Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
- KJV And, 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.
- NKJV And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.
- NASB And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they pleaded with Him to leave their region.
- NLT Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.
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
The whole town comes out and begs Jesus to leave their region. They prefer their comfort and livelihood over the presence of the One who delivers.
Overview
Rather than rejoicing at the men's freedom, the townspeople, perhaps fearing further loss like the pigs, ask Jesus to depart. Their reaction is a sobering picture of hearts that value earthly things above the Savior. It warns that the right response to Christ's power is worship and welcome, not rejection.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 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.”
- Luke 8:37–39Then 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.
- Job 21:14Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
- Mark 5:17–18And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region.
- Job 22:17They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’
- 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?”
- 1 Sam 16:4So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”
- Matt 8:29“What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
- 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!”
- 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.
- 1 Kgs 18:17When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
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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 8:34 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
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