Matthew 8:31 (YLT)

Passage

and the demons were calling on him, saying, `If thou dost cast us forth, permit us to go away to the herd of the swine;'

Nearby Context

Matthew 8:29 and lo, they cried out, saying, `What--to us and to thee, Jesus, Son of God? didst thou come hither, before the time, to afflict us?'

Matthew 8:30 And there was far off from them a herd of many swine feeding,

Matthew 8:31 and the demons were calling on him, saying, `If thou dost cast us forth, permit us to go away to the herd of the swine;'

Matthew 8:32 and he saith to them, `Go.' And having come forth, they went to the herd of the swine, and lo, the whole herd of the swine rushed down the steep, to the sea, and died in the waters,

Matthew 8:33 and those feeding did flee, and, having gone to the city, they declared all, and the matter of the demoniacs.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "demons", "calling", "saying", "thou", "dost", "cast", "forth", and "permit". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "demons" and "calling", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "And there was far off from them..." into verse 32's "and he saith to them Go And...", so "demons" and "calling" 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 "demons" and "calling" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.