5:16a
Those who had seen it: The phrase Those who had seen it refers to the people who saw Jesus deliver the man from the evil spirits. It also refers to the people who saw what happened to the pigs. These people were his disciples and the pig herders and maybe others who were not mentioned. Since the text does not specify exactly who saw what had happened, use a general expression. For example:
Those who had seen what happened (New Living Translation)
-or-
eyewitnesses (Revised English Bible)
5:16b–c
described what had happened to the demon-possessed man and also to the pigs: These verse parts mention two things that the eyewitnesses told the people. Some translations separate the two things with a dash. There is no dash in the Greek text, so you do not necessarily have to use one in your translation.
described what had happened… and also to the pigs: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as described means to tell fully and with some detail. Here in 5:16b–c the text indicates what the people told the others who had come to see what had happened. In some versions this information has already been given as the object of the verb “had seen” in 5:16a. Translate the whole verse in a natural way in your language. Here are some other examples in English:
Those who saw this told what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. (God’s Word)
-or-
Everyone who had seen what had happened told about the man and the pigs. (Contemporary English Version)
the demon-possessed man: See how you translated the similar expressions at 5:2b and 5:15b. If your expression is long, you might consider using a shorter expression to refer to the man throughout the rest of the story (5:18a and 5:20a). For example:
the man
-or-
the healed/freed man
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