8:31

the demons: At this point, the pronoun in Greek switches from “he” to “they,” referring to the many demons who were speaking through the man. For clarity, the Berean Standard Bible translates this pronoun as the demons.

kept begging Jesus: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as kept begging means to “plead for” something. This word is used when a request is earnestly desired. The Greek verb form probably indicates repeated action. It implies that the demons begged Jesus many times. Some ways to translate this are:

begged him repeatedly (New International Version)
-or-
were now begging (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
were begging (New American Standard Bible)

not to order them to go into the Abyss: This request implies that the demons expected Jesus to command them to go into the Abyss. To obey this command, the demons would also have to leave the man. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:

they begged him that ⌊after they left the man⌋ he would not order them to go into the Abyss

Abyss: The word Abyss is a transliteration of the Greek word abussos. It means a very deep pit, and it may imply a pit that has no bottom. Here this word refers to the place where unclean spirits are kept while waiting for their final punishment. The Jews thought of this place as being deep under the ground. Some ways you could translate this are:

the bottomless pit (God’s Word)
-or-
the prison for evil spirits
-or-
the place where God keeps evil spirits for punishment
-or-
the deep pit, where they would be punished (Contemporary English Version)

You may want to include a note to explain more about the Abyss. For example:

Jews believed that the place of the dead was deep underground. It was also the place where unclean spirits were kept while they waited for the day when God would punish them.

General Comment on 8:31

In some languages it may be best to translate the demons’ request in this verse as direct speech. For example:

they begged him repeatedly, “Do not send us(excl) into the Abyss!”

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