5
The ‘legion’
1 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gadarenes.* A very small handful (0.3%; 5 mss out of some 1,700) of objectively inferior Greek manuscripts have ‘Gerasenes’ instead of ‘Gadarenes’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Gadara being the Roman capital of the province of Perara, located some six miles from the Sea of Galilee, ‘the region of the Gadarenes’ is a perfectly reasonable description of the site, especially since Mark was writing for a Roman audience. For a more detailed discussion, please see the Appendix: The ‘Legion’ and the pigs; where was it? 2 And when He got out of the boat, right away a man with an unclean spirit met Him, coming from the tombs. 3 —He had his dwelling among the tombs. No one could bind him, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, only to have had the chains torn apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; no one had been strong enough to tame him. 5 Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and cutting himself with stones.† Here in Brazil, where Spiritism and Satanism are out in the open, this sort of thing is well known. The demons ‘heal’ the victims so they don't become incapacitated.— 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and kneeled down to Him,‡ I find this to be curious: this was an unusually powerful demon, yet he kneeled to Jesus, whereas many lesser ones evidently did not (although they all knew who Jesus really was). 7 and with a loud cry he said: “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God,§ Now really, a demon appealing to God! Since he had recognized, correctly, that Jesus was ‘Son of the Most High God’, he was appealing to Him through His Father—pretty shrewd! (I assume that he had been informed that the attempt to destroy Jesus with the storm had failed.) don't torment me!” 8 Because He was saying to him, “You unclean spirit, come out of the man!” 9 Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “Legion* A full Roman legion was 6,000 men, but many legions had only half that many. On the basis of verse 12, one wonders if there could have been 2,000 demons. This being the only recorded instance where Jesus asked a demon's name, I wonder why He did. Since He presumably already knew, I take it that He did it so we would have a record of demonic infestation. I see no basis here for needing to know a demon's name before you can cast it out. is my name, because we are many.” 10 He started begging Him repeatedly that He would not send them out of that region.† Demons are territorial. (See also Daniel 10.) The parallel passage in Luke records that they also begged not to be sent to the Abyss. 11 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. 12 So all the demons‡ Perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘all the demons’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. (except that some supply ‘the demons’, but not ‘all’). begged Him saying, “Send us into the pigs, so that we may enter them.” 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them permission; and coming out the unclean spirits went into the pigs (there were about two thousand); but the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned by the sea.§ For the demons to destroy the herd would be self-defeating; I take it that the pigs preferred death to demons (animals often show better sense than people do). Since the Law forbad eating pork, presumably Jesus was not particularly disturbed (and I suppose it is possible that He Himself stampeded the pigs).
14 So those who were tending the pigs ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demonized, who had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it related to them how it happened to the demonized man, and about the pigs. 17 Then they began to implore Him to depart from their borders.* So far as we know, Jesus never went back there. The loss of the pigs was a hard blow to the local economy, so Jesus was obviously a ‘dangerous’ person to have around. The pigs were more important to them than the man.
18 Well upon His getting into the boat, the man who had been demonized started begging Him that he might be with Him. 19 But Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your family and report to them how much the Lord† Note that the Text has ‘the Lord’, not ‘God’—since Jesus presumably was speaking Hebrew, He probably used God's personal name, Jehovah, to give that translation. In verse 20 the man credits ‘Jesus’. has done for you; and He had mercy on you.” 20 So he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all were marveling. 21 Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.
A hemorrhage and a dead girl
22 And then, one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, comes, and upon finding Him he falls at His feet 23 and pleads earnestly with Him, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; do come and lay your hands on her‡ This sort of thing happened more than once; the Jews evidently believed that His physical presence was necessary. so that she may be saved, and she will live.” 24 So He went with him. A large crowd was also following Him, and they were pressing around Him.
The hemorrhage
25 Now a certain woman—who had been bleeding for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things under many doctors, and had spent all that she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse— 27 when she heard about Jesus, she came from behind in the crowd and touched His garment. 28 (She had kept saying, “If I can just touch His clothes, I will be healed.”)§ The street was packed with people; the crowed was on both sides of Jesus, as well as behind. So she had to push her way forward, and no doubt got plenty of dirty looks, and maybe a few elbows—it would have been easy to give up, but she kept repeating her expectation to herself to keep up her courage (and she was desperate). 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she knew in her body that she was healed from the affliction. 30 And instantly Jesus perceived within Himself that some power had gone out of Him, and turning around in the crowd He said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 So His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’?” 32 But He kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 So the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.* That was not easy, in front of the crowd. 34 And He said to her: “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go into peace† That is what the Text says, ‘into’ not ‘in’. To go in peace is to leave on good terms, no hard feelings. But what might going into peace be? I would say that you take the peace with you; you live within an atmosphere of peace. Now that is a proper ‘blessing’! and be healed from your affliction.”
The dead girl
35 While He was still speaking, they came from the synagogue ruler's house saying: “Your daughter died. Why trouble the teacher further?”‡ Healing is one thing, raising the dead is another! 36 But immediately upon hearing the spoken message Jesus said to the synagogue ruler, “Don't be afraid; just believe!” 37 He allowed no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.§ At this point He told the crowd to stop, so He could proceed at a brisk pace, accompanied only by the three disciples and the father (the messengers doubtless followed). 38 Then He came to the synagogue ruler's house and found a commotion—weeping and loud wailing. 39 So upon entering He said to them: “Why are you making such a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but is asleep.” 40 But they started ridiculing Him.* They knew that she was dead, as indeed she was. After He put them all out, He took the child's father and mother, and those with Him,† Peter was there, and he helped Mark write this Gospel. and went in where the child was lying. 41 And taking the child by the hand He said to her, “Talitha koumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” 42 Immediately the girl got up and started walking around (she was twelve years old). And they were overcome with great amazement. 43 He gave them strict orders that no one should know about it, and said to give her something to eat.‡ Nothing like being practical! It had doubtless been a while since the last decent meal. Given the crowd that was there, it would be impossible to hide what had happened.

*5:1 A very small handful (0.3%; 5 mss out of some 1,700) of objectively inferior Greek manuscripts have ‘Gerasenes’ instead of ‘Gadarenes’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Gadara being the Roman capital of the province of Perara, located some six miles from the Sea of Galilee, ‘the region of the Gadarenes’ is a perfectly reasonable description of the site, especially since Mark was writing for a Roman audience. For a more detailed discussion, please see the Appendix: The ‘Legion’ and the pigs; where was it?

†5:5 Here in Brazil, where Spiritism and Satanism are out in the open, this sort of thing is well known. The demons ‘heal’ the victims so they don't become incapacitated.

‡5:6 I find this to be curious: this was an unusually powerful demon, yet he kneeled to Jesus, whereas many lesser ones evidently did not (although they all knew who Jesus really was).

§5:7 Now really, a demon appealing to God! Since he had recognized, correctly, that Jesus was ‘Son of the Most High God’, he was appealing to Him through His Father—pretty shrewd! (I assume that he had been informed that the attempt to destroy Jesus with the storm had failed.)

*5:9 A full Roman legion was 6,000 men, but many legions had only half that many. On the basis of verse 12, one wonders if there could have been 2,000 demons. This being the only recorded instance where Jesus asked a demon's name, I wonder why He did. Since He presumably already knew, I take it that He did it so we would have a record of demonic infestation. I see no basis here for needing to know a demon's name before you can cast it out.

†5:10 Demons are territorial. (See also Daniel 10.) The parallel passage in Luke records that they also begged not to be sent to the Abyss.

‡5:12 Perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘all the demons’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. (except that some supply ‘the demons’, but not ‘all’).

§5:13 For the demons to destroy the herd would be self-defeating; I take it that the pigs preferred death to demons (animals often show better sense than people do). Since the Law forbad eating pork, presumably Jesus was not particularly disturbed (and I suppose it is possible that He Himself stampeded the pigs).

*5:17 So far as we know, Jesus never went back there. The loss of the pigs was a hard blow to the local economy, so Jesus was obviously a ‘dangerous’ person to have around. The pigs were more important to them than the man.

†5:19 Note that the Text has ‘the Lord’, not ‘God’—since Jesus presumably was speaking Hebrew, He probably used God's personal name, Jehovah, to give that translation. In verse 20 the man credits ‘Jesus’.

‡5:23 This sort of thing happened more than once; the Jews evidently believed that His physical presence was necessary.

§5:28 The street was packed with people; the crowed was on both sides of Jesus, as well as behind. So she had to push her way forward, and no doubt got plenty of dirty looks, and maybe a few elbows—it would have been easy to give up, but she kept repeating her expectation to herself to keep up her courage (and she was desperate).

*5:33 That was not easy, in front of the crowd.

†5:34 That is what the Text says, ‘into’ not ‘in’. To go in peace is to leave on good terms, no hard feelings. But what might going into peace be? I would say that you take the peace with you; you live within an atmosphere of peace. Now that is a proper ‘blessing’!

‡5:35 Healing is one thing, raising the dead is another!

§5:37 At this point He told the crowd to stop, so He could proceed at a brisk pace, accompanied only by the three disciples and the father (the messengers doubtless followed).

*5:40 They knew that she was dead, as indeed she was.

†5:40 Peter was there, and he helped Mark write this Gospel.

‡5:43 Nothing like being practical! It had doubtless been a while since the last decent meal. Given the crowd that was there, it would be impossible to hide what had happened.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD