Bible Strands
Luke 8:31
And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus stands before a man possessed by Legion and addresses the unclean spirits directly. The spirits plead with Him to halt His orders before sending them to the Abyss.
The words — The Greek παρεκάλουν (parekaloun) indicates repeated, urgent begging, while ἐπιτάξῃ (epitaxē) denotes an authoritative command. The text records the demons' persistent request to delay Jesus' directive to cast them into the Abyss.
The thread — The text notes the demons' fear of premature judgment, which aligns with Job 1:11 and Job 2:5 where harm requires divine permission. It also points forward to Matthew 25:41, which describes the prepared destination of the devil and his angels.
Why it lands — The verse establishes that Christ alone controls the timing and bounds of spiritual judgment. It requires the reader to acknowledge that demonic activity operates only within His permitted limits.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
Cross-references
- Matthew 25:41 Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- Job 1:11 But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- Job 2:5 But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- Luke 8:28 When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!”
- Philippians 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
- Revelation 9:1 Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.
- Revelation 9:11 They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon.
- Revelation 11:7 When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them.
- Revelation 17:8 The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.
- Revelation 19:20 But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.