Context: The author records an incident from Jesus' early ministry in the area around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus and His disciples cross the sea and go into the countryside of the Gadarenes, a pagan section. Jesus is met and hailed by a dangerous maniac, who is too wild to be restrained even with chains and who lives in the tombs. The man, through the demons which possess him, recognizes Jesus as the "Son of the most high God." He tells Jesus that he is named Legion because of the many demoniac spirits inhabiting his body (an implication that the demons are like a large organized body of five or six thousand soldiers), and he pleads with Jesus not to send the demons out of the country. Jesus orders the demons to go into a herd of swine; the swine rush madly into the sea; and the terrified herdsmen flee to summon everyone in the city and in the countryside to come and see what has happened: