Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to depart from them, because great fear had taken hold of them. So He got into the boat and started back.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. He entered into the boat, and returned.
- KJV Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again.
- NKJV Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.
- NASB And all the people of the territory of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed by great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.
- NLT And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Overcome with fear, the people ask Jesus to leave, and He departs by boat. They prize their comfort and pigs over His presence.
Overview
Rather than welcoming the One who delivered the man, the people, gripped by fear, ask Jesus to go. Their request is a sobering picture of preferring the familiar to the Savior. Jesus honors their wish and withdraws, though not without leaving a witness behind.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Acts 16:39They came to appease them and led them out, requesting that they leave the city.
- Luke 5:8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
- 1 Kgs 17:18“O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”
- Job 21:14–15Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
- Mark 5:17And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region.
- Luke 9:5If anyone does not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that town, as a testimony against them.”
- Luke 8:28When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!”
- Luke 9:56And He and His disciples went on to another village.
- Luke 10:16Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
- Luke 10:10–11But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare,
- Matt 8:34Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.
- 1 Sam 6:20The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”
- Deut 5:25But now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us, and we will die, if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.
- 2 Sam 6:8–9Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah; so he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 8:37 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.