My first thought on this pig thing was 2000 pigs! That’s a helluva lot of swine. Is it reasonable to think that an ancient swine herder could sustain 2000 pigs in Jordan? But I was able to find an example of one small farm family who actually does keep just about exactly 2000 head of swine:
Page not found | Animal Welfare Institute. And they’re able to do it by rotating the herd through 18-acre pastures on a seasonal basis.
So that issue solved, I had to move on to the second red flag. I had thought that pigs were known for their intelligence, to wit:
Professor Stanley Curtis of Penn State University found that pigs play and excel at joystick-controlled video games. He observed that they are ‘capable of abstract representation’ and ‘are able to hold an icon in the mind and remember it at a later date.’ Professor Curtis says that ‘there is much more going on in terms of thinking and observing by these pigs than we would ever have guessed.’ Pigs are much smarter than dogs, according to the research, and even did better at video games than some primates. Says Dr. Sarah Boysen, Curtis’ colleague, ‘[Pigs] are able to focus with an intensity I have never seen in a chimp.’
How to Go Vegan & Why in 3 Simple Steps | PETA.org.
So, I thought it unlikely that an entire herd of 2000 pigs, even if possessed by demons, would follow each other over a cliff and into a lake. Well, seems that issue is resolved as well here:
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/pigs/4603.html, where we find that Pigs also have a strong flight reaction and will run when threatened. Pigs prefer to stay in close visual and physical contact with each other for security and have a tendency to group heavily when forced. That could explain why the herd of 2000 pigs stampeded together into the Sea of Galilee (or whatever lake it was).
But then I thought, Phatboy already showed us that pigs can swim? (
Bellevue College, Washington). So what’s up with all 2000 of those critters drowning in the parable? Well, it seems that under certain conditions, overheated pigs will die of shock when doused with cold water:
http://www.carc-crac.ca/...ansportation%20Pigs%20English.pdf.
So now I can resolve that a small group of swine herders could indeed care for 2000 hogs on twenty acres of lush pasture, hogs will bunch together and stampede over a cliff, and when overheated, the hogs may indeed perish from shock when hitting cold water.
That leaves only the questions of:
Why was Jesus visiting a bunch of heathen hog farmers when there were still good observant Jews to convert to his new religion? I’ll bet that was disconcerting to Brother James.
Why did it take 2000 pigs to host the demons inhabiting one man (or in the case of Matthew’s version, two men)?
Why would Jesus do this work that resulted in the despoiling of the Sea of Galilee by 2000 bloated, rotting hog carcasses? And since he came to fulfill the entire Law, not one jot or diddle less, why would he cause someone to make themselves ritually unclean by carrying off the foul hog carcasses?
And finally, why would Jesus honor the wishes and pleadings of the demons to inhabit the pigs rather than casting them directly back into the Abyss of Hell in the first place?
I guess I have some more research to do!
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