ContradictionsReading order 413Bible context 2 min read
How many men were possessed with devils?
The shoreline encounter features two men in Matthew, while Mark and Luke narrate one man's approach.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Minor
- A local detail in a story, chronology, or inventory.
One narrated possessed man does not explicitly exclude Matthew's second participant in the parallel scene.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Mark and Luke describe one possessed man approaching Jesus
And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
Mark 5:1-2
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Mark 5
And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
Luke 8:26-27
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Luke 8