Matthew 8:32 (WEB)
He said to them, “Go!” They came out and went into the herd of pigs; and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and died in the water.
Fathers and councils · 32
Augustine of Hippo
“Let us desire to be heard unto eternal life, by reason of our longing, through which we say, “Send out Thy Light and Thy Truth.”” — editor's note: Matt. viii. 31, 32.
Read the whole commentChapter XXIV.—Of the Lord’s Crossing the Lake on that Occasion on Which He Slept in the Vessel, and of the Casting Out of Those Devils Whom He Suffered to Go into the Swine; And of the Consistency of the Accounts…
Read the whole comment“…in the expulsion of the devils in the country of the Gerasenes,—two events which Matthew has already recalled and introduced at an earlier stage of his record.” — editor's note: Matt. viii. 23–34.
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Tertullian
“He set him over “swine,” to feed that flock familiar to demons, where he would not be master of a supply of vital food, and at the same time would see others (engaged) in a divine work, having abundance of heavenly bread.” — editor's note: See Matt. viii. 30–34; Mark v. 11–14; Luke viii. 32, 33.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“Or of the third class, who through ignorance and, its consequence, temerity, rush headlong against every form of doctrine in swinish fashion, and trample under foot the fair pearls of the truth?” — editor's note: S. Matt. vii. 6; viii. 32.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Because there were who thought Christ to be a man, therefore the daemons came to proclaim His divinity, that they who had not seen the sea raging and again still, might hear the daemons crying; “And when he was come…
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
Gerasa is a town of Arabia beyond Jordan, close to Mount Gilead, which was in the possession of the tribe of Manasseh, not far from the lake of Tiberias, into which the swine were precipitated.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Whereas Matthew relates that there were two who were afflicted with daemons, but Mark and Luke mention only one, you must understand that one of them was a person of note, for whom all that country was in grief, and…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or; Luke and Mark chose to speak of one who was more grievously afflicted; whence also they add a further description of his calamity; Luke saying that he brake his bonds and was driven into the desert; Mark telling…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
This is no voluntary confession followed up by a reward to the utterer, but one extorted by the compulsion of necessity. A runaway slave, when after long time he first beholds his master, straight thinks only of…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
God was so far known to them as it was His pleasure to be known; and He pleased to be known so far as it was needful. He was known to them therefore not as He is Life eternal, and the Light which enlightens the good,…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
But both the Devil and the daemons may be said to have rather suspected, than known, Jesus to be the Son of God.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
When the daemons cry out, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?” we must suppose them to have spoken from suspicion rather than knowledge. “For had they known him, they never would have suffered the…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
But as often as they were tortured by His excellent power, and saw Him working signs and miracles, they supposed Him to be the Son of God; when they saw Him hungry and thirsty, and suffering such things, they…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
That this should not be thought to be flattery, they cry out what they were experiencing, “Art thou come to torment us before the time?”
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Either because that came upon them unexpectedly, which they looked for indeed, but supposed more distant; or because they thought their perdition consisted in this, that when known they would be despised; or because…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
For the presence of the Saviour is the torment of daemons.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
They could not say they had not sinned, because Christ had found them doing evil, and marring the workmanship of God; whence they supposed that for their more abundant wickedness the time of the last punishment which…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Though the words of the daemons are variously reported by the three Evangelists, yet this is no difficulty; for they either all convey the same sense, or may be supposed to have been all spoken. Nor again because in…
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
For the Devil knows that of himself he has no power to do any thing, because it is not of himself that he exists as a spirit.
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
They did not ask to be sent into men, because they saw Him by whose excellence they were tortured existing in human shape. Nor did they ask to be sent into sheep, because sheep are by God’s institution clean animals,…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Jesus did not say this, as though persuaded by the daemons, but with many designs therein. One, that He might shew the mighty power to hurt of these daemons, who were in possession of the two men; another, that all…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Saviour bade them go, not as yielding to their request, but that by the death of the swine, an occasion of man’s salvation might be offered. “But they went out, (to wit, out of the men,) and went into the swine;…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
The daemons destroyed the swine because they are ever striving to bring men into distress, and rejoice in destruction. The greatness of the loss also added to the fame of that which was done; for it was published by…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Otherwise; This request may have proceeded from humility as well as pride; like Peter, they may have held themselves unworthy of the Lord’s presence, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” [Luke 5:8]
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
Gerasa is interpreted ‘casting out the dweller,’ or, ‘a stranger approaching;’ this is the Gentile world which cast out the Devil from it; and which was first far off, but now made near, after the resurrection being…
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Matthew
The two daemoniacs are also a type of the Gentile world; for Noah having three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, Shem’s posterity alone was taken into the inheritance of God, while from the other two sprang the nations of…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
Thus the daemons held the two men among the tombs without the town, that is, without the synagogue of the Law and the Prophets; that is, they infested the original seats of the two nations, the abodes of the dead,…
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
It is not without cause that he speaks of them as dwelling among the tombs; for what else are the bodies of the faithless but sepulchres of the dead, in which the word of God dwells not, but there is enclosed the…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
By their coming forth to meet Him is signified the willingness of men flocking to the faith. The daemons seeing that there is no longer any place left for them among the Gentiles, pray that they may be suffered to…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or; The swine are they that delight in filthy manners; for unless one live as a swine, the devils do not receive power over him; or at most, only to try him, not to destroy him. That the swine were sent headlong into…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or; the town is a type of the Jewish nation, which having heard of Christ’s works goes forth to meet its Lord, to forbid Him to approach their country and town; for they have not received the Gospel.
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Cross-references · 4
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 8:28–34 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 8:28–34 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 8:28–34 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in John Chrysostom on Matthew 8:28–34 (2) (Catena Aurea).