What Does Matthew 8:32 Mean?
And he said to them, Go. And they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd charged down the cliff into the sea, and died in the waters.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.THE KEY
The spirits’ departure is not the end of the violence: the whole herd they enter rushes toward destruction.
THE MEANING
The spirits leave the man and enter the herd; then every animal rushes down the steep slope into the sea and dies. The verse holds one person’s deliverance beside the destruction of the herd, making the cost visible.
THE ROOT
ἀπώλοντο
apōlonto
GROWS FROM
ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), from ὄλλυμι (ollymi)
To destroy, perish, or lose; in this verse, the herd perishes.
“died” in this verse is apōlonto. The Greek verb family behind “perished” also describes being lost. Destruction and lostness remain connected, while the verse makes the herd’s loss concrete in its plunge into the waters.
ALSO GROWS
apōleia: Destruction, ruin, loss.
ἀπώλεια
This related noun keeps destruction and loss within one word family, showing the resonance beneath the English endpoint “perished.”
apolōlōs: Lost; perished.
ἀπολωλώς
Luke 15:24 uses this form for the son who is found, opening a contrast between his lostness and the herd’s death.
THE PATTERN
What flows from an inner source makes that source visible through its direction and outcome.
Above every watch you keep, guard your heart, for from it flow the springs of life.So every good tree makes good fruit, but the rotten tree makes evil fruit.Does the same spring gush from the same opening, the sweet and the bitter?THE THREAD
For this son of mine was dead, and is living again; he had lost his way, and is found." And they began to be glad.Matthew’s “perished” and Luke’s “was lost” belong to the Greek verb family ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi, “perish” or “be lost”). The herd’s end is death, while Luke’s lost son is found: the shared word brings two different endings into view.
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