Matthew 8:31
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
So the devils sought him, saying, If you cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
American King James Version (AKJV)
So the devils sought him, saying, If you cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And the demons besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And the evil spirits made strong prayers to him, saying, If you send us out, let us go into the herd of pigs.
Webster's Revision
So the demons besought him, saying, If thou expellest us, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
World English Bible
The demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs."
English Revised Version (ERV)
And the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine.
Definitions for Matthew 8:31
Clarke's Matthew 8:31 Bible Commentary
Suffer us to go away - Επιτρεψον ημιν απελθειν: this is the common reading; but αποστειλον ημας, send us away, appears more likely to be genuine. This latter reading Griesbach has adopted, on the authority of three ancient MSS., the Coptic, Sahidic, Ethiopic, Syriac, all the Arabic, Saxon, most of the Itala, and the Vulgate. Send us away seems to express more fully the absolute power Jesus Christ had over them - permission alone was not sufficient; the very power by which they were to go away, must come from Christ himself! How vain was the boast of Satan, Matthew 4:9, when we find he could not possess the body of one of the vilest animals that God has made, without immediate authority from the Most High! Since a demon cannot enter even into a swine without being sent by God himself, how little is the power or malice of any of them to be dreaded by those who have God for their portion and protector!
Wesley's Matthew 8:31 Bible Commentary
8:31 He said, Go - A word of permission only, not command.