The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 237

while Gergese. was the name of a little town, identified with the present Kerze., on the Wady Seme.kh, opposite Magdale., Either the territory adjacent was named after one or other of these towns, or St. Mark and St. Luke give a general indication of the district that we.s the scene of the miracle, when they call it the country of the Gadarenes; while St. Matthew gives the exact name, when he places it in the country of the Ger- gesenes. Dr. Thomson, in 'The Land and the Book,' says, "The city itself where it was wrought was evidently on the shore.... And in this Gersa, or Chersa, we have a posi- tion which fulfils every requirement of the narratives, and with a name so near that in Matthew as to be in itself a strong corroboration of the truth of this identification. It is within a few rods of the shore, and an immense mountain rises directly above it, in which e.re ancient tombs, out of some of which the two men possessed of the devils may have issued to meet Jesus. The lake is so near the base of the mountain, that the swine, rushing madly down it, could not stop, but would be hurried on into the water and drowned.. , . 'l'ake your stand a little south of this Chersa.. A great herd of swine, we will suppose, is feeding on this mountain that towers above it. They are seized with a sudden panic, rush madly down the almost perpendicular declivity, those behind tumbling over and thrusting forward those before; and, as there is neither time nor space to recover on the narrow shelf between the base and the lake, they are crowded headlong into the water and perish." The name Gergesa has led to the suppo- sition that the Girgashites, one of the seven Canaanitish nations, originally occupied this territory. Be this as it may, the district was pleasantly situated east and south- east of the Sea of Galilee, and the towns of Gadara and Gergesa were flourishing. The former was much the larger, and, according to Josephus, was rich-he says, "Many of the citizens of Gadara were rich men "-while that of Gergesa was of considerable importance. 2. .A sad contrast. We cannot forbear noticing, as we pass, how much wretchedness may exist at the same time and in the same place with material wealth and mercantile prosperity, and amid all the beauties of nutural scenery. This world itself all through is a strange mixture of mercy and of wrath; of the beautiful and the terrible ; of plenty and of poverty ; of sorrow and of joy ; of sunshine and of shower. No April day was ever more variable. Here, in the country of the Gadarenes, with its well-to-do and wealthy inhabitants, and their profitable herds of swine, were two wretched creatures in extreme misery, both mental and bodily. While others bought and sold e.nd got gain, these creatures were a terror to themselves aud all around. While others occupied comfortable dwellings, these unfortunates tenanted sepulchral caverns which abounded in the district, and of which, as we have seen, some remain to the present day. While others were decently clad, or even gorgeously attired, these miserable individuals refused the decency of raiment. While others went at large, enjoying the sweets of lire and that liberty which makes life sweet, these demouiucs had to be bound with chains aud fetters (,r,/6,m, equivalent to shackles for thti feet, aud a.71.o,r«ri, equivalent to chains in general), 3. The number accounted for. St. Matthew mentions two; St. Mark and St. Luke speak of one. How are we to explain this? The one mentioned by two of the evangtilists was fiercer than his fellow; he was wilder and worse than the other. Or perhaps he had belonged to a higher class in society, and had moved in a better rank of life ; or perhaps his position had been in some respect more prominent, whether owing to wealth, or prol'ession, or education; and so the calamity that had befallen him was more conspicuous, and he himself better known, Somethiug of this sort seems hinted at by St. Luke, when he speaks of the demoni::i.c who met Jesus, as" a certain man out of the city." At all events, from auy or all these ce.uses St. Luke separates his cnse from the other, und singles him out from his comrade in affliction. 4 . .A distinct feature added by each eva1,gelist. St. Matthew tells us that they made the way impassable for travellers; St. Luke, that he was with- out clothing; aud St. .Mark, in the passage specially under consideration, that he cried night and day, and cut himself with stones. St. Matthew's narrative of this case is somewhat meagre, St. Luke's fuller, and St. Mark's more circumstantial than either. 5. The period in particular of demoniac possession. That demoniac possession wa~ distinct from disease, or lunacy, or epilepsy, is sufficiently evident from a s_ingle Scrip- ture, namely, Matt. iv. 24, where we read that they "brought unto h1ru nil sick people that were taken with divers dis£:ases and torments, and those which were pos- aessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy ; ancl he 234 THE GOSPEL ACCORD! NG TO ST. MARK.