Text:

Verse 12. After auton ‘him’ Textus Receptus adds pantes hoi daimones ‘all the demons’ which is omitted by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

ēn … boskomenē ‘it was … feeding’: according to Marcan usage, the two are to be taken together as a single verbal phrase (cf. ēn esthōn ‘he was eating’ in 1.6).

boskō (5.14) ‘graze,’ ‘feed’ (in the passive, of livestock); ‘tend,’ ‘feed,’ (in the active, of herdsmen – v. 14).

agelē (5.13) choirōn (5.13, 16) ‘a herd of pigs’ (this would be in Gentile territory, on the east side of the Lake of Galilee – cf. Lagrange).

kai parekalesan auton legontes ‘and they begged him saying’: the subject is neuter ‘the unclean spirits’ and the nominative masculine participle legontes ‘saying’ must be taken in a general way, the concordance not being precise.

parakaleō (cf. 1.40) ‘beg,’ ‘entreat,’ ‘implore.’

pempson hēmas eis tous choirous ‘send us to the hogs.’

pempō (only here in Mark) ‘send.’

eis ‘into’ (American Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament, Moffatt), ‘among’ (Manson), or ‘to’ (Revised Standard Version, The Modern Speech New Testament, Berkeley, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada, Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale). The translation of this eis will depend on the translation of the next clause; ‘to,’ however, seems preferable here.

hina eis autous eiselthōmen ‘so that we might enter (into) them’: if hina here be taken to denote purpose ‘in order that,’ ‘so that,’ it would seem that eis in the former clause (see above) means ‘to,’ since eis here is manifestly ‘into.’ It is possible, however, to take hina in the imperative sense (as it is often used in the N.T.) and understand this second clause simply as a repetition of the first clause, which is imperatival (pempson ‘send’): ‘Send us to (into, among) the hogs, let us enter them’ (so Goodspeed, Translator’s New Testament, Revised Standard Version).

Translation:

In some languages careful distinctions are made in words designating a ‘herd,’ depending upon what types of animals are involved. (Compare the English use of herd of cattle, flock of geese, swarm of bees, and covey of quails.)

Swine must be a domesticated variety, or the following portion of the story will be incomprehensible. Where pigs are not known, a borrowed word may be used with a classifier, e.g. ‘animals called pigs,’ or some descriptive expression, if possible one already employed by the people, e.g. ‘queer deer,’ a phrase in use among the Barrow Eskimo.

Note that though the man is the subject of the entreaty in verse 10, the unclean spirits are specifically identified as the subject of the begging in verse 12.

Let us is equivalent to ‘permit us’ or ‘allow us.’

Was feeding may be rendered in terms of ‘being pastured’ or ‘hunting for something to eat’ (Tabasco Chontal).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .