Luke 8:31

“And they besought him, etc.] 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…”

“See this passage explained in the Matthew 8:23-34 notes, and Mark 5:1-20 notes. return to 'Top of Page'”

“The abyss - That is, the bottomless pit. Luke 8:32”

“8:31 the bottomless pit: The Greek word abussos means “bottomless” and often refers to the underworld prison of evil spirits or fallen angels (Rev 9:1-2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3; cp. 2 Pet 2:4). The metaphor is taken from the apparently bottomless depth of the ocean (the ancients had no means for sounding the ocean depths, so to them it was bottomless).”

“they: Luk 8:28; Job 1:11, Job 2:5; Phi 2:10, Phi 2:11 the deep: "The abyss," says Dr. Doddridge, "the prison in which many of these fallen spirits are detained; and to which some, who may, like these, have been permitted for a while to range at large, are sometimes by Divine justice and power remanded." Mat 25:41; Rev 9:2, Rev 19:20, Rev 20:2, Rev 20:3, Rev 20:14, Rev 20:15 Luke 8:32”