And he departed, and began to announce in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
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Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
De Con. Evan., 2, 24: Though Matthew says that there were two, Mark and Luke mention one, that you may understand that one of them was a more illustrious person, concerning whose state that country was much afflicted.
de Con. Evan, ii, 24: What Mark here says, that the herd was about the mountain, and what Luke calls on the mountain, are by no means inconsistent. For the herd of swine was so large, that some part were on the mountain, the rest around it.It goes on: “And the devils besought Him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.”
In Marc., 2, 21: Geraza is a noted town of Arabia, across the Jordan, near mount Galaad, which the tribe of Manasseh held, not far from the lake of Tiberias, into which the swine were precipitated.
And how great is the impiety of the Jews, to say that He cast out devils by the prince of the devils, when the very devils confess that they have nothing in common with Him.
For it is a great torment for adevil to cease to hurt a man, and the more severely he possesses him, the more reluctantly he lets him go. For it goes on, “For He said unto Him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.”.
And He gave them leave, that by the killing of the swine, the salvation of men might be furthered.Chyrs., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. He wished to show publicly the fury which devils entertain against men, and that they would inflict much worse things upon men, if they were not hindered by Divine power; because, again, His compassion would not allow this to beshewn on men, He permitted them to enter into ...
Consider the unconquerable power of Christ; He makes Satan shake, for to him the words of Christ are fire and flame: as the Psalmist says, “The mountains melted at the presence of the Lord, that is, great and proud powers. There follows, “And He asked him, What isthy name?”
Nyss.: Now the assembly of the devils had prepared itself to resist the Divine power. But when He was approaching Who had power over all things, they proclaim aloud His eminentvirtue.Wherefore there follows, “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, saying”.
Mor., 37: For when we have perceived ever so little of the Divine knowledge, we are at once unwilling to return to human affairs, and seek for the quiet of contemplation; but the Lord commands that the mind should first toil hard at its work, and afterwards should refresh itself with contemplation.
Or they are choked in hell without any touch of mercy by the rushing on of an early death; which evils many persons thus avoid, for by the scourging of the fool, the wise is made more prudent.
But the man who is healed preached in Decapolis, where the Jews, who hang on the letter of the Decalogue, are being turned away from the Roman rule.
Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. Nevertheless the exact reading contains neither Gadarenes, nor Gerasines, but Gergesenes. For Gadara is a city of Judaea, which has no sea at all about it; and Geraza is a city of Arabia, having neither lake nor sea near it. And that the Evangelists may not be thought to have spoken so manifest a falsehood, wellacquainted as they were with the parts around Judaea, Gergese, from which come the Gergesenes, was an ancient city, now called Tiberias, around which is situated a considerable lake. It continues, “And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him”.
Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc., see Chrys.,Hom. in Matthew, 28: Or else, Mark and Luke relate what was most worthy of compassion, and for this reason they put down more at length what had happened to this man; for there follows, “no man could bind him, no, not with chains. "They therefore simply said, a “man possessed of a devil,” without taking heed to the number; or else, that hemight show the g...
See Aurea Catena in Matt., p.327:The devils entered not into the swine of their own will, but their asking for this concession was that is might be shown that they cannot hurt men without Divine permission. They did not ask to be sent into men, because they saw that He, by whose power they were tortured, bore a human form. Nor did they desire to be sent into the flocks, for they are clean animals offered up in the temple of God. But they desired to be sent into the swine, because no animal is more unclean than a hog, and devils always delight in filthiness. It goes on: “And forthwith Jesus gave them leave.”
The Lord indeed asks, not that He Himself required to know, but that the rest might know that there was amultitude of devils dwelling in him.
Also that by fighting with us, they may make us more expert. It goes on, “Now there was there about the mountain a great herd of swine feeding.”.
But amazed at the miracle, which they had heard, they were afraid, and for this reason they beseech Him to depart out of their borders; which is expressed in what follows: “And they began to pray Him to depart out of their coasts;” for they feared lest sometime or other they should suffer a like thing: for, saddened at the loss of their swine, they reject the presence of the Saviour.
For he feared lest some time or other the devils should find him, and enter into him a second time. But the Lord sends him back to his house, intimating to him, that though He Himself wasnot present, yet His power would keep him; at the same time also that he might be of use in the healing of others. Wherefore it goes on: “...
