Now there was there nigh unto the {e} mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

(e) This whole country is for the most part very hilly, for the mountains of Galeed run through it.

People's New Testament

5:11 Nigh unto the mountains. At Gersa the mountain rises near the sea.

A great herd of swine. Either the property of Gentiles, or of Jews who disobeyed the law of Moses for gain.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. Now there was there, nigh unto the mountains-rather, "to the mountain," according to what is clearly the true reading. In Mt 8:30, they are said to have been "a good way off." But these expressions, far from being inconsistent, only confirm, by their precision, the minute accuracy of the narrative.

a great herd of swine feeding-There can hardly be any doubt that the owners of these were Jews, since to them our Lord had now come to proffer His services. This will explain what follows.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:1-20 Some openly wilful sinners are like this madman. The commands of the law are as chains and fetters, to restrain sinners from their wicked courses; but they break those bands in sunder; and it is an evidence of the power of the devil in them. A legion of soldiers consisted of six thousand men, or more. What multitudes of fallen spirits there must be, and all enemies to God and man, when here was a legion in one poor wretched creature! Many there are that rise up against us. We are not a match for our spiritual enemies, in our own strength; but in the Lord, and in the power of his might, we shall be able to stand against them, though there are legions of them. When the vilest transgressor is delivered by the power of Jesus from the bondage of Satan, he will gladly sit at the feet of his Deliverer, and hear his word, who delivers the wretched slaves of Satan, and numbers them among his saints and servants. When the people found that their swine were lost, they had a dislike to Christ. Long-suffering and mercy may be seen, even in the corrections by which men lose their property while their lives are saved, and warning given them to seek the salvation of their souls. The man joyfully proclaimed what great things Jesus had done for him. All men marvelled, but few followed him. Many who cannot but wonder at the works of Christ, yet do not, as they ought, wonder after him.