Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them.
Parallel translations
- KJV And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
- BSB In the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding.
- NKJV Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.
- NASB Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding at a distance from them.
- NLT There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance.
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
Matthew notes a large herd of pigs feeding nearby. The detail, in Gentile territory, sets up the demons' request and their destruction.
Overview
The presence of pigs marks this as Gentile land, since swine were unclean to Jews. The herd becomes the object of the demons' plea and the visible evidence of their malice. The simple observation prepares for the dramatic demonstration of how thoroughly Jesus subdues the forces that destroy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Lev 11:7The pig, because he has a split hoof, and is cloven-footed, but doesn’t chew the cud, he is unclean to you.
- Deut 14:8The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat their meat, and you shall not touch their carcasses.
- Mark 5:11Now on the mountainside there was a great herd of pigs feeding.
- Isa 65:3–4a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
- Luke 8:32Now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into those. He allowed them.
- Isa 66:3He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig’s blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations:
- Luke 15:15–16He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 8:30 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.