Verses 11-13
Evidently the demons requested permission to enter the swine so they could destroy them. Jesus’ permission resulted in everyone seeing the great destructive power and number of the demons, and that the man had experienced an amazing deliverance. Only Mark recorded the number of swine.
"Few animals are so individually stubborn as swine, yet the rush was simultaneous." [Note: Matthew B. Riddle, "The Gospel According to Mark," in International Revision Commentary on the New Testament, p. 60.]
"The story of the deliverance of a man becomes the story of the deliverance of a land." [Note: Guelich, p. 283.]
Some interpreters believe the owners of the swine were Jews who disregarded the Mosaic prohibition against eating pork (Leviticus 11:7). Jesus would then have been punishing them by allowing their pigs to perish. However this explanation is unlikely because of the population composition of the Decapolis region of which this area was a part (cf. Matthew 8:31).
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