Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Chapter 8].
actually dead, service to Christ comes first.
8:22 {Leave the dead to bury their own dead} (\aphes tous nekrous
thapsai tous heaut•n nekrous\). The spiritually dead are always
on hand to bury the physically dead, if one's real duty is with
Jesus. Chrysostom says that, while it is a good deed to bury the
dead, it is a better one to preach Christ.
8:24 {But he was asleep} (\autos de ekatheuden\). Imperfect, was
sleeping. Picturesque scene. The Sea of Galilee is 680 feet below
the Mediterranean Sea. These sudden squalls come down from the
summit of Hermon with terrific force (\seismos megas\) like an
earthquake. Mark (Mr 4:37) and Luke (Lu 8:23) term it a
whirlwind (\lailaps\) in furious gusts.
8:25 {Save, Lord; we perish} (\Kurie, s•son, apollumetha\). More
exactly, "Lord, save us at once (aorist), we are perishing
(present linear)."
8:27 {Even the winds and the sea obey him} (\Kai hoi an•moi kai
h• thalassa aut•i hupakouousin\). A nature miracle. Even a sudden
drop in the wind would not at once calm the sea. "J. Weiss
explains that by 'an astonishing coincidence' the storm happened
to lull at the moment that Jesus spoke!" (McNeile). Some minds
are easily satisfied by their own stupidities.
8:28 {The country of the Gadarenes} (\ten ch•ran t•n Gadar•n•n\).
This is the correct text in Matthew while in Mr 5:1 and Lu
8:26 it is "the country of the Gerasenes." Dr. Thomson
discovered by the lake the ruins of Khersa (Gerasa). This village
is in the district of the city of Gadara some miles southeastward
so that it can be called after Gerasa or Gadara. So Matthew
speaks of "two demoniacs" while Mark and Luke mention only one,
the leading one. "{The tombs}" (\t•n mn•mei•n\) were chambers cut
into the mountain side common enough in Palestine then and now.
On the eastern side of the lake the precipitous cliffs are of
limestone formation and full of caves. It is one of the proofs
that one is a maniac that he haunts the tombs. People shunned the
region as dangerous because of the madmen.
8:29 {Thou Son of God} (\huie tou theou\). The recognition of
Jesus by the demons is surprising. The whole subject of
demonology is difficult. Some hold that it is merely the ancient
way of describing disease. But that does not explain the
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