Luke 8:34 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

NIV: When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,

NASB: Now when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported everything in the city, and in the country.

CSB: When the men who tended them saw what had happened, they ran off and reported it in the town and in the countryside.

NLT: When the herdsmen saw it, they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran.

KJV: When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.

NKJV: When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

The pig herders have a problem. They watched helplessly as thousands of their animals (Mark 5:13) suddenly ran down the steep hill and into the Sea of Galilee where they all drowned (Luke 8:33). The men don't own the pigs; they're just tending them. They need to spread the word, not only because it's an incredible story, but because they need corroboration that they're not responsible for the loss of the herd. Matthew says that the herdsmen told the people in the city "everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men" (Matthew 8:33).

Again, Westerners who like detail are flummoxed by the lack of information on their exact location. Those details are irrelevant to Luke's purposes. All we can say is they are close to the east coast of the Sea of Galilee and near to a city; the herders can run there and witnesses can run back in a fairly short amount of time (Matthew 8:33–34).

When the people arrive, they don't mention the pigs. They're much more interested in the fact that the man who had been possessed by a legion of demons is "sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind" (Luke 8:35). Jesus seems to be using the pigs so that everyone in the district can see that this man has been rescued. When He returns to Galilee, He will ask who had touched His robe to publicly praise a woman's faith and declare to the crowd that she is clean (Luke 8:45–48).

Luke 8:26–39 records a man's rescue from a legion of demons. This comes just as Jesus has saved the disciples from chaos and nature. The rescued man believes, having seen the light and heard the message (Luke 8:15–18). The townspeople don't listen and are filled with fear. When the once-chained man begs to stay with Jesus, Jesus instead commissions him to spread the good news he has heard and experienced, becoming the apostle to the entire district. Next, Jesus shows His power over sickness and death (Luke 8:40–56) before imbuing that power to His disciples (Luke 9:1–6). Mark also records Jesus' power over Legion while Matthew notes there were two possessed men (Matthew 8:28–34; Mark 5:1–20).

Luke 8 includes portions of three sections of Jesus' Galilean Ministry. The women who support Jesus' ministry bridge the faithful outcasts of chapter 7 to the sower who spreads the news of God's kingdom (Luke 8:1–3). Luke 8:4–18 includes the parables of the sower and the lamp under the jar. These illustrate the importance of hearing Jesus' message with a mind to believe and obey. Luke 8:19–56 presents different faith reactions when Jesus' life, power, and authority elicit questions about His identity.

This passage continues Luke's pattern in the account of Jesus' Galilean ministry: alternating calls to discipleship with stories that describe the discipleship He expects. In Luke 6:17, Jesus transitioned from calling and training the Twelve to a more general call; in Luke 7, Jesus interacted specifically with those with less privilege in society. Chapter 8 reveals how people react when Jesus reveals who He is, mostly through miracles. In Luke 9:18–50, Jesus returns to intense discipleship of the Twelve to give them courage and faith, preparing them for the journey to Jerusalem and what they will witness there.

Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10) and a physician (Colossians 4:14). Unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, Luke writes his gospel as an historian, rather than as a first-hand eyewitness. His extensive writings also include the book of Acts (Acts 1:1–3). These are deliberately organized, carefully researched accounts of those events. The gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke's Gentile perspective presents Christ as a Savior for all people, offering both forgiveness and direction to those who follow Him.