Exploring the Meaning of Daimon in Greek

δαίμων refers to a demon and appears in two Gospel scenes where demons speak directly to Jesus about being sent into a herd of pigs. In both passages the word functions in direct speech, marking a collective group that pleads for permission and a destination.

Occurrences

“The demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs.”” (Matthew 8:31)

Here δαίμων identifies the speakers as “the demons,” a plural group acting together in a single request. The verse presents them as capable of addressing Jesus (“begged him, saying”) and of making a conditional plea tied to an anticipated action: “If you cast us out….” Within the sentence, the word anchors the exchange in a confrontation where removal is expected (“cast us out”), and where the demons frame their request around permission (“permit us”) and relocation (“to go away into the herd of pigs”). The phrasing “permit us” places the demons in a subordinate posture, not merely describing their existence but showing their constrained agency in the moment. The reference to “the herd of pigs” supplies the concrete setting into which their request is directed; δαίμων is the term that connects the speakers to that movement from one place to another.

“All the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them.”” (Mark 5:12)

In Mark the word again labels the speakers collectively, intensified by the inclusion of “All”: “All the demons begged him….” The demons’ request is expressed with two coordinated verbs: “Send us into the pigs” and a purpose clause, “that we may enter into them.” δαίμων thus frames a scenario in which demons are portrayed as seeking an assigned destination (“Send us”) and an entry (“enter into them”), language that emphasizes movement and indwelling. As in the Matthew occurrence, the request is cast as pleading (“begged him”), but Mark’s wording highlights both the totality of the group and the intended result of their being sent. The object “the pigs” functions as the target of their requested transfer, and δαίμων supplies the identity of those who desire that transfer.

Sense and Usage

Across these two occurrences, δαίμων consistently names a group of demons who speak in the first person plural (“us”) while being described in the third person (“the demons”). This interplay—narrator label on the one hand, direct self-referential speech on the other—makes the word more than a bare label: it situates the dialogue as an encounter between Jesus and a collective demonic presence acting with shared intent.

The demons’ speech presents several recurring features tied to the word’s use. First, δαίμων is associated with petitioning language: “begged him” in both verses. The demons are not depicted as initiating action unilaterally; instead, their words stress request, permission, and sending. Second, the word is linked to displacement. In Matthew, the demons anticipate being “cast…out” and ask to “go away into the herd of pigs.” In Mark, they ask to be “Send…into the pigs” with the explicit aim “that we may enter into them.” The scenes therefore connect δαίμων with forced removal and attempted re-location, with the pigs serving as the requested destination.

In both passages, the plural form (“the demons”) is central. The narrative does not focus on a single demon speaking alone; it portrays a plurality that makes a unified plea. Mark reinforces this plurality by adding “All,” portraying the demonic presence as comprehensive within the immediate situation. The word’s usage thus carries a corporate dimension: the demons speak and act as a group, expressing a shared preference about where they will go.

The request itself clarifies the demons’ perceived constraints in these encounters. In Matthew, the conditional “If you cast us out” acknowledges an impending expulsion and places the demons’ desire within that expectation. Their request “permit us” depicts their movement as dependent on authorization. In Mark, “Send us” similarly portrays relocation as something done to them, not merely chosen by them, even though they articulate the desired outcome. δαίμων, in these contexts, is the term that gathers these features—begging, being cast out, being sent, and entering—under the identity of “demons.”

The association with pigs is also prominent. The pigs appear not as incidental scenery but as the named destination of the demons’ request. Matthew uses “the herd of pigs,” foregrounding the animals as a collective, which parallels the collective “the demons.” Mark shortens to “the pigs” and then adds “enter into them,” directly connecting the demons’ intended movement with the animals themselves. The word δαίμων is therefore embedded in a set of concrete spatial relations: out from one place, into another; away from their current location, into a herd.

Because both occurrences occur inside quoted speech, the word’s narrative force is heard through the demons’ own urgent language. The repeated pattern “begged him, saying” frames δαίμων with immediacy and insistence. The demons’ concern is practical and directional: where they will go when expelled. In that way, these uses portray demons not as an abstract category but as active speakers within the story, engaged in a negotiation for a specific outcome.

Imagery

In these passages δαίμων is tied to the vivid image of a herd of pigs as the requested place of departure and entry. The word’s imagery emerges from the tension between being “cast…out” and being “sent…into” something else, with the demons’ begging voice and the concrete destination combining to create a scene of urgent transfer and contested space.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).