Matthew 8:29 (DRB)

Passage

And behold they cried out, saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

Nearby Context

Matthew 8:27 But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him?

Matthew 8:28 And when he was come on the other side of the water, into the country of the Gerasens, there met him two that were possessed with devils, coming out of the sepulchres, exceeding fierce, so that none could pass by that way.

Matthew 8:29 And behold they cried out, saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

Matthew 8:30 And there was, not far from them, a herd of many swine feeding.

Matthew 8:31 And the devils besought him, saying: If thou cast us out hence, send us into the herd of swine.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "cried", "saying", "thee", "jesus", "thou", "come", and "hither". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "cried", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 28's "And when he was come on the..." into verse 30's "And there was not far from them...", so "behold" and "cried" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "behold" and "cried" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.