When the Lord was upon his earthly mission, he greatly angered and upset men by forcing them to decide whether he was a true prophet or not. Early in his mission he was met by certain devils who begged him to leave them alone: “They cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” The devils could not ignore him; his mere presence was a “torment” to them. And it was the same with men, for when the people of a nearby town heard what had happened, “behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts”
(Matthew 8:29 [Matt. 4:6], 34). Apparently his presence made men as uncomfortable as it did the devils, for while the Lord was in their midst, they could not be neutral regarding him. Only after he had left the earth could Christians have an “open mind” regarding Christ’s mission. Of such people he said through his prophet John, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). The Lord insists that we make up our minds one way or another regarding his calling.
The Gadarene Demoniac
A man among the tombs whom no chain could hold, a legion that begs for the swine rather than the deep, and a countryside that would rather lose the devils than keep the Man who cast them out.
Tap a Gospel to show or hide its column. Narrow to any two to read them side by side.
Note. The JST is unusually busy here. Matthew’s “two possessed with devils” becomes “a man,” bringing him into line with Mark and Luke; Mark’s Jesus commands rather than asks the name; and Luke’s account transposes verses 31 and 32, which is why the verse numbers in that column run 32, 31, 33.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
28And when he had come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two a man possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no man could pass that way. 29And behold, they he cried out, saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God! Have you come here to torment us before the time? 30And there was, a good way off from them, a herd of many swine feeding. 31So the devils implored him, saying, If you cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32And he said unto them, Go. And when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine, and behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea and perished in the waters. 33And they that kept them fled and went their way into the city, and told everything which took place, and what had befallen to the possessed of the devils. 34And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they implored him that he would depart out of their region.
1And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2And when he came out of the ship, immediately there met him, out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit, 3who had his been dwelling among the tombs. And no man could bind him — no, not with chains, 4because he had often been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him and the fetters broken in pieces. Neither could any man tame him. 5And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.
6But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7and cried with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the Most High God! I adjure you by God that you torment me not! 8For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit; 9and he asked him, What is your name? commanded him, saying, Declare your name. And he answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many. 10And he implored him much, that he would not send them away out of the country. 11Now there was there, near to the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding. 12And all the devils implored him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13And immediately Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and they were about two thousand, and were drowned in the sea.
14And they that fed the swine fled and told the people in the city and in the country all that was done unto the swine. And they went out to see what it was that was done. 15And they came to Jesus, and saw him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 16And they that saw it the miracle told them that came out how it befell him that was possessed with the devil, and how the devil was cast out, and concerning the swine. 17And they began immediately to ask him to depart out of their region.
18And when he had come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil spoke to Jesus and asked him that he might be with him. 19Nevertheless, Jesus suffered him not, but said unto him, Go home to your friends, and tell them how great things the Lord has done for you, and has had compassion on you. 20And he departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. And all men that heard him did marvel.
26And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27And when he went forth to land, there met him, out of the city, a certain man who had devils for a long time; and ware he would wear no clothes, neither dwelled in a house, but in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of God most high! I implore you, torment me not! 29For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for ofttimes it had caught him, and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters, and he broke the bands and was driven of the Devil into the wilderness. 30Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion, because many devils had entered into him.
32And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain. And they implored him that he would suffer them to enter into them the swine, and he suffered them.
31And they implored him also that he would not command them to go out into the deep. 33And he said unto them, Come out of the man. Then went the devils out of the man and entered into the swine. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake and were drowned.
34When they who fed them the swine saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it the people in the city and in the country. 35Then they went out to see what was done, and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36They also who saw it the miracle told them by what means he who was possessed of the devils was healed. 37Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about implored him Jesus to depart from them, for they were taken with great fear. And he Jesus went up into the ship and returned back again.
38Now the man out of whom the devils had departed implored him that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39Return to your own house, and show how great things God has done unto you. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.
Why the Devil Begged for the Swine
No episode in the Gospels drew Joseph Smith back more often than this one, and always for the same reason: the devils ask for bodies. On his reading the whole exchange turns on a doctrine: that a spirit without a tabernacle is a spirit under punishment, and that possession is theft of a house. In one Nauvoo discourse he goes further than any commentary and reads the drowning of the swine as the devil’s deliberate tactic.
He Would Prefer a Swine’s Body to Having None
At the Nauvoo Lyceum, teaching why we came to earth at all.
Discourse, 5 January 1841, the Old Homestead, Nauvoo (Words of Joseph Smith; cf. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 181) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the Celestial Kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The Devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine showing that he would prefer a swines body to having none. All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not. The devil has no power over us only as we permit him; the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God the Devil takes power.
The Devil’s Stratagem at Gadara
Two months later, expounding Job 38, and reading the herd of swine not as a disposal but as a calculation.
Discourse, circa 28 March 1841, Nauvoo, as reported by William P. McIntire (Words of Joseph Smith; never printed in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗God saw that those inteligences had Not power to Defend themselves against those that had a tabernicle therefore the Lord Calls them together in Counsel & agrees to form them tabernicles so that he might Gender the spirit & the tabernicle togather so as to create sympathy for their fellow man— for it is a Natureal thing with those spirits that has the most power to bore down on those of Lesser power
so we see the Devil is without a tabernicle & the Lord has set bands to all Spirits.— & hence came the saying Jesus thou son of David why art thou come to torment us before the time, & Jesus Comanded him to Come out of the Man & the Devil besought him that he might enter in a herd of swine Near by (for the Devil knew they were a Coveitous people & if he could Kill their Hogs that would Drive Jesus out of their coasts & he then would have tabernicle enough) & Jesus permitted him to Enter into the swine
Wicked Spirits Know Their Bounds
From his signed editorial on discerning spirits, quoting the demoniac’s own words.
Editorial, “Try the Spirits,” Times and Seasons, 1 April 1842 (3:743–48), p. 745; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 208 · Joseph Smith Papers ↗It would seem also, that wicked spirits have their bounds, limits, and laws by which they are governed or controlled, and know their future destiny; hence, those that were in the maniac said to our Savior, “Art thou come to torment us before the time,” and when Satan presented himself before the Lord, among the sons of God, he said that he came “from going to and fro in the earth, and from wandering up and down in it;” and he is emphatically called the prince of the power of the air; and, it is very evident that they possess a power that none but those who have the Priesthood can control.
A Stolen Habitation
The doctrine stated plainly two years later, at the temple stand: the Gadarene unnamed, but the whole exchange behind it.
Discourse, 21 May 1843, the temple stand, Nauvoo; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 305–306 (History of the Church 5:401–403) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Also recorded in Willard Richards’s report; JS’s journal; the Nauvoo history draft.
The punishment of the Devil was, that he should not have a habitation like men, the Devils retaliation is he comes into this world, binds up mens bodies and occupies them himself, when the authorities come along they eject him from a stolen habitation.
Neither Devils nor Men Could Be Neutral
Nibley never wrote on this passage as such; he keeps returning to it as evidence for something else: that the Lord’s presence made neutrality impossible. He notices what the two halves of the story have in common: the devils beg him to leave, and then the townspeople beg him to leave.
(Matthew 21:38 [Matt. 10:12]; Luke 20:14 [Luke 12:7]). So they claim the vineyard for their own and remain in possession until Act Three, when the lord of the vineyard comes to destroy the impostors and turns the vineyard over to authorized workers (Luke 20:16 [Luke 12:7]). It is the same three-act theme as the other parable: first the Lord’s work, then the triumph of the impostor, finally the return and triumph of the Lord.
The first two of these acts are the legitimate subject of church history, since the third either has not happened yet or opens with the restoration of the gospel, which conventional church history does not recognize. Let us consider the major steps of the drama as far as the New Testament is concerned. First of all, the Lord came into the world knowing full well that he and his message would be rejected: even as Elias had come “and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them” (Matthew 17:12 [Matt. 9:5]); “for from the days of John the Baptist [Elias] . . . the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12 [Matt. 6:3]). At the outset of his mission he was met by “two possessed with devils,” who recognized him for what he was and hailed him as the Son of God, with the request that he leave them alone and not torment them “before the time” (Matthew 8:28–29 [Matt. 4:6]). Immediately thereafter a whole city of mortal men followed the lead of those evil spirits “and besought him that he would depart out of their coasts” (Matthew 8:34 [Matt. 4:6]). Neither devils nor men would accept his preaching nor did he expect them to: Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. . . .
And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
A neglected leitmotif of the New Testament is the continuation on earth of the personal feud between the Lord and the adversary begun at the foundation of the world: from the first each recognizes the other as his old opponent and rival; they are matched at every point—each claims identical gifts, ordinances, signs, and wonders; each has his doctrine and his glory and his plan for the future of the race.
The third entry’s tie to this passage is in Nibley’s footnote (“Mark 5:5ff.; Luke 4:34–35… Luke 4:41; 8:27–28”), not in the sentence itself. Note also that Nibley’s second entry quotes Matthew’s “two possessed with devils”: the very phrase the JST changes to “a man.”
Son of the Most High God
The unclean spirit does not call him “Son of God” but “Son of the Most High God,” and for Barker that distinction is the whole point. In the older theology behind Deuteronomy 32, God Most High apportioned the nations among the sons of God, and the LORD (the God of Israel, the Second God, the angel of Israel) was one of them. On that reading the demoniac is not offering a vague honorific; he is naming exactly who has come ashore.
Deuteronomy does, however, warn against the secret things, presumably the knowledge of the holy of holies. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” (Deuteronomy 29:29). Deuteronomy does not deny that such secret things exist, but all that was necessary was to obey the Law and keep the revealed commandments.38 The affairs of the holy of holies were the exclusive preserve of the high priests. They alone had charge of the affairs of the altar and the holy of holies (Numbers 18:3), and they alone were permitted to look at the tabernacle furnishings (Numbers 4).
The great angels had been known as the sons of God. It is ironical that, in the first of the two great poems appended to the book of Deuteronomy, we are given the clearest picture of these sons of God. “When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God” (Deuteronomy 32:8). There was one guardian angel for each nation.40 The poem goes on to say that Jacob was allotted to the Lord—in other words, that the Lord, the God of Israel, was the Son of God Most High. The older religion had not been monotheism in the way that that word is usually understood today. The Lord, the Son of God, had been the angel of Israel, or, as Isaiah said, the Holy One of Israel, since a holy one is an angel. The Lord as the Son of God Most High became a sensitive matter, and so there were two versions of this text in Hebrew. The Masoretic text on which most English translations are based does not have “sons of God” at this point but “sons of Israel,” giving, “He fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.” The Old Greek and the Hebrew texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, have “sons of God,” showing that God Most High apportioned the nations among his sons and that the Lord, the God of Israel, was the Son of God Most High.41 The early Christians read the Old Testament in this way; whenever the Lord appeared, for example, to Abraham, they recognized that it was an appearance of the second person of the Trinity, the Messiah, the Son of God.
How was it possible for good Jews to worship a human being, someone they had known as a Friend and Teacher? For people did “worship” Jesus… [n. 1:] See, for example Matthew 14:33 [Matt. 8:6]… Mark 5:6 [Mark 2:22]; John 9:38 [John 6:22]. Proskunein, the verb used in these texts, means to fall down and worship, and is used in connection with the gods or their images.
The first miracle was an exorcism (Mark 1.21-26 [Mark 1:6]), setting one of his own people free from the power of Belial… The healing miracles restored to the community people who would have been excluded as ritually unfit: the disabled, the lepers, a woman who was bleeding. This was the great ingathering of the Jubilee.
The third entry is Barker’s general frame, not her comment on this passage: her example there is the Capernaum exorcism, not the Gadarene. It is set here because it is what makes a man loosed from chains and restored to his community legible as Jubilee release rather than a cure.