Josephus, was situated in Coelo-Syria, in the possession of the tribe of Manasseh. When Pompey subdued Judaea, he rebuilt Gadara, and joined it to the province of Syria: Augustus afterwards gave it to Herod; but, upon Herod's death, he annexed it again to Syria. By these means the town came to be inhabited partly by Syrians. Gadara being thus inhabited by a mixture of people, it is no wonder that there were swine in its territory: for, though the Jews did not eat the flesh of these animals, they might breed them fortheir heathen neighbours; or the herd might be the property of the latter.
When Jesus and his disciples landed at this place, two men possessed with devils came towards them from the tombs. Mark and Luke speak only of one demoniac; but in several instances the sacred historians mention but one person, though more were concerned in thematter related. St. Austin thinks that one of the demoniacs was more remarkable than the other, perhaps for his birth, or parts, or interest in the country; and that his cure made more noise, and for that reason was mentioned by Mark and Luke, while they omitted the cure of the other. St. Luke's account, as it stands in our translation, seems in one particular, at first sight, to clash with St. Matthew and St. Mark; for he says, Luke 8:27., there met him out of the city a certain man; but there is no inconsistency between the Evangelists; for St. Luke's words are ανηρ εκ της πολεως, which properly signifies a man of the city, one who had formerly been an inhabitant, though now he dwelt among the tombs. See the phrase in John 1:45 in the original. Accordingly St. Luke tells us, that he did not abide in any house, but in the tombs; whither Grotius supposes that the demons chose to drive the men whom they possessed, to confirm some superstitious notions of the Jews relating to the power of evil spirits over the dead. The heathens had undoubtedly such notions; but Elsner's opinion seems most probable, that the demoniacs chose the caves of this burying-ground as a kind of shelter; and he has shewn, that poor tormented creatures in extremity sometimes did the like. It should be remembered that the sepulchres of the Jews were, very wisely, always at some distance from their cities, in lonely and desert places. Hence St. Luke says of the demoniac, Luke 8:29 that he was driven of the devil into the wilderness. Doubtless those malevolent spirits love such tokens of death and destruction.
It should be observed farther, that no compassion to these unhappy men, nor endeavours for their own security, had been wanting in the people of the place: for they had frequently endeavoured to confine them; but no man could bind them, no not with chains; because, though they had been frequently so bound, the chains had been plucked asunder by them, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame them. See Mark 5:4. Being therefore at liberty, they shunned the society of men, wandering day and night amid the melancholy receptacles of the dead, formidable to all who passed by, and a great nuisance to the country. Concerning the nature of these demoniacs, see the note on the 33rd verse.
Matthew 8:29. What have we to do with thee?— This is a Hebrew phrase, signifying "What right, rule, or authority dost thou claim over us?" What concern hast thou with us? See Joshua 11:12. 2 Samuel 16:10. 1 Kings 17:18. Exodus 3:13; 2 Kings 9:19. Septuagint. There is in the next words, art thou come to torment us, &c. such a reference to the final sentence which Christ is to pass upon these rebel spirits in the judgment of the great day, to which they are reserved (Jude, Matthew 8:6.), as could not have been dictated by lunacy; and it is much to be questioned whether the persons speaking, or any of the hearers, but Christ himself, understood the sense and propriety of them. See 2 Peter 2:4.