And behold (Good News Translation “So”): see comments on 1.20; 8.2, 32.

All the city is a Semitic way of referring to the people of a city: “everyone in the city” or “almost everyone in the city,” since in this construction all frequently means “many” or “almost all.”

Everyone came out, which may more naturally be “went out of (the city)” or “left (the city).”

Meet probably does not have the idea of “become acquainted with.” More likely is the idea of “encounter.”

And when … their neighborhood: in some languages it may be necessary to shift to direct discourse; for example, “they begged him, ‘Please go away and leave our territory!’ ” Neighborhood can be “territory,” “region,” or “area.”

For comments on begged, see verse 31.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .