Legion (demon)
Legion, also the demon of Gadara, or ( translated) Many refers to a mention in the New Testament of the Bible demonic appearance, which is also referred to as "swine episode". In the Gospels of Mark and Luke, a man describes possessed by many demons. In contrast, reported the Gospel according to Matthew of two demon-possessed, moreover, the name "Legion " is not used.
The history
According to the Biblical narrative, Jesus traveled through "the territory of Gadara " (according to Matthew, Mark and Luke in "the territory of Gerasa " ), met the / the possessed and spoke to the demons.
In the Gospel according to Mark, we read:
And he asked him, What is thy name? And he saith unto him, My name is Legion, for we are many. ( Mk 5.9 ELB )
Similarly, in the Gospel according to Luke:
Jesus asked him, What is thy name? He replied: Legion. For he was possessed by many demons. ( Lk 8,30 ELB )
The demons identified Jesus as "Son of God " and ask him not to send them to hell (Luke 8.31 EU). In fact, in the Greek original texts is not a word for the afterlife, such as Sheol, Gehenna, Hades or Tartarus. In Mark 5:10, the Greek word Choras is used which is with, area translated ', but actually more accurately describes an empty space. In Luke 8:31 is the Abyss, a bottomless depth.
Jesus cast out demons and came at the same time her request after he allowed them to retract into a herd of swine. The 2000 swine then stormed into the Sea of Galilee, where they drowned. The pigs fed them fled, and told the incident in the city, whereupon the citizens sought out the healed and Jesus, " be afraid " and asked Jesus to leave their region of the Decapolis. The healed man, Jesus wanted to join, but Jesus sent him out to publicize this story.
Interpretations
John Dominic Crossan believes the story could be a parable for the resistance against Roman rule. That would be an explanation of why each of Gadara, Gerasa and Gergesa be specified as a place of action in the Gospels: All three are synonymous with Caesarea, the location of the actual events of that time. This interpretation is not without a certain originality, but it is far from plausible: All three Synoptic Gospels locate the event at the Sea of Galilee, the " Sea of Galilee " - but Caesarea Maritima is located on the coast, in Samaria. Also, it is likely to undermine any Greek speaker, Caesarea to my and Gerasa ( as in Mark and Luke ) and Gadara to write ( as in Matthew ).
In his book Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus, Joseph Atwill describes a different interpretation. The story could thus an illustration by Titus Flavius Vespasian ( as the Messiah ) be its Roman legions fighting the Zealots and their uprising in Caesarea Maritima (see also Jewish War). The pigs may also be an allusion to the Legio X Fretensis who occupied Jerusalem from the year 70 and was among other things a boar as a symbol.