pig

The word chazir is used for domestic and wild pigs. The domesticated pig was known in Egypt around 2500 B.C. and was probably domesticated in Canaan about that time too. Domestication of wild pigs seems to have coincided everywhere with the development of agriculture. Wild pigs were probably penned in large enclosures and fed scraps, thus keeping them away from planted fields. Later on, when full domestication had taken place, it was more usual for pigs to be herded rather than kept in pens. Pigs eat almost anything and herding did away with the necessity to feed them. It soon was noticed that the rooting activity of the pigs rid areas of tree roots and shrubs and promoted the growth of grass for grazing. So early swineherds herded the pigs into areas where future grazing was wanted, away from planted fields. Jews who kept pigs may not have done so with the idea of eating their meat, which was unclean, but to promote grazing grass and to sell the pigs to neighboring tribes.

Wild pigs, in the form of the European Boar Sus scrofus, were once abundant in Israel, especially in the Jordan Valley. Even now since neither Jews nor Moslems eat the meat of wild pigs, and thus do not hunt them, they can still be found in the Jordan Valley and in many other areas where there is both water and thick undergrowth.

The Greek words choiros and hueios mean “pig” or “pig meat”. The word hus means a female pig or sow.

The domesticated pigs of biblical times looked much more like wild pigs than the modern breeds of pig. They would have been brown or gray in color and fairly hairy. The young pigs probably had horizontal stripes.

Of all animals the pig was considered the most unclean.

In languages that differentiate between wild and domestic pigs, in Psalms 80:13 the word for a wild pig should be used. In 2 Peter 2:22, although the Greek specifies a female pig, the gender of the pig is not really important in the proverb. Many translations have simply “pig”.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Matthew 8:32)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 8:32:

  • Uma: “Yesus said: ‘Get out!’ Those demons really went out, they immediately entered in the pigs. From there, the pigs ran and went plunging from the edge/banks of the lake going into the water, they drowned [lit., died bloated].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa said, ‘Go now.’ So-then the demons came out of the people and entered into the bodies of the pigs. Immediately the herd of pigs ran down the hill to the cliff and into the lake and they all drowned.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “‘It can be,’ said Jesus, ‘go into them,’ and they went out and they went into the pigs. Now all the pigs, they ran to a cliff, and they jumped into the lake and they were all drowned.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘OK, go,’ said Jesus. So they abandoned the men and went to possess the pigs. Then the pigs all-ran going-downhill and then they fell into the lake and they drowned.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus replied, ‘Go ahead!’ The evil spirits left those two people and moved to that herd of pigs. Well, what else but those pigs ran straight to the cliff-like bank of the lake. They fell down from there and were all drowned.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Jesus gave permission to the evil spirits, saying: ‘Go on over there to where the pigs are then.’ Therefore the evil spirits left the men they had walked with, they went into the hearts of the pigs. Then the pigs started to run, they went rushing into the lake. All were drowned in the water.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Matthew 8:32

And he said to them, “Go”: in order to place greater emphasis on the command of Jesus, Good News Translation inverts the order: “ ‘Go,’ Jesus told them.” However, this will not be possible in all languages, and translators should use whatever order is most natural. Some will have to use indirect speech, as in “He told them they should go,” but effort should be made to place the emphasis on the command.

Them, of course, refers to the demons who spoke to him in verse 31, not to the men.

The demons came out, that is, they “left the men” or “went out of the men.” They then went into the pigs, or “entered the pigs,” or “took possession of the pigs.” Translators should use the normal expression for spirit possession in their language.

And behold: see comments on 1.20; 8.2. The expression is here used to focus attention on what happened when the demons went into the pigs. Perhaps this can be brought out by a phrase such as “At once” or “And then.”

The exact relation between the verbs rushed and perished is not clear. In Greek rushed is singular whereas perished is plural. It is possible that the herd is the subject of each verb, and most translations imply that this is the case. But is also quite possible that the function of the plural is to indicate that both the pigs and the demons were drowned. This would then affirm that at the command of Jesus the demons met their destruction before the day of the final judgment.

This can possibly be emphasized with a rendering such as “The whole herd of pigs rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and the pigs and demons were drowned.” But even without this being explicit, the implication is that the demons were destroyed. It is therefore probably enough to say that the herd was drowned.

As before, sea can be “lake.”

Bank is often translated as “cliff,” since it is rivers that have banks, not lakes. “Hillside” is also acceptable.

Good News Translation translates perished in the waters as “was drowned.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 8:32

Paragraph 8:32–34

8:32a

“Go!” He told them: The Berean Standard Bible places the words He told them after what Jesus said. In some languages, it may be more natural to place these words at the beginning of 8:32. For example:

And he said to them, “Go.” (English Standard Version)

Go!: The Greek word translated as Go! means “Go away” or “Depart.” By saying Go!, Jesus ordered the demons to leave the men. It is implied that he also gave them permission to enter the pigs.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

All right, go! (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Then go! (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

In some languages, it will be natural to translate this as indirect speech. For example:

He told them to go.

8:32b

they came out: This clause means that the demons came out of the two men. It refers to the demons no longer controlling the men.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

the demons came out of the men (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
they abandoned the men
-or-
they stopped controlling them and left

went into the pigs: This clause indicates that the demons entered into the pigs and began controlling them as they had been controlling the two men.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

entered the pigs (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
went and began controlling the pigs
-or-
went into the pigs and possessed them

8:32c

The Greek of 8:32c begins with a word that is often translated as “behold.” The Berean Standard Bible does not translate this word. It indicates that something extraordinary will happen. Here, the amazing event is that the pigs ran into the water and drowned.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

suddenly (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Unexpectedly

This word also occurs in 8:29a–b.

the whole herd rushed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rushed refers to running with no regard to safety.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

all the pigs ran recklessly
-or-
the whole herd charged (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
the whole herd rushed madly (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

the steep bank: This phrase indicates that the place where the pigs were feeding was on the side of a hill. The hill was very sloped. The pigs rushed down the steep slope directly into the water. They did not fall or jump off a cliff.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the steep slope (NET Bible)
-or-
the steep hillside (New Living Translation (2004))

8:32d

died in the waters: This phrase indicates that all the pigs died in the lake. The demons did not die.

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