Paragraph 8:34–39
8:34a
those tending the pigs: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as those tending the pigs is more literally “those who were herding” or “the herdsmen.” It refers to the men who took care of the pigs as their job. Some languages will have a specific word for “pig herders.”
This is the first time that the pig herders are mentioned in this story. Introduce them in a natural way in your language. Some ways to do this in English are:
Some men were there taking care of the pigs. They…
-or-
The men who had been tending the pigs…
saw what had happened: The text does not indicate exactly what the phrase what had happened refers to. At least these men saw that the pigs drowned. It is probably good to use a general expression here, as the Berean Standard Bible does.
8:34b
ran off: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ran off means “they ran away” or “they fled.” The herdsmen ran away because they were frightened by what had happened. This becomes clear in 8:35e and 8:37a–b. They did not run off because they were excited and happy that Jesus had healed the man with the demons.
reported this: The phrase reported this indicates that the herdsmen told people about what had happened. In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit what the herdsmen told or whom they told. For example:
reported everything that had happened
-or-
telling everyone about this
town and countryside: The town is not identified by name, but was probably Gerasa. See the note on “the region of the Gerasenes” at 8:26a. The countryside refers to the farms and small villages surrounding the town.
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