Matthew 8:30 (GNV)

Passage

Nowe there was, afarre off from them, a great heard of swine feeding.

Nearby Context

Matthew 8:28 And when he was come to the other side into ye countrey of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with deuils, which came out of the graues very fierce, so that no man might goe by that way.

Matthew 8:29 And beholde, they cryed out, saying, Iesus the sonne of God, what haue we to do with thee? Art thou come hither to tormet vs before ye time?

Matthew 8:30 Nowe there was, afarre off from them, a great heard of swine feeding.

Matthew 8:31 And the deuils besought him, saying, If thou cast vs out, suffer vs to goe into the heard of swine.

Matthew 8:32 And he said vnto them, Go. So they went out and departed into the heard of swine: and beholde, the whole heard of swine ranne headlong into the sea, and died in the water.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "nowe", "afarre", "great", "heard", "swine", and "feeding". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "nowe" and "afarre", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 29's "And beholde they cryed out saying Iesus..." into verse 31's "And the deuils besought him saying If...", so "nowe" and "afarre" 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 "nowe" and "afarre" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.