Chapter XXIV.—Of the Lord’s Crossing the Lake on that Occasion on Which He Slept in the Vessel, and of the Casting Out of Those Devils Whom He Suffered to Go into the Swine; And of the Consistency of the Accounts Given by Matthew, Mark, and Luke of All that Was Done and Said on These Occasions.

55. “And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea.” And so the story goes on, until we come to the words, “And He came into His own city.”395    Matt. viii. 23-ix. 1. Those two narratives which are told by Matthew in continuous succession,—namely, that regarding the calm upon the sea after Jesus was roused from His sleep and had commanded the winds, and that concerning the persons who were possessed with the fierce devil, and who brake their bands and were driven into the wilderness,—are given also in like manner by Mark and Luke.396    Mark iv. 36; Luke viii. 22–37. Some parts of these stories are expressed, indeed, in different terms by the different writers, but the sense remains the same. This is the case, for example, when Matthew represents the Lord to have said, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”397    Matt. viii. 16. while Mark’s version is, “Why are ye fearful? Is it that ye have no faith?”398    Mark iv. 40. [The variations in the Greek text are numerous. Augustin gives necdum, which represents the rending followed in the Revised Version.—R.] For Mark’s word refers to that perfect faith which is like a grain of mustard seed; and so he, too, speaks in effect of the “little faith.” Luke, again, puts it thus: “Where is your faith?”399    Luke viii. 25. Accordingly, the whole utterance may perhaps have gone thus: “Why are ye fearful? Where is your faith, O ye of little faith?” And so one of them records one part, and another another part, of the entire saying. The same may be the case with the words spoken by the disciples when they awoke Him. Matthew gives us: “Lord, save us: we perish.”400    Matt. viii. 25. Mark has: “Master, carest Thou not that we perish?”401    Mark iv. 38. And Luke says simply, “Master, we perish.”402    Luke viii. 24. These different expressions, however, convey one and the same meaning on the part of those who were awaking the Lord, and who were wishful to secure their safety. Neither need we inquire which of these several forms is to be preferred as the one actually addressed to Christ. For whether they really used the one or the other of these three phraseologies, or expressed themselves in different words, which are unrecorded by any one of the evangelists, but which were equally well adapted to give the like representation of what was meant, what difference does it make in the fact itself? At the same time, it may also possibly have been the case that, when several parties in concert were trying to awake Him, all these various modes of expression had been used, one by one person, and another by another. In the same way, too, we may deal with the exclamation on the stilling of the tempest, which, according to Matthew, was, “What manner of man is this, that the winds and the sea obey Him?”403    Matt. viii. 27. according to Mark, “What man, thinkest thou, is this,404    Quis putas est iste. that both the wind and the sea obey Him?”405    Mark iv. 41. [The Greek text in Mark and Luke has nothing corresponding to “thinkest thou.” The Authorized Version, given above, has an unnecessary variation; “that,” “that,” “for.” The Greek particle is the same, and Augustin gives quia three times.—R.] and according to Luke, “What man, thinkest thou, is this?406    Quis putas hic est. for He commandeth both the winds and the sea,407    Mari. and they obey Him.” Who can fail to see that the sense in all these forms is quite identical? For the expression, “What man, thinkest thou, is this?” has precisely the same import with the other, “What manner of man is this?”408    Qualis est hic. And where the words “He commandeth” are omitted, it can at least be understood as a matter of course that the obedience is rendered to the person commanding.

56. Moreover, with respect to the circumstance that Matthew states that there were two men who were afflicted with the legion of devils which received permission to go into the swine, whereas Mark and Luke instance only a single individual, we may suppose that one of these parties was a person of some kind of superior notability and repute, whose case was particularly lamented by that district, and for whose deliverance there was special anxiety. With the intention of indicating that fact, two of the evangelists have judged it proper to make mention only of the one person, in connection with whom the fame of this deed had been spread abroad the more extensively and remarkably. Neither should any scruple be excited by the different forms in which the words uttered by the possessed409    Or, the devils—dæmonum. have been reproduced by the various evangelists. For we may either resolve them all into one and the same thing, or suppose them all to have been actually spoken. Nor, again, should we find any difficulty in the circumstance that with Matthew the address is couched in the plural number, but with Mark and Luke in the singular. For these latter two tell us at the same time, that when the man was asked what was his name, he answered that he was Legion, because the devils were many. Nor, once more, is there any discrepancy between Mark’s statement that the herd of swine was round about the mountain,410    Circa montem. [The correct Greek text is rendered “on the mountain side” in the Revised Version.—R.] and Luke’s, that they were on the mountain.411    In monte. For the herd of swine was so great that one portion of it might be on the mountain, and another only round about it. For, as Mark has expressly informed us, there were about two thousand swine.

CAPUT XXIV. De transfretatione ejus, ubi dormivit in navicula, et de expulsis daemoniis, quos permisit in porcos, quomodo ea quae gesta vel dicta sunt, conveniant inter Matthaeum, Marcum et Lucam.

55. Et ascendente eo in naviculam, secuti sunt eum discipuli ejus: et ecce motus magnus factus est in mari; usque ad illud ubi ait: Et venit in civitatem suam. Ista duo facta continuatim quae narrat Matthaeus de tranquillato mari, posteaquam ventis imperavit Jesus a somno excitatus, et de illis qui habebant saevum daemonium, ruptisque vinculis agebantur in desertum, similiter narrant Marcus et Lucas (Matth. VIII, 23-34, Marc. IV, 36; V, 17, et Luc. VIII, 22-37): verbis aliis dictae sunt ab alio atque alio quaedam sententiae, non tamen aliae, velut illud quod eum dicit dixisse Matthaeus, Quid timidi estis, modicae fidei? Marcus ita dicit, Quid timidi estis? necdum habetis fidem? id est, illam perfectam, velut granum sinapis: hoc ergo et ille ait, modicae fidei. Lucas autem, Ubi est fides vestra? Et totum quidem dici potuit, Quid timidi estis? Ubi est fides vestra? Modicae fidei. Unde aliud hic, aliud ille commemorat. Et illud quod excitantes eum dixerunt, Matthaeus sic, Domine, salva nos, perimus; Marcus, Magister, non ad te pertinet quia perimus? Lucas, Praeceptor, perimus: una eademque sententia est excitantium Dominum, volentiumque salvari; nec opus est quaerere quid horum potius Christo dictum sit. Sive enim aliquid horum trium dixerint, sive alia verba quae nullus Evangelistarum commemoravit, tantumdem tamen valentia ad eamdem sententiae veritatem, quid ad rem interest? Quanquam et hoc fieri potuit, ut pluribus eum simul excitantibus, omnia haec, aliud ab alio dicerentur. Item quod sedata tempestate dixerunt secundum Matthaeum, Qualis est hic, quia venti et mare obediunt ei? Secundum Marcum, Quis putas est iste, quia et ventus et mare obediunt ei? Secundum Lucam, quis putas hic est, quia et ventis imperat et mari, et obediunt ei? quis non videat unam esse sententiam? Tantumdem enim prorsus valet, Quis putas est iste? et, Qualis est hic? et ubi non est dictum, imperat, utique consequenter intelligitur, quia imperanti obeditur.

56. Quod vero Matthaeus duos dicit fuisse, qui legionem illam daemonum patiebantur, quae in porcos ire permissa est, Marcus autem et Lucas unum commemorant: intelligas unum eorum fuisse personae alicujus clarioris et famosioris, quem regio illa maxime dolebat, et pro cujus salute plurimum satagebat. Hoc volentes significare duo Evangelistae, solum commemorandum judicaverunt, de quo facti hujus fama latius praeclariusque fragraverat. Nec quod verba daemonum diverse ab Evangelistis dicta sunt, habet aliquid scrupuli; cum vel ad unam redigi sententiam, vel omnia dicta possint intelligi. Nec quia pluraliter 1105 apud Matthaeum, apud illos autem singulariter loquitur; cum et ipsi narrent quod interrogatus quid vocaretur, legionem se esse respondit, eo quod multa essent daemonia. Nec quod Marcus dixit circa montem fuisse gregem porcorum, Lucas autem in monte, quidquam repugnat. Grex enim porcorum tam magnus fuit, ut aliquid ejus esset in monte, aliquid circa montem. Erant enim duo millia porcorum, sicut Marcus expressit.