Luke 8:31

31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

Luke 8:31 in Other Translations

31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.

31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

31 The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.

31 And they begged Jesus desperately not to order them to the bottomless pit.

31 And they begged Him not to banish them to the abyss.

Luke 8:31 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 8:31

And they besought him
That is, all the devils, the whole legion of them, entreated Jesus, under whose power, and at whose dispose they were:

that he would not command them to go out into the deep;
meaning, not the deep waters of the sea, for thither they ran the swine at their own request; but the bottomless pit of hell, where others of these spirits lay in chains of darkness; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "into hell": they desired, that when they went out of this man, they might not be ordered thither, or remanded to their former prison; for they knew that if he gave the word of command, they must obey; but that they might be suffered to continue in that country, and range about on earth, or be any where, rather than in hell.

Luke 8:31 In-Context

29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.

31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission.

33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

Cross References

• 1. Rev 9:1,2,11; Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:1,3