Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 8:28

"And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with demons, coming forth out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by that way." — Matthew 8:28 (ASV)

The locale of this miracle seems to have been in the district controlled by the town of Gadara, near the village of Gerasa, which lay about midpoint on the lake’s eastern shore (see comment on Mk 5:1). Jesus has withdrawn here, not for ministry, but to avoid the crowds (v.18). Yet there can be no rest as long as the hosts of darkness oppose him.

Matthew mentions two men in this story; Mark and Luke (8:26–37) only one. Presumably Matthew had independent knowledge of the second man. The violence of these demoniacs is more fully described by Mark and Luke.