Luke 8:31

31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into 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 he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.)

30 Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him.

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

32 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave.

33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.