The story which is most often referred to as the “Miracle of the Swine” is found in Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-19; and Luke 8:26-39. The Mark chapter 5 account is as follows:
1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the [Gergesenes].
2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. Mark 5: 1-19.
The introductory/heading photo is of the 5th-7th century Byzantine monastery at the site near where the miracle of the swine occurred; and where the legion of devils were cast out. A Roman Legion consisted of up to 6,000 infantry soldiers, that is a lot of devils in one human body. Also, devils cannot possess animals without divine permission.
Gadarenes vs Gergesenes. Where did this miracle occur? The gospels all agree that it was on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. While the King James Version of Mark and Luke quotes the location as Gadarenes (Gadara which is in Jordan 8 miles distance from the Sea of Galilee), in Matthew it is quoted as Gergesenes, on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Additionally, the earliest Greek manuscripts for Matthew, Mark and Luke all quote the place as Gergesa which is at the site shown above. Only later manuscripts which were used by the King James translators use the place name of Gadara. Also, a very early Christian scholar, Origen (184-253 AD), identified Geresa (later called Kursi) as the correct site.
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