Mark 5:11
Now there was there nigh unto the mountains; ...on the mountain side--ASV; There, at the foot of the mountain, was--Knox; Now there was on the hillside--Mon; a great herd of swine feeding.; a large herd of pigs feeding--NEB; Now there was there, near the mountain, a large herd of swine, feeding; And there was there, near the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding, TRNTyeagerV290 - An de ekei pros tw orei agelA choirwn megalA boskomenA. An (3d.per.sing.imp.ind.of eimi, imperfect periphrastic). de (explanatory conjunction). ekei (adverb of place). pros (preposition with the locative of place). tw (loc.sing.neut.of the article ina greement with orei). orei (loc.sing.neut.of oros, place where). agelA (nom.sing.fem.of agelA, subject of An). choirwn (gen.pl.masc.of choiros, definition). megalA (nom.sing.fem.of megas, in agreement with agelA). boskomenA (pres.pass.part.nom.sing.fem.of boskw, imperfect periphrastic). Translation: "Now there near the mountain a large herd of swine had been feeding." COMMENT: de is explanatory as Mark introduces a new element into the story. The imperfect periphrastic (An...boskomenA). is durative in character. The spot there on the hillside, not far from the mountain had been devoted by the natives to swine feeding. The man had interceded in behalf of the demons that they might be allowed to remain in the area. Now they intercede for themselves. M54 - The prepositional phrase here means "on the hill." BW36 - Locative of Place. (5) The Substantive with the Preposition pros. (here). (DM110). MARKj&d145 - "There was there nigh unto the mountains". The Revision says: "Now there was there on the mountain side a great herd of swine feeding." The mountain rises a short distance from the lake. "A great herd of swine feeding". They were the property either of Gentiles, or of Jews engaged in a traffic which was unclean according to the Mosaic law. Mark 5:12 And all the devils besought him, saying,; And they besought him, saying--ASV; and they begged him--RSV; And they entreated Him, saying--NASB; Send us into the swine,; ...to the swine--RSV; ...among the pigs--NEB; that we may enter into them.; so that we may enter them--NASB; let us enter them-- RSV; and let us go into them--NEB; and we'll get into them-- Phi; and they besought him, saying-- Send us into the swine, that /into them\ we may enter; and all the demons did call upon him, saying, 'Send us to the swine, that into them we may enter;' TRNTyeagerV290,1 - kai parekalesan auton legontes, Pemphon humas eis tous choirous, hina eis autous eiselthwmen. kai (continuative conjunction). parekalesan (3d.per.pl.aor.act.ind.of parakalew, ingressive). auton (acc.sing.masc.of autos, direct object of parekalesan). legontes (pres.act.part.nom.pl.masc.of legw, recitative). Pemphon (2d.per.sing.aor.act.impv.of pempw, entreaty). humas (acc.pl.neut.of egw, direct object of pemphon). eis (preposition with the accusative of extent). tous (acc.pl.masc.of the article in agreement with choirous). choirous (acc.pl.masc.of choros, extent). hina (sub-final conjunction introducing a purpose/result clause). eis (preposition with the accusative of extent). autous (acc.pl.masc.of autos, extent). eiselthwmen (1st.per.pl.aor.subj.of eiserchomai, sub-final purpose/result). Translation: "And they began to beg Him, 'Send us into the swine in order that we may enter into them'" COMMENT: The subject of parekalesan is the group of demons themselves. Thus we have the plural form of the verb. This is the first time that the demons have spoken to Jesus since they were cast out of their victim. They were now without a home. They could have been sent to hell where they belong, but the man, their former victim, did not want that. He wanted them to remain in Decapolis for some reason not disclosed in the text. They needed somewhere to go. Hence their request. And what a request! Any port in a storm!! MARKitGNTwuest104 - "All the devils besought Him." The words "all the devils" are not in the best texts. "Besought" is parakalew, and the tense now is aorist, referring merely to the fact of the action without speaking of details. "Send" is aorist imperative, issuing a sharp command to be obeyed at once. Evidently, the demons were frantic, and grasped quickly at this expedient lest a worse fate befall them at that time. The request shows that demons at one time had physical bodies, for they have no rest unless they are in some physical body, either that of a human being or that of an animal. Translation: "Now, there was there near the mountain, a herd of swine feeding, a great herd. And they begged Him saying, Send us at once into the swine, in order that we may enter into them." NTC-MARKhendriksen192 - At this point the story takes a new turn: a new element is added. The demons realize that they cannot successfully resist Christ's command that they take their departure from the demoniac. They must leave him, and they are going to do exactly that. But they present a final request in connection with pigs that were feeding on the hillside. Note "there on the hillside." This must mean "in that general vicinity." If we place this herd of pigs too close to the scene of Christ's confrontation with the demoniac we create a conflict between Mk. 5:11 and Matt. 8:30. Actually there is no conflict, for "there on the hillside" leaves room for the idea that the herd was "at some distance away" from Jesus and the demon-possessed man (or: "men," according to Matthew). What was the reason for the request of the demons that they be allowed to enter the pigs? Was it simply a yearning to destroy? Was it perhaps a sinister hope that the owners of the herd, seeing their property destroyed, would be filled with antagonism toward Jesus? The answer has not been revealed. It is, however, worthy of special attention that the demons are fully aware of the fact that without Christ's permission they will not be able to enter the pigs. MARKj&d145 - "The devils besought him...Send us", etc. How could there it is asked, be such a desire on the part of the demons? Why should there not? we would answer. The wish might, on their part, be a mere outburst of wantonness. Or there might be eagerness for anything on which to wreak their evil energy. They might be wishing, as Richard Baxter has it, "to play a small game, rather than none." Or there might be cunning malice in their intent - malice toward Christ and toward all the other parties concerned. -Morison. They aimed at this, that they might move the owners of the herd, and the rest of the poeple of the country, to be discontented at our Savior. - Petter. Mark 5:13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave.; And He gave them permission--NASB; And the unclean spirits went out,; ...came out-- ASV; Then out came the unclean spirits--Mof; and entered into the swine:; and went into the pigs--NEB; and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea,; ...rushed down the steep...--ASV; ...the steep bank...--NASB; ...stampeded down the cliff into the lake--Phi; (they were about two thousand;); about two thousand of them--NASB; --about 2000 in number--Wey; and were choken in the sea.; and they were drowned...--ASV; and he suffered them. And the impure spirits /going out\ entered into the swine, and the herd rushed down the cliff into the sea, about two thousand, and were choked in the sea. and immediately Jesus gave them leave, and having come forth, the unclean spirits did enter into the swine, and the herd did rush down the steep place to the sea--and they were about two thousand--and they were choked in the sea. TRNTyeagerV291,2 - kai epetrephen autois, kai exelthonta ta pneumata ta akatharta eisAlthon eis tous choirous, kai hwrmAsen hA agelA kata tou krAmnou eis tAn thalassan, hws dischilioi, kai epnigonto en tA thalassA. kai (continuative conjunction). epetrephen (3d.per.sing.aor.act.ind.of epitrepw, constative). autois (dat.pl.neut.of autos, personal advantage). kai (continuative conjunction). exelthonta (2d.aor.act.part.nom.pl.neut.of exerchomai, adverbial, temporal). ta (nom.pl.neut.of the article in agreement with pneumata). akatharta (nom.pl.neut.of akathartos, in agreement with pneumata). eisAlthon (3d.per.pl.aor.ind.of eiserchomai, constative). eis (preposition with the accusative of extent). tous (acc.pl.masc.of the article in agreement with choirous). choirous (acc.pl.masc.of choiros, extent). kai (continuative conjunction). hwrmAsen (3d.per.sing.aor.act.ind.of hormaw, ingressive). hA (nom.sing.fem.of the article in agreement with agelA). agelA (nom.sing.fem.of agelA, subject of hwrmAsen). kata (preposition with the genitive of place description, "down upon" - perpendicular). tou (gen.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with krAmnou). krAmnou (gen.sing.masc.of krAmnos, place description). eis (preposition with the accusative of extent). tAn (acc.sing.fem.of the article in agreement with thalassan). thalassan (acc.sing.fem.of thalassa, extent). hws (relative adverb introducing a comparative clause). dischilioi (numeral). two thousand - Mk.5:13. Meaning: Two thousand. The estimated number of swine killed at Gadara - Mk.5:13. kai (continuative conjunction). epnigonto (3d.per.pl.imp.pass.ind.of pnigw, progressive description). en (preposition with the locative of place where). tA (loc.sing.fem.of the article in agreement with thalassA). thalassA (loc.sing.fem.of thalassa, place where). Translation: "And He gave them permission, and when they had left the man the unclean spirits entered into the swine, and the stampeded herd rushed pell-mell down the precipice into the sea (about two thousand in number) and they were drowned in the sea." COMMENT: Jesus gave His permission, thus demonstrating His total authority over the demons, a fact which they recognized. They asked His permission, awaited his assent and obeyed forthwith. The hogs, suddenly seized with the insanity of demon possession, rushed precipitantly down the precipice into the sea where they were drowned. Mark adds the detail that there were about two thousand of them. Any farm boy who has tried to drive a how anywhere, to say nothing of driving one over a cliff, will sense the demonic character of the story. The student should read our comment on hormaw. Demon possessed men and demon possessed pigs have done all of the rushing in the NT. One could well ask the child of God, "What's the rush?" "The fruit of the Spirit is ... gentleness..." (Gal.5:22,23). The poor demoniac is healed. The demons are gone. The hogs are dead. And the hog farmers are bereft of their property. As a result the Gerasenes are amazed and eager to be rid of this divine trouble maker. R607 - Kata tou krAmnou has the idea "down from the cliff." R884 - In this verse the separate details are well described by the vivid imperfect tense (epnigonto is used as an iterative imperfect--T67; the action was repeated until every pig had drowned). R968 - The adverb hws has the sense of "about." BW22 - Ablative of Source. If the word in the ablative is the source of the substantive it modifies, it is an ablative of source. (4) The Substantive with the Preposition kata. (here). "...down from the cliff." Cham124 - Kata. c. With the ablative, it means 'down from.' The root idea of the preposition (down) and the idea of the case (from) combine to give this meaning. (here). Cham173 - Comparative Clauses. The conjunctions introducing comparative clauses all had their origin in the relative pronoun. 1. hws (from hos), 'as.' ... g. It is used with numbers in the sense of 'about': hws dischilioi (here), 'about two thousand.' Ear134 - Ran Violently. The verb hormaw occurs (in NT) only in the three Synoptic accounts of this incident (cf. Mt.8:32; Lk.8:33), plus kActs 7:57; 19:29. Our medical term "hormone"--a substance that moves from one bodily organ to another, to stimulate the second one--comes from this. The verb means to "rush" headlong or impulsively. MARKitGNTwuest104,5 - "And forthwith Jesus gave them leave." The words "forthwith Jesus" are not in the best texts. It should be noted that our Lord did not command the demons, but only gave them permission to enter the swine. "Ran violently." The verb is hormaw "to set in rapid motion, to stir up, incite, urge on, to start forward impetuously, to rush." It was the fact of the unwelcome entrance of the demons into the swine that stirred them up to start forward impetuously on their rush down the steep bank into the sea. "Were choked." The verb is imperfect, describing the disappearance of pig after pig into the sea. The verb, epnigw, is used by Josephus, of drowning. Translation: "And having gone out, the unclean spirits entered into the swine, and the herd rushed impetuously down the steep place into the sea, about two thousand, and were drowned, one after another, in the sea." NTC-MARKhendriksen193,4,5 - Finally then, the unclean spirits actually obeyed Christ's command and released their vise- like grip. In answer to their request (vs. 12) Jesus gave them permission. So they came out of the man and went into the pigs. Result: the herd - two thousand strong; Mark likes to mention numbers; see Introduction IV, footnote 5 c- rushed pell-mell down the cliff, and ... Here Mark suddenly changes the tense of the verb. So far he has very briefly stated four incidents, four summary facts: gave, came out of, went into, rushed down. It is as if he, in very rapid succession, showed us four snapshots. Then we are shown a slow-motion movie: one by one we see the (approximately) two thousand pigs choking to death in the sea, until all have drowned. Two questions demand consideration. First, "What ethical justification was there for Jesus to allow this to happen to these animals?" Shall we say that one of these days those pigs would have had to die anyway; so they might as well die now? Shall we add that quick death by sufffocation or asphyxiation through drowning may even have been more merciful that slower death by fire, or by animal attack, starvation, slaughter at the hands of a clumsy butcher, etc? But is not Rom. 9:20, "Nay but, O man, who are thou that repliest against God?" (to use the A.V.) the real answer? Cf. Dan. 4:35. In this commentary the love of God in Christ and his power have been mentioned again and again. We believe rightly so, for Scripture itself mentions these qualities repeatedly. But no less important, surely, are God's holiness and his sovereignty. God is sinless. Rather, he is holy, and the source of holiness for all who place their trust in him. Cf. Isa. 6:1-5. Moreover, he owes us no explanation of his deeds. We should live by faith! (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11). See also Job 21:5; 40:4. Says H. Bavinck: "Round about us we observe so many facts which seem to be unreasonable, so much undeserved suffering, so many unaccountable calamities, such an uneven and inexplicable distribution of destiny, and such an enormous contrast between the extremes of joy and sorrow, that any one reflecting on these things is forced to choose between viewing this universe as if it were governed by the blind will of an unbenign deity, as is done by pessimism, or, upon the basis of Scripture and by faith, to rest in the absolute and sovereign, yet - however incomprehensible - wise and holy will of him who one day is going to cause the full light of heaven to dawn upon these mysteries of life...In the midst of terrible reality Calvinism does not come forth with a solution, but it offers this comfort: that, in whatsoever happens, it recognizes the will and the governing hand of an omnipotent God, who is at the same time a merciful Father. Calvinism does not offer a solution, but it causes man to rest in him who dwells in light unapproachable, whose judgments are unsearchable and whose ways are past tracing out." That same answer will do also for the second question, namely, "Was it right for Jesus to permit the demons to destroy so much property,that is, to deprive the owners of so large a proportion of their material possessions?" In addition, however, to the appeal to God's sovereignty, which, after all, is basic, it should also be pointed out that, rightly considered, by permitting this loss Jesus was actually helping these owners; that is, he was helping them if only they were willing to take the lesson to heart. These owners - and in general the people of this community - were selfish. In their scale of value the acquisition, retention, and multiplication of material possessions ranked higher by far than the liberation and restoration of a man unfree, unhappy, unloved, and uncared for; yes, enslaved, wretched, hated, and abandoned. For proof see on verse 17. Hence they needed this lesson. TNICoNT-MARKlane185,6 - The reference to the herd of swine grazing on the mountainside is not strange in a narrative which takes place in the Decapolis, with its predominantly Gentile population. It is simply another indication of the pagan environment. The demons made a specific request to enter into the swine, and when Jesus complied, the demons left the man and entered their new hosts. In panic the herd rushed down the slope into the sea and drowned. This element in the narrative has invited special attention and varied conjectures, which need not be reviewed here. What must be seen above all else is that the fate of the swine demonstrates the ultimate intention of the demons with respect to the man they had possessed. It is their purpose to destroy the creation of God, and halted in their destruction of a man, they fulfilled their purpose with the swine. The drowning of the swine was not an unforeseen consequence in Jesus' concession; it was the express purpose which lay behind the request of the demons. Accordingly, the question why Jesus allowed them to enter the swine must be faced. The answer would seem to have two elements. First, Jesus recognized that the time of the ultimate vanquishment of the demons had not yet come; his encounter and triumph over the demonic does not yet put an end to Satan's power. It is the pledge and the symbol of that definitive triumph, but the time when that triumph will be fully realized is yet deferred. It must await the appointment of God. Therefore, Jesus allows the demons to continue their destructive work, but not upon a man. The second element is related to this: Jesus allowed the demons to enter the swine to indicate beyond question that their real purpose was the total destruction of their host. While this point may have been obscured in the case of the man, there was the blatant evidence in the instance of the swine. Their intention was no different with regard to the man whom they had possessed. MARKj&d145 - "Forthwith Jesus gave them leave". The fact is stated, but why he should have granted their request is in part conjecture. The following reasons have been suggested: (1) To show the disciples Christ's control over the movements of the spirits. (2) To test the Gergesenes. (3) To make the miracle more notorious, and thus to enhance the effect of the cured demoniac's preaching. (4) The owners, if Jews, drove an illegal trade; if heathens, they insulted the national religion; in either case the permission was just. "Ran violently down a steep place". Not a cliff, but a steep beach. The declivity at the base of the mountain at Gersa is said to be almost perpendicular. "The bluff behind is so steep, and the shore so narrow, that a herd of swine, rushing frantically down, must certainly have been overwhelmed in the sea before they could recover themselves." "Tristram's Land of Israel. "About two thousand". Immense herds of swine were kept in many provinces of the Roman Empire specially for the provisionment of the Army. A heavy loss was certainly recognized by the people of the city. - Cook. Why should they have destroyed the herd of swine, and so deprived themselves, so to speak, of a terrestrial abode? Perhaps the act of the swine was the result of panic, and in spite of the evil spirits. It is the very nature of evil thus to outwit itself. MARKbarclay115,16,17,18,19 - Here is a vivid and rather eerie story. It is the kind of story in which we have to do our best to try to read between the lines, because it is thinking and speaking in terms which were quite familiar to people in Palestine in the days of Jesus, but quite alien to us. If this is to be taken in close connection with what goes before - and that is Mark's intention--it must have happened late in the evening or even when the night had begun, in the dusk or in the dark. The story becomes all the more weird and frightening when it is seen as happening in the shadows of the night. Verse 35 tells us that it was late in the evening when Jesus and His friends had set sail. The Lake of Galilee is 13 miles long at its longest, and 8 miles wide at its widest. At this particular part is was about 5 miles across. They had made the journey and, on the way, they had encountered the storm, and now they had reached land. It was a part of the lakeside where there were many caves in the limestone rock, and many of these caves were used as tombs in which bodies were laid. At the best of times it was an eerie place; as night fell it must have been grim indeed. Out of the tombs there came a demon- possessed man. It was a fitting place for him to be, for demons, so they believed in those days, dwelt in woods and gardens and vineyards and dirty places, in lonely and desolate spots and among the tombs. The demon-possessed man dwelt in the haunt of demons. It was in the night-time and before cock-crow that the demons were specially active. To sleep alone in an empty house at night was dangerous; to greet any person in the dark was perilous, for the person might be a demon. To go out at night without a lantern or a torch was to court trouble. It was a perilous place and a perilous hour, and the man was a dangerous man. How completely this man felt himself to be possessed is seen in his way of speaking. Sometimes he uses the singular, as if he himself was speaking; sometimes he uses the plural, as if all the demons in him were speaking. He was so convinced that the demons were in him, that he felt that they were speaking through him. When asked his name he said his name was Legion. There were probably two reasons for that. A legion was a Roman regiment of 6,000 troops. Very likely the man had seen one of these Roman regiments clanking along the road, and he felt that there was a whole solid battalion of demons inside him. In any event the Jews believed that no man would survive if he realised the number of demons with which he was surrounded. There were "like the earth that is thrown up around a bed that is sown." There were a thousand at a man's right hand and ten thousand at his left. The queen of the female spirits had no fewer than 180,000 followers. There was a Jewish saying, "A legion of hurtful spirits is on the watch for men, saying, 'When shall he fall into the hands of one of these things and be taken?'" No doubt this wretched man knew all about this, and his poor, wandering mind was certain that a mass of those demons had taken up their residence in him. But further, Palestine was an occupied country. The legions, at their wildest and most irresponsible, could sometimes be guilty of atrocities that would make the blood run cold. It may well be that this man had seen, had suffered from, or had seen his loved ones suffer from, the murder and the rapine that could sometimes follow the legions. It may well be that it was some such terrible experience which had driven him insane. The word Legion conjured up for him a vision of terror and death and destruction. He was convinced that demons like that were inside him. We shall not even begin to understand this story unless we see clearly how serious a case of demon possession this man was. It is clear that Jesus made more than one attempt to heal this man. Verse 8 tells us that Jesus had begun by using his usual method-an authoritative order to the demon to come out. On this occasion that was not successfull. Next, Jesus demanded what the demon's name was. It was always supposed in those days that, if a demon's name could be discovered, it gave a certain power over the demon. An ancient magical formula says, "I adjure thee, every demonic spirit, Say whatsoever Thou are." The belief was that if the name was known the demon's power was broken. In this case even that did not prove enough. Jesus saw that there was only one thing that could cure this man--and that was something which would be to the man an unanswerable demonstration that the demons had gone out of him, at least, unanswerable as far as his own mind was concerned. It does not matter whether we believe in demon- possession or not; this man did believe in it. Even if it all lay in his disordered mind, the demons were terribly real to him. Dr. Rendle Short, speaking about the supposed evil influence of the moon (Psalm 121:6) which emerges in the words lunatic and moonstruck, says, "Modern science does not recognize any particular harm as coming from the moon. Yet it is a very widespread belief that the moon does affect people mentally....It is good to know that the Lord can deliver us from imaginary dangers as well as from real ones. Often the imaginary are harder to face." This man needed deliverance; whether that deliverance was from literal demon-possession, or from an all-powerful delusion does not matter. This is where the herd of swine comes in. They were grazing on the hillside. The man felt that the demons were asking, not to be totally destroyed, but to be sent into the swine. All the time he was uttering these shrieks and going through these parxysms which were the sign of his malady. Suddenly, as his yells reached a new pitch of intensity, the whole herd took flight and plunged down a steep slope into the sea. There was the very proof that the man needed. This was almost the only possible thing on earth that could have convinced him that he was cured. Jesus, like a wise healer, like one who understood, so kindly and sympathetically the psychology of a mind diseased, used the event to help the man in his climb back to sanity, and his disordered mind was restored to peace. There are ultra-fastidious people who will blame Jesus because the healing of the man involved the death of pigs. They complain about the cruelty to these animals involved in this miracle. Surely it is a singularly blind way in which to look at things. How could the fate of the pigs possibly be compared with the fate of a man's immortal soul? We do not, presumably, have any objections to eating meat for our dinner, nor will we refuse pork because it involved the killing of some pig. Surely if we kill animals to avoid going hungry, we can raise no objection if the saving of a man's mind and soul involved the death of a herd of these same animals. There is a cheap sentimentalism which will languish in grief over the pain of an animal and will never turn a hair at the wretched state of millions of God's men and women. This is not to say that we need not care what happens to God's animal creation, for God loves every creature whom His hands have made, but it is to say that we must preserve a sense of proportion; and in God's scale of proportions, there is nothing so important as a human soul. Mark 5:14 And they that fed the swine fled,; The herdsmen fled--RSV; The swineherds fled--Wey; The men in charge of them took to their heels--NEB; and told it in the city, and in the country.; and reported it...--ABUV; and carried the news to the town and country-side--NEB; and spread the news in town and country--Wey; And they went out to see what it was that was done.; And people came to see...that had happened--RSV; So the people went out to see what...--Wey; And /they who had been feeding them\ fled, and bare tidings into the city and into the fields,--and they came to see what it was that had happened. And those feeding the swine did flee, and told in the city, and in the fields, and they came forth to see what it is that hath been done; TRNTyeagerV292,3 - kai hoi boskontes autous ephugon kai apAggeilan eis tAn polin kai eis tous agrous, kai Althon idein ti estin to gegonos. kai (inferential conjunction). hoi (nom.pl.masc.of the article in agreement with boskontes). boskontes (pres.act.part.nom.pl.masc.of boskw, subject of ephugon and apAggeilan). autous (acc.pl.masc.of autos, direct object of boskontes). ephugon (3d.per.pl.1st.aor.act.ind.of pheugw, constative). kai (adjunctive conjunction joining verbs). apAggeilan (3d.per.pl.1st.aor.act.ind.of apaggellw, constative). eis (preposition with the accusative, static use). tAn (acc.sing.fem.of the article in agreement with polin). polin (acc.sing.fem.of polis, static use of the accusative with eis, place where). kai (adjunctive conjunction joining prepositional phrases). eis (preposition with the accusative). tous (acc.pl.masc.of the article in agreement with agrous). agrous (acc.pl.masc.of agros, static use place where). kai (continuative conjunction). Althon (3d.per.pl.aor.ind.of erchomai, constative). idein (aor.act.inf.of horaw, purpose). ti (nom.sing.neut.of tis, subject of estin). estin (3d.per.sing.pres.ind.of eimi, indirect discourse). to (nom.sing.neut.of the article in agreement with gegonos). gegonos (2d.perf.part.nom.sing.neut.of ginomai, predicate nominative). Translation: "And the swineherds fled and reported in the city and in the surrounding territories, and they came to see what had happened." COMMENT: Those who had been feeding the swine probably felt the need to clear themselves of blame for the loss of the swine. Certainly they could not be held responsibile for having lost control of the animals. The people came from the city and from the surrounding countryside to assess the damage. No doubt the owners were concerned about so great a loss. Jews were forbidden to eat pork but there was nothing to forbid them selling it to the Romans and the Hellenized apostate Jews who lived in Decapolis. The first thing they saw was the evidence of Jesus' healing power. TGr57 - The impersonal subject occurs here, "they (i.e., "people") came to see what had happened." MARKitGNTwuest105 - "They that fed the swine fled." The verb is pheugw "to flee away, to seek safety by flight." The implication is clear that the swineherds were filled with terror at what had taken place, as well as at the tragedy of the sudden destruction and loss of a herd of two thousand hogs. They literally ran away from the scene. They reported the news to the people of the nearby city and in the neighboring farms, the word for "country" here being agros "farms," and in the plural number. Expositors says: "And the people in town and country as naturally went to see what had happened. Their road brings them straight to Jesus, and they see there a sight which astonishes them, the well-known demoniace completely altered in manner and aspect: sitting quiet, not restless; clothed, implying previous nakedness, which is expressly noted by Luke (8:27), sane, implying previous madness...They were afraid of the sane man, as much as they had been of the insane, i.e., of the power which had produced the change." The word "told" is apaggellw "to bring tidings from a person or thing, bring word." The prefixed preposition which means "off from" adds to the meaning already existing in the simple verb aggellw "to announce," the idea being that what one announces, he openly lays, as it were, off from himself. The swineherds were charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the animals under their care, and to have two thousand hogs piled up in heaps in shallow water, all dead, was something to explain. Translation: "And those feeding them fled away and brought away tidings into the city and into the farms. And they came for the purpose of seeing what it was that had taken place." MARKj&d - III. CHRIST AND THE GADARENES. "They that fed the swine." The herdsmen, fled affrighted, in consternation at the loss and the marvel, to the city, to Gergesa or Gadara. Mark 5:15 And they come to Jesus,; ...came...--RSV; They approached Jesus-- Rieu; and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting,; and saw the demoniac sitting there-- RSV; and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down--NASB; and clothed, and in his right mind:; clothed and of sane mind--Wey; properly clothed and perfectly sane--Phi; and they were afraid,; and they became frightened--NASB; and they were awe-struck--Wey; And they come unto Jesus, and view the demonized man, clothed and of sound mind, /him who had had the legion\,--and they were struck with fear and they come unto Jesus, and see the demoniac, sitting, and clothed, and right-minded--him having had the legion--and they were afraid; TRNTyeagerV293,4 - kai erchontai pros ton IAsoun, Kai thewrousin ton daimonizomenon kathAmenon himatismenon kai swphronounta, ton eschAkota ton legiwna, kai ephobAthAsan. kai (continuative conjunction). erchontai (3d.per.pl.pres.ind.of erchomai, historical). pros (preposition with the accusative of extent). ton (acc.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with IAsoun). IAsoun (acc.sing.masc.of IAsous, extent). kai (continuative conjunction). thewrousin (3d.per.pl.pres.act.ind.of thewrew, historical). ton (acc.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with daimonizomenon). daimonizomenon (pres.pass.part.acc.sing.masc.of daimonizomai, substantival, direct object of thewrousin). kathAmenon (pres.mid.part.acc.sing.masc.of kathAmai, adverbial, circumstantial). himatismenon (pres.pass.part.acc.sing.masc.of himatizw, adverbial, circumstantial). clothe - Mk.5:15; Lk.8:35. Meaning: Cf. himation and himatismos. To clothe; to put on wearing apparel - Mk.5:15; Lk.8:35. kai (adjunctive conjunction, joining participles). swphronounta (pres.part.acc.sing.masc.of swphronew, adverbial, circumstantial). be in one's right mind - Mk.5:15; Lk.8:35. be sober - II Cor.5:13; I Pet.4:7. be sober minded - Tit.2:6. soberly - Rom.12:3. Meaning: Sane. With respect to one restored to sanity after demon possession - Mk.5:15; Lk.8:35. Opposed to exestAnai in II Cor.5:13. To put a modest estimate upon one's self - Rom.12:3. To put a curb on passions - Tit.2:6. To be sober - I Pet.4:7. ton (acc.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with eschAkota). exchAkota (perf.part.acc.sing.masc.of echw, substantival, in apposition with daimonizomenon). ton (acc.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with legiwna). legiwna (acc.sing.masc.of legiwn, direct object of eschAkota). kai (inferential conjunction). ephobAthAsan (3d.per.pl.aor.pass.ind.of phobeomai, ingressive). Translation: "And they came to Jesus and they saw the demoniac seated, clothed and sane - the one who had had the legion. Therefore they began to be afraid." COMMENT: Mark uses the historical present - erchontai...kai thewrousin. - "They come and see." The one formerly demon possessed is sitting, clothed and in full possession of his mental faculties. Note these three adverbial circumstantial participles. eschAkota is substantival, in apposition with daimonizomenon. The student should go back and read Mark's dramatic description of the man in vs.3-5 and note the contrast with vs.15. This is the transformation that Jesus makes. In view of the man's previous belligerence and now his quiet humility it is scant wonder that the people began to be afraid. Is it harder to tame a tornado or a crazy man? For our Lord it is all a simple matter, for He is Sovereign. That Legion was now healed was cause for amazement and rejoicing. That two thousand pigs were dead was another matter. R868 - The historical present verbs erchontai kai thewrousin occur between aorists, "they came and saw." R1117 - The perfect participle eschAkota is not used as a simple perfect and describes the state of the man before Jesus cast out the demon, which casting-out is itself in the past (as an aorist--BD343[2]; cf. MT145). T21 - The masculine legiwna occurs for a feminine, because it is the demons' name. Cham71 - Action in Present Time. 1. The exegete should remember that the present tense normally expresses continued action going on at the time of writing, or speaking. There are, however, several phases to this meaning. The context should make clear the exact shade of meaning. ...e. It is often used of a past act as though it were going on. This is called the 'historical present,' and is characteristic of Mark (here) 'they came and they saw'. MARKitGNTwuest105,6 - "They see him that was possessed with the devil." The particular word for "see" used here is thewrew "to view attentively, take a view of, survey, to consider, to ascertain or find out by seeing." It is used, not of an indifferent spectator, but of one who looks at a thing with interest and attention. It would be used of a general officially reviewing or inspecting an army. Thus, the word speaks of a critical, searching investigation. "In his right mind." There is a participle in the Greek. The verb is swphronew, "to be of sound mind, to exercise self-control, to curb one's passions." This last meaning was in classical Greek, as it is in NT Greek, the predominating usage of the word. Trency speaks of the word as habitual self-government with its constant rein on all the passions and desires. Not only is sanity returned to the demoniac, but self-control. A wild man became the docile, quiet, self-possessed individual whom the people were viewing with a critical eye. Translation: "...And they come to Jesus, and view with a critical, searching eye the demoniac sitting, clothed, and in control of himself. And they became afraid." TNICotNT-MARKlane186,7 - The herdsmen who had tended the swine fled the scene and hastened to the town and the small hamlets surrounding it to report the loss to the owners. As a result people came quickly together to see what had happened. By a series of three participles Mark emphasizes the features which must have gripped the attention of those who came: they saw Jesus and the man who had been possessed seated, clothed and restored to wholeness of mind. Mark adds with emphasis, "the one who had been possessed by the legion." The man whom neither chains nor men could restrain was sitting in a docile manner before Jesus; he who had terrified others as he ran naked among the tombs was now clothed; the one who had shrieked wildly and behaved violently was now fully recovered. So radical was the transformation that the townspeople were stunned and frightened. MARKj&d -"They come to Jesus." Matthew says (8:34), 'Behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus." Note the present come. The Evangelist begins to depict the scene as if he and we were present in the midst of it and looking on. "See him that was possessed". "And (they behold the demoniac sitting clothed and in sound mind." "Sitting and clothed". There is a fine harmony between the statement that the demoniac was not clothed, and the statement in Luke that formerly he "ware no clothes" (8:27). The contrast of the man's former condition sets off to advantage the marvel of his present state. "They were afraid". They felt in the presence of a power which inspired them with awe and alarm. It might, for aught that they could comprehend, be somethng weird or "uncanny." There was, moreover, the terror of a guilty conscience. Mark 5:16 And they that saw it; And those who had seen it--RSV; And those who had been eye-witnesses--Mon; The spectators--NEB; told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil,; recounted to them how it befell the demoniac--ABUV; told what had happened to...--RSV; told them how the madman had been cured--NEB; and also concerning the swine.; and to the swine--RSV; and what happened to the pigs--NEB; and all about the pigs--Gspd; And the beholders narrated to them, how it happened to the demonized man, and concerning the swine. and those having see it, declared to them how it had come to pass to the demoniac, and about the swine; TRNTyeagerV295 - kai diAgAsanto autois hoi idontes pws egeneto tw daimonizomenw kai peri twn choirwn. kai (continuative conjunction). diAgAsanto (3d.per.pl.1st.aor.ind.of diAgeomai, constative). declare - Acts 8:33; 9:27; 12:17. show - Lk.8:39. tell - Mk.5:16; 9:9; Lk.9:10; Heb.11:32. Meaning: A combination of dia and hAgeomai. Hence, to lead or carry a narrative through to the end. To relate fully. To give a thorough account of. Followed by an accusative - Acts 8:33; with pws - Acts 9:27; 12:17; with pws and peri - Mk.5:16. With hosa - Lk.8:39; 9:10. With ha - Mk.9:9; with peri - Heb.11:32. autois (dat.pl.masc.of autos, indirect object of diAgAsanto). hoi (nom.pl.masc.of the article in agreement with idontes). idontes (aor.act.part.nom.pl.masc.of horaw, subject of diAgAsanto). pws (adverbial). egeneto (3d.per.sing.aor.ind.of ginomai, constative). tw (dat.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with daimonizomenw). daimoniz9omenw (pres.mid.part.dat.sing.masc.of daimonizomai, personal advantage). kai (adjunctive conjunction, joining an adverbial and a prepositional phrase). peri (preposition with the genitive of reference). twn (gen.pl.masc.of the article in agreement with choirwn). choirwn (gen.pl.masc.of choiros, reference). Translation: "And those who saw it related fully to them what happened to the demoniac and about the swine." COMMENT: The identity of hoi idontes seems clearly to be hoi boskontes of vs.14. There may have been other spectators present who were not mentioned before in the text, other than the disciples. They gave a full account. Cf.#2225 for this interesting verb. The narrators left nothing out, we may be sure. The antecedent of autois is the unexpressed subject of Althon in vs.14. The people from the cities and fields round about came to see what happened. The insane wild man (or men, for Matthew says that there were two of them - Mt.8:28) is healed, clothed and sitting at Jesus' feet in his right mind. But two thousand head of hogs are lost! What a rest for the sense of values of the citizenry! They failed it miserably. R1032 - Pws is used instead of a declarative hoti (after diAgAsanto), "they told what had happened." Cham136 - dia, 'through', from the root duo, 'two.' Moulton notes that outside Greek this adverb does not become a preposition. It forms seventy-nine verbal compounds in the NT. About three-fifths of these are in Luke and Acts. a. There are about sixteen compounds where it has the sense of per.' They express the idea of 'carrying an action through' to an accomplished result. These perfective compounds are usually spatial:.... metaphorical: diAgeomai (here), 'I lead (a narrative) through to the end';... MARKj&d146 - "And also concerning the swine". A notable climax. The people who had witnessed the transaction tell the citizens what had been done for the demoniac and about the swine - their swine: that settled their minds. They cared far more for the swine, than for the man who had been healed. They would rather have swine than Christ. Mark 5:17 And they began to pray him; ...beseech him--ASV; ...beg Jesus-- RSV; Then they began to implore Jesus--Phi; to depart out of their coasts.; ...from their borders--ASV; ...from their neighborhood--RSV; to leave the district--NEB; And they began to beseech him, to depart from their bounds. and they began to call upon him to go away from their borders. TRNTyeagerV296 - kai Arxanto parakalein auton apelthein apo twn horiwn autwn. kai (inferential conjunction). Arxanto (3d.per.pl.aor.ind.of archw, ingressive). parakalein (pres.act.inf.of parakalew, epexegetical). auton (acc.sing.masc.of autos, direct object of parakalein). apelthein (aor.inf.of aperchomai, epexegetical). apo (preposition with the ablative of separation). twn (abl.pl.neut.of the article in agreement with horiwn). horiwn (abl.pl.neut.of horios, separation). autwn (gen.pl.masc.of autos, possession). Translation: "Therefore they began to beg Him to go away from their territory." COMMENT: When the infinitive is joined to a noun we say that it is in apposition; when it is joined to a verb it is either complementary or epexegetical. The complementary and epexegetical ideas are closely related. Each explains the verb. We may take parakalein as complementary. It completes Arxanto, as apelthein explains parakalein. The Gerasenes wanted Jesus to leave them alone. This request went to the man who had turned a raving manic into a quiet rational member of society. This is typical Chamber of Commerce. "We have an insanity problem in our community, we admit. We cannot cope with it despite the fetters and handcuffs which we have designed for their feet and hands. In fact, for the sake of public safety, we have turned a part of our territory over to them, because it isn't safe for sane people to go near them. They have taken over that section of the tombs and mountains. You have healed them and now they are rehabilitated and useful citizens. But the pigs! There were two thousand of them. And now they are dead. It is a great loss of property. The story will spread. It will hurt the image of Decapolis. Our Industrial Relations Commission is working hard to induce the swine industry to move in here with large investments. it will boost our economy and wipe out unemployment, although it may add to our air pollution problem. But we will have better schools and playgrounds as a result of the increased wealth. But not if you run all of our pigs into the sea! Sir, we are sorry but if we must choose between our pigs and our insane men, give us the pigs. Will you please leave town?" It is small wonder that the man whom Jesus healed, now in his right mind, reacted as he did. Ear134 - Pray. Today we use "pray" mostly for addressing God. So "plead" is more appropriate. MARKitGNTwuest106 - "Told them." The verb is diAgeomai "to lead or carry a narration through to the end, relate in full." It was quite a story, and the swineherds gave a complete report to their employers, taking care to absolve themselves from any blame. "They began to pray Him to depart out of their coasts." Expositors says: "The owners draw a natural inference: Cure causes catastrophe, and request Jesus, as a dangerous person, to retire, erxanto, began to request, pointing to transition from vague awe in presence of a great change, to desire to be rid of Him whom they believed to be the cause both of it and of the loss of their swine. Fritsche takes Arxanto as meaning that Jesus did not need much pressure, but withdrew on the first hint of their wish. Robertson remarks that in kDecapolis, pagan influence was strong, and the owners of the hogs cared more for the loss of their property than for the healing of the demoniac. Translation: "And those who saw, related fully and in detail to them how it happened to the demoniac and concerning the swine. And they began to be begging Him to go away from their boundaries." NTC-MARKhendriksen195,6 - The men who had been tending the pigs must have witnessed the meeting between Jesus and the demoniac. They had also observed that the wildness of this man had left him and had, as it were, been transferred to the pigs, with the result that the entire herd had perished in the water. The swineherds drew the correct conclusion that it was Jesus who had ordered and allowed all this to happen. He had ordered the demons to leave, and had allowed them to enter the pigs. The loss of the pigs were therefore not the fault of those who had been tending them. The herdsmen, accordingly, ran back to where the people were living. They wanted the owners and everybody, else, in town and countryside, in the little city and on the farms, to know who was and who was not to blame. Mark pictures the people coming to see what it was that had happened. This was probably the morning after the miracle had occurred. What do the people see? They see Jesus. They also carefully observe the man who had been a demoniac. There was no doubt about it. It was the very man. Now, however, he was no longer rushing down the hill but sitting down, and right at the feet of Jesus. No longer was he naked (Lk. 8:27) but clothed. And no longer was he acting like a madman, screaming night and day and gashing himself with the sharp edges of stones, but in his right mind (cf. II Cor. 5:13). The power and majesty of Jesus who had brought all this about caused these people to become frightened, a reaction that was not lessened when right here, on the spot where it had all happened, the details of the story - "how it went with the demoniac, and about the pigs" - were rehearsed by the eye-witnesses: herdsmen and disciples. What should have been the result? Intial sadness because of the loss of the pigs would have been natural. But should not the owners and all who were in any way affected by this loss have spoken somewhat as follows: "We see now that the loss of our property was a small price to pay for the lesson we have learned. These pigs, that property, meant everything to us. We were selfish. We never felt concerned about the needs of our fellow-citizen, this poor, wretched man. Now we see things differently. We now understand that human values surpass material value by far"? Should they not have congratulated the man who was sitting there at Jesus' feet? Should they not have brought their sick and handicapped to Jesus to be healed? Surely, the people of this general region could not have been entirely ignorant about this great Benefactor! See Matt. 4:25. Should they not have tried to prevail upon Jesus to stay a while longer in their midst, in order to impart blessings for body and soul? Cf. John 4:40. Their real reaction was quite different. It was in fact the very opposite. Jesus must leave, the sooner the better: And they began to beg him to leave their district. This is reported by all three evangelists. It is essential to the understanding of the lesson here conveyed. These men were scared of Jesus. Besides, they resented him. Had he not deprived them of their property? Was he not a disturber of their familiar mode of life? How often, even in our own day and age, has not this incident been repeated? People are eager to listen to the story of Jesus and his love...just so the gospel's implications for daily life and conduct (Matt. 18:23-35; 25:31-46; John 13:14,15; II Cor. 8:7-9; Eph. 4:32-5:2) are not emphasized, for that would be upsetting! TNICotNT-MARKlane187 - In the lively discussion which followed, the herdsmen told their story once again. To them the one who had been possessed was doubtless no stranger, and they made mention of him. But Mark indicates that they had not forgotten the swine, and the emphatic position of the phrase "and concerning the swine" suggests that this was foremost in their thought. The consequence was the pathetic request of the inhabitants that Jesus leave them. Their motive may well have been that they were afraid to have in their midst one whose power was as great as that which Jesus had demonstrated. MARKj&d146 - "They began to pray him to depart". Jesus had overcome the rage of the storm that met him when approaching their coast. He had cast out the legion of devils that opposed his entrance into their country. The only thing which could effectually turn away the Savior was the will of man. Christ appears never to have visited the country of the Gadarenes again. He does not abide where he is not wanted. MARKbarclay120,21,22,23 - Very naturally the men who had been in charge of the pigs went to town and to the farms with news of this astounding happening. When the curious people arrived on the spot they found the man who had once been so mad sitting fully clothed and in full possession of his faculties. The wild and naked madman had become a sane and sensible citizen. And then there comes the surprise, the paradox, the thing that no one would really expect. One would have thought that they would have regarded the whole matter with joy; but they regarded it with terror. And one would have thought that they would have besought Jesus to stay with them and to exercise still further His amazing power; but they besought Him to get out of their district as quickly as possible. Why? A man had been healed but their pigs had been destroyed, and therefore they wanted no more of this. The routine of life had been unsettled and disturbed, and they wanted the disturbing element removed as quickly as possible. The one battle-cry of the human mind is, "Please don't disturb me." On the whole, the one thing that people want is to be let alone. Instinctively people say, "Don't disturb my comfort." If someone came to us who are reasonably comfortably off and said, "I can give you a world that will be a better world for the mass of people in general, but it will mean that your comfort will, at least for a time, be disturbed and upset, and you will have to do with less for the sake of others," most people would say, "I would much rather that you would leave things as they are." In point of fact that is almost precisely the situation through which we are living in the present social revolution. We are living through a time of redistribution; we are living through a time when life is a great deal better than ever it was for a great many people. But it has meant that life is not so comfortable as it was for quite a number of people; and for that very reason there is a resentment abroad because some of the comforts of life have gone. There is a great deal of talk about what life owes us. Life owes us precisely nothing; the debt is all the other way round. It is we who owe life all that we have to give. We are followers of one who gave up the glory of heaven for the narrowness of earth, who gave up the joy of God for the pain of the Cross. It is human not to want to have our comfort disturbed; it is divine to be willing to be disturbed that others may have more. Instinctively, people say, "Don't disturb my possessions." Here is another aspect of the same thing. No man really willingly gives up anything he may possess. The older we get the more we want to clutch it to us. Borrow, who knew the gipsies, tells us that it is the fortune- telling gipsy's policy to promise to the young various pleasures, and to foretell to the old riches, and only riches "for they have sufficient knowledge of the human heart to be aware that avarice is the last passion that becomes extinct within." We can soon see whether a man really accepts his faith and whether he really believes in his principles, by seeing if he is willing to become poorer for them. Instinctively, people say, "Don't disturb my religion." (a) People say, "Don't let unpleasant subjects disturb the pleasant decorum of my religion." Edmund Gosse points out a curious ommission in the sermons of the famous divine, Jeremy Taylor. "These sermons are amongst the most able and profound in the English language, but they hardly ever mention the poor, hardly ever refer to their sorrows, and show practically no interest in their state. The sermons were preached in South Wales where poverty abounded. The cry of the poor and the hungry, the ill-clothed and the needy ceaselessly ascended up to heaven, and called out for pity and redress, but this eloquent divine never seemed to hear it, he lived and wrote and preached surrounded by the suffering and the needy, and yet remained scarcely conscious of their existence." It is much less disturbing to preach about the niceties of theological beliefs and doctrines than it is to preach about the needs of men and the abuses of life. We have actually known of congregations who informed ministers that it was a condition of their call that they would not preach on certain subjects. It was a notable thing that it was not what Jesus said about God, that got Him into trouble; it was what He said about man and about the needs of man that disturbed the orthodox of His day. (b) People have been known to say, "Don't let personal relationships disturb my religion." James Burns quotes an amazing thing in this connection from the life of Angela di Foligras, the famous Italian mystic. She had the gift of completely withdrawing herself from this world, and from returning from her trances with tales of ineffably sweet communion with God. It was she herself who said: "In that time, and by God's will, there died my mother, who was a great hindrance unto me in following the way of God; my husband died likewise, and in a short time there died all my children. And because I had commenced to follow the aforesaid way, and had prayed God that He would rid me of them, I had great consolation of their deaths, albeit I did also feel some grief." Her family was a trouble to her religion. There is a type of religion which is fonder of committees than it is of housework, which is more set on quiet times than it is on human service. It prides itself on serving the Church and spending itself in devotion--but nonetheless in God's eyes it has got things the wrong way round. (c) People say, "Don't disturb my beliefs." There is a type of religion which says, "What is good enough for my fathers is good enough for me." There are people who do not want to know anything new, for they know that if they did they might have to go through the mental sweat of rethinking things and coming to new conclusions. There is a cowardice of thought and a lethargy of mind and a sleep of the soul which are terrible things. The Gerasenes banished the disturbing Christ--and still men seek to do the same. Mark 5:18 And when he was come into the ship,; And as he was entering into the boat--ASV; As he was stepping...--NEB; As He was embarking--Wey; he that had been possessed with the devil; the man who had been possessed with demons--RSV; prayed him that he might be with him.; besought...--ASV; begged...--RSV; kept begging to go with him--Mon; And he who had been demonized was beseeching him, that /with him\ he might be. And he having gone into the boat, the demoniac was calling on him that he may be with him, TRNTyeagerV296,7 - kai embainontos autou eis to ploion parekalei auton ho daimonistheis hina met' autou A. kai (inferential conjunction). embainontos (pres.act.part.gen.sing.masc.of embainw, genitive absolute). autou (gen.sing.masc.of autos, genitive absolute). eis (preposition with the accusative of extent). to (acc.sing.neut.of the article in agreement with ploion). ploion (acc.sing.neut.of ploion, extent). parekalei (3d.per.sing.imp.act.ind.of parakalew, inceptive). auton (acc.sing.masc.of autos, direct object of parakalew, inceptive). ho (nom.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with daimonistheis). daimonistheis (aor.pass.part.nom.sing.masc.of daimonizomai, substantival, subject of parekalei). hina (final conjunction introducing a purpose clause). met' (preposition with the genitive of accompaniment). autou (gen.sing.masc.of autos, accompaniment). A (3d.per.sing.pres.subj.of eimi, purpose). Translation: "Therefore as He went on board the ship the man who had been demon possessed began to beg Him that he might go with Him." COMMENT: The genitive absolute construction has the present tense participle indicating simultaneous action with that of the main verb parekalei. Jesus was stepping into the ship when the man who had been demon possessed (aorist participle in ho daimonistheis) began to beg Him (inceptive imperfect in parekalei). For what? The purpose clause with hina and the subjunctive in A, tells us what he wanted. he wanted to go with Jesus. "...that he might always be with Him." Jesus was leaving in acquiescence to the request of the Gerasenes. He and His disciples made their way back to the shore where the boat had been secured. His new friend was following, no longer under the control of the demons, but sober minded, gentle, clothed, no longer crying out nor masochistic, but shocked and humiliated that the citizens of Decapolis thought more of their hogs than of him. One thing he wished above all else - that he might leave the place forever and spend the rest of his life in the presence of Jesus, Who had rescued him from the scenes of his former torment. Hence his persistent entreaty. Every step of the way to the boat he hoped against hope that his request might be granted; and yet he was reluctant to ask. At the last moment, as Jesus stepped into the boat, he realized that he must ask now or never. Thus he began to beg Jesus - "Let me be with you always." It might be worthwhile to research the question as to how those who were healed, saved or otherwise supernaturally helped by Jesus immediately reacted. How many of them wanted to follow Jesus? .eg. Lk.18:43. How many examples are there? The man in the story had his request denied. B200 - Hina is used to introduce an object clause after parekalei, with the meaning "he besought him that he might be with him." T322 - Mark should have made the genitive absolute construction embainontos autou agree with the accusative auton (cf. BD423[2]). [Ed. This isn't absolutely necessary, since the genitive absolute is a segment of the sentence which lacks close connection with the rest of the sentence. Apparently a simple temporal expression was desired. Having written the temporal expression as a genitive, Mark then had to change to auton as the object of the verb parekalei, "while he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed was begging him.] MARKitGNTwuest107 - "When He was come into the ship." The verbal form is a present participle, the action of which goes on simultaneously with the leading verb which is "prayed." It was while our Lord was stepping on board the boat that the man was begging Him to be allowed to accompany Him, ostensibly as a disciple, although one of the commentators suggests that his motive was fear lest the demons return. Translation: "And while He was going on board the boat, the one who had been demon-possessed, kept on begging Him for permission to be with Him." NTC-MARKhendriksen196,7 - It was a very natural request. The man wishes to be in the company of his Benefactor, to whom he has become so heavily indebted. He wishes to render to him every service he may require. MARKj&d146 - "Prayed...that he might be with him". Was it that he feared, lest in the absence of his deliverer the powers of hell should regain their dominion over him, and only felt safe in immediate nearness to him? or merely that out of the depth of his gratitude he desired henceforth to be a follower of him to whom he owed this mighty benefit? - Trench. Mark 5:19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not,; But he refused--RSV; But He would not allow it--Wey; but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends,; and said to him, Go home to your friends--RSV; ...Go home to your own people--Gspd; and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee,; ...how much the Lord has done for you--RSV; and report to them all that the Lord...--Gspd; and hat had compassion on thee.; and how he had pity on thee--ABUV; and how he has had mercy on you-- RSV; and how merciful He has been to you--Beck; And he suffered him not, but saith unto him-- Withdraw into thy house, unto thine own, and bear tidings unto them, how many things the Lord for thee hath done, and hath had mercy on thee. and Jesus did not suffer him, but saith to him, 'Go away to thy house, unto thine own friends, and tell them how great things the Lord did to thee, and dealt kindly with thee;' TRNTyeagerV298,9 - kai ouk aphAken auton, alla legei autw, HApage eis ton oikon sou pros tous sous, kai apaggeilon autois hosa ho kurios soi pepoiAken kai AleAsen se. kai (adversative conjunction). ouk (negative conjunction with the indicative). aphAken (3d.per.sing.aor.act.ind.of aphiAmi, constative). auton (acc.sing.masc.of autos, direct object of aphAken). alla (alternative conjunction). legei (3d.per.sing.pres.act.ind.of legw, historical). autw (dat.sing.masc.of autos, indirect object of legei). Hupage (2d.per.sing.pres.act.impv.of hupagw, command). eis (preposition with the accusative of extent). ton (acc.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with oikon). oikon (acc.sing.masc.of oikos, extent). sou (gen.sing.masc.of su, possession). pros (preposition with the accusative of extent). tous (acc.pl.masc.of the article in agreement with sous). sous (acc.pl.masc.of sos, extent). kai (continuative conjunction). apaggeilan (2d.per.sing.1st.aor.act.impv.of apaggellw, command). autois (dat.pl.masc.of autos, indirect object of apaggellw, command). hosa (acc.pl.neut.of hosos, direct object of apaggeilon). ho (nom.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with kurios). kurios (nom.sing.masc.of kurios, subject of pepoiAken and AleAsen). soi (dat.sing.masc.of su, personal advantage). pepoiAken (3d.per.sing.perf.act.ind.of poiew, consummative). kai (continuative conjunction). AleAsen (3d.per.sing.aor.act.ind.of eleew, culminative). se (acc.sing.masc.of su, direct object of AleAsen). Translation: "But He did not permit him, but said to him, 'Go back to your home to your own people, and tell them what the Lord has done for you and has had mercy on you." COMMENT: kai here is adversative as Jesus refused to grant the man's request. Cf.#319 for a review of the meaning. Jesus did not stand aside and thus permit the man to go with Him, but offered an alternative policy, as indicated by alla. He gave the man a commission, which is clearly prophetic of Mt.28:18-20. "Go home to your friends." That is a good place for any young Christian to start his witness. The citizens of Decapolis no doubt represented the power structure of the city establishment. They were not his friends. They cared less for him than they did for the pigs. They had already indicated how they evaluated the work which Jesus did for the man. We are not to cast pearls before swine nor give that which is holy to dogs (Mt.7:6). The man should not waste his time in Decapolis. [Ed. - This could very well be a misinterpretation of Mt.7:6.] But he had a home in which he once lived before the demons possessed him. There his own people - perhaps a wife and children, parents and friends, who would receive him with joy and listen to his testimony. "Tell them" - for their personal advantage - autois. Note the consummative perfect in pepoiAken. Mark then promptly adds kai AleAsen se. He could have written smoother Greek had he inserted pws before AleAsen. The man was to go home and give his testimony where it would count the most. Men would say, "Is not this the man from the tombs, who was insane?" The norotious sinner who has been saved, can do his most effective witnessing among those who know all about his past life. The man was faithful to his commission. B350 - The pronoun hosa is used in an indirect question in vv.19f, "how much." TGr34 - An accurate distinction of the tenses is maintained in this verse (cf. R901). "Go home," said Jesus, "and show your family the kind of man the Lord has made of you." The perfect tense indicates the abiding result of what God had done for the demented sufferer. When Jesus spoke again, he used the aorist tense: "and tell them God has given you a touch of his love." Ear134 - Friends. The Greek tous sous literally means "those who are yours." This could be translated "your people" (NASB) or more helpfully "your family" (NIV). MARKitGNTwuest107 - "Go home to thy friends." The Greek is rather here, "Go into your home to your own." That is, he was directed by our Lord to testify to his own flesh and blood, his own family. "Tell" is from apaggellw "to bring back tidings." "The Lord hath done." The verb is in the perfect tense, speaking of the complete, finished results of a past action. it was a permanent cure. "Had compassion." The verb is eleew "to feel sympathy with the misery of another, especially such sympathy which manifests itself in action, less frequently in word." On several previous occasions our Lord had forbidden the one healed to tell others about it, and because of the undue excitement and misunderstanding then present concerning His ministry. But in this case, there was no danger of too much enthusiasm, for the people had begged Him to leave. Furthermore, these people most certainly needed the message concerning our Lord. Translation: "And He did not permit him, but says to him, Go into your home, to your own relatives, and bring back tidings to them of such great things which the Lord has sone for you, and of the fact that He had a sympathy for you which issued in action in your behalf." NTC-MARKhendriksen197 - Several points should be noted: a. Is it not striking that the One who had granted the request of the demons, permitting them to enter the pigs, and of the people, that he leave their district, refuses to grant the request of a man who has become his own ardent follower? We learn from this that when God allows his people to get whatever it is they wish to have, this is not always an unmixed blessing. And when he refuses to say "Yes" in answer to their earnest petition, this is not necessarily a sign of his disfavor. b. True missionary activity begins at home...but does not end there. It does indeed begin at home (Acts 1:8; cf. Matt. 10,5,6). Does this not also imply that a true church member is at least as concerned about providing a thorough Christian education for his own children as he is about sending missionaries to the heathen? The latter task is indeed very important and necessary, but the former should have the priority. c. The man is ordered to tell his people what great things "the Lord" has done for him. As verse 20 indicates, he understands this word "the Lord" to refer to Jesus. In Lk. 8:39a the word "God" is substituted for "the Lord." The man again interprets "God" to refer to Jesus (8:39b). This shows that, as the evangelists and the cured demoniac saw it, Jesus is the Lord. He is God. d. What may well be considered the main lesson is this: by ordering the man to go to his own "folks" - the term not to be taken too narrowly (see verse 20), and with the implied idea that neighbor will tell neighbor -, Jesus is showing a great kindness, and this not only to the former demoniac but also to the entire community that had so shamefully rejected him. They had asked him to leave, but he, in his great love, cannot completely separate himself from them. So he sends them a missionary, in fact the best kind of missionary, one who can speak from experience. See Ps. 34:6; 66:16; 116; Jn. 9:25; I Cor. 15:9, 10; Gal. 1:15, 16; Phil. 3:7-14; I Tim. 1:15-17; II Pet. 1:16; I Jn. 1:11-4. MARKj&d146 - "Jesus suffered him not". To be a missionary for Christ, in the region where he was so well known and so long dreaded, was a far nobler calling than to follow him where nobody had ever heard of him, and where other trophies, not less illustrious, could be raised by the same power and grace. "Go home to thy friends". The first act God requires of a convert is, "Be fruitful." The good man's goodness lies not hidden in himself alone: he is still strengthening his weaker brother. All are not called on to be foreign missionaries. The Lord called upon this man to become a home missionary. Mark 5:20 And he departed,; And he went his way--ASV; So the man went off-- Phi; and began to publish in Decapolis; and began to proclaim in the Decapolis--RSV; and spread the news in the Ten Towns--NEB; how great things Jesus had done for him:; how much Jesus had done for him--RSV; all that...--Mof; and all men did marvel.; and they were all amazed--NEB; and all were marvelling--Rhm; And they were all simply amazed--Phi; And he departed, and began proclaiming, in the Decapolis, how many things Jesus had done for him,--and /all\ were marvelling. and he went away, and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how great things Jesus did to him, and all were wondering. TRNTyeagerV299 - kai apAlthen kai Arxato kArussein en tA Dekapolei hosa epoiAsen autw ho IAsous, kai pantes ethaumazon. kai (inferential conjunction). apAlthen (3d.per.sing.aor.ind.of aperchomai, constative). kai (adjunctive conjunction joining verbs). Arxato (3d.per.sing.aor.act.ind.of archw, ingressive). kArussein (pres.act.inf.of kArussw, complementary). en (preposition with the locative of place where). tA (loc.sing.fem.of the article in agreement with Dekapoilei). Dekapolei (loc.sing.fem.of Dekapolews, place where). hosa (acc.pl.neut.of hosos, direct object of kArussein). epoiAsen (3d.per.sing.aor.act.ind.of poiew, culminative). autw (dat.sing.masc.of autos, personal advantage). ho (nom.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with IAsous). IAsous 9nom.sing.masc.of IAsous, subject of epoiAsen). kai (continuative conjunction). pantes (nom.pl.masc.of pas, subject of ehtaumazon). ethaumazon (3d.per.pl.imp.act.ind.of thaumaxw, inceptive). Translation: "Therefore he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis those things which Jesus did for him, and everyone was seized with amazement." COMMENT: The man wasted no time. He wanted to go with Jesus, but no sooner than he had his orders from our Lord, he was gone. Mark does not use euthus, one of his favorite expressions, but we may be sure that the wasted no time. Arxato kArussein - "he began to preach", not only in his own home to his family and friends, as Jesus had modestly suggested, but en Dekapolei. In all of the ten cities. he had only one message - "See what Jesus did for me." Everyone was seized (inceptive imperfect) with wonder. Ear134 - Decapolis. This is simply a transliteration of the Greek word for "Ten City(ies)." The name occurs (in NT) only here, in 7:31, and Mt.4:25. The name was given to a league of 10 cities, 9 of which were on the east side of the Jordan. MARKitGNTwuest107,8 - "He began to publish in Decapolis." "To publish" is kArussw "to make a public proclamation." The word "Decapolis" is the transliteration of two Greek words meaning "ten cities." The region was called "The Decapolis," the region of the ten cities. Expositors remarks that this wide range of his public proclamations probably implied that he was known throughout the ten cities as the famous madman of Gerasa. Translation: "And he went off and began proclaiming publicly in the Decapolis, such great things which Jesus did for him. And all were marvelling." NTC-MARKhendricksen197,8 - The man obeyed. The healed man did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do. He went home and there related what great things Jesus had done for him. But he did not stop then and there. So filled was he with joy and gratitude that he soon included the entire city where he was living in the sphere of his missionary activity (Lk 8:39). Even this did not satisfy his eagerness to ascribe the glory to God. Soon he was bearing testimony to God's goodness in the Decapolis as a whole, as Mark states. This "Decapolis" was a league of ten Hellenic cities: Scythopolis (located west of the Jordan River); east of the Jordan: Philadelphia, Gerasa, Pella, Damascus, Kanata, Dion, Abila, Gadara, and Hippos. See the sketch. These ten cities, at one time deprived of their freedom by the Maccabees, had by the Romans been delivered from their yoke and had even been given a considerable measure of home rule. Though required to render tribute and military service to Rome, they had been allowed to form an association for commercial progress and for mutual defense against any encroachment from the side of either Jews or Arabs. They had their own army, courts, and coinage. Throughout this region there was a scattering of Jews, but by and large this was definitely Gentile territory; a fact to which, for example, many Greek amphitheatres bore witness. Everybody was amazed. The people who heard this man testify probably continued for some time to be filled with wonder and praise. No doubt some did more than merely marvel. In Decapolis, too, there must have been a "remnant" of people in whose hearts and lives the word of God was effective unto salvation, to his glory. See Isa. 55:11; Matt. 4:24, 25; Mk. 7:31-37. TNICotNT-MARKlane187,8,9 - In sharp contrast to the fear of the inhabitants is the devotion of the man who formerly had been possessed. As Jesus entered the boat the man begged Jesus that "he might be with him." Mark's formulation appears to be a technical one for discipleship. The desire of the man to accompany Jesus is the response of gratitude, and indicates that Jesus is not some strange divine-man who is to be feared. He is the one who bestows healing that is redemptive, and who calls forth the devotion of those who have received his benefactions. Jesus refused the man permission to accompany him, but instructed him to return to the circle of family and friends from whom he had been estranged and to declare all that the Lord had done in extending mercy to him. In obedience the man went his way and began to publish in the Decapolis the outstanding things which Jesus had done for him, so that men marvelled. It was natural that he should have spoken openly of Jesus, for God had extended his mercy to him through Jesus. It is striking that no restriction is placed upon the man by Jesus, in contrast to the injunctions to silence found in other instances of healing. The accent falls upon apprehension of the divine action and declaration in a manner which anticipates the primitive Christian mission rather than upon secrecy and silence. This may be due to the fact that the man was a Gentile and his proclamation is confined to a predominantly Gentile area. It is, nevertheless, an exception to the more usual pattern observed by Jesus in Galilee. It should also be observed that the object of the man's declaration was not the person of Jesus directly, but what Jesus had done in restoring him to wholeness. Thus in the midst of the Gentiles, the God of Israel was glorified through the proclamation of what Jesus had accomplished. The story was remembered in the tradition because of the dramatic evidence it offered of the purpose of demonic possession and of the full deliverance brought by Jesus. It declared that the victory of Jesus over evil forces is a reality in which the liberating power of the Kingdom of God is manifested in an extension of the saving mercy of God. MARKj&d146,7 - "In Decapolis" (ten cities). The region (of ten cities east of the Jordan) of which this immediate district formed a part. The healed man became a preacher, not only where Christ had been rejected, but where he had not gone. His message was his own experience. How much his preaching effected history does not record, but we know that near forty years later this district of Decapolis became the refuge of the church of Jerusalem when that city was destroyed. MARKbarclay123,24,25 - The interesting thing about this passage is that it tells us where this whole incident happened. It happened in the Decapolis. Decapolis literally means The Ten Cities. Near to the Jordan, and especially on the East side of the Jordan, there were ten cities which were of rather a special character. They were essentially Greek. Their names were Scythopolis, which was the only one on the west side of the Jordan, Pella, Dion, Gerasa, Philadelphia, Gadara, Raphana, Kanatha, Hippos and Damascus. With the conquests of Alexander the Great there had been a Greek penetration into Palestine and Syria. These Greek cities which had been then founded were in rather a curious position. They were within Syria; but they were very largely independent. They had their own councils and their own coinage; they had the right of local administration, not only of themselves but of an area around them; they had the right of association for mutual defence and for commercial purposes. They remained in a kind of semi-independence down until the time of the Maccabees, about the middle of the second century B.C. The Maccabees were the Jewish conquerors, and they subjected most of these cities to Jewish rule. They were liberated from Jewish rule by the Roman Emperor Pompey about 63 B.C. They were still in a curious position. They were to some extent independent, but they were liable to Roman taxation and Roman military service. They were not garrisoned, but frequently they were the headquarters of Roman legions in the eastern campaigns. Now Rome governed most of this part of the world by a system of tributary kings. The result was that Rome could give these cities very little actual protection; and so they banded themselves together into a kind of corporation to defend themselves against Jewish and Arab encroachment. They were stubbornly Greek. They were beautiful cities; they had their Greek gods and their Greek temples and their Greek amphitheatres; they were devoted to the Greek way of life. Here, then, is a most interesting thing. If Jesus was in the Decapolis this is one of the first hints of things to come. There would be Jews there, but it was fundamentally a Greek area. Here is a foretaste of a world for Christ. Here is the first sign of Christianity bursting the bonds of Judaism and going out to all the world. Just how Greek these cities were, and just how important they were, can be seen from the fact that from Gadara alone there came Philodemus, the great Epicuraean philosopher, who was a contemporary of Cicero, Meleager, the master of the Greek epigram, Menippus, the famous satirist, and Theodorus, the rhetorician, who was no less a person than the tutor of Tiberius, the reigning Roman Emperor. Something happened on that day that Jesus set foot in the Decapolis. There is now good reason to see why Jesus sent the man back. He was to be a witness for Christianity. He was to be a living, walking, vivid, unanswerable demonstration of what Christ can do for a man. Our glory must always be not in what we can do for Christ but in what Christ can do for us. The unanswerable proof of Christianity is a re-created man. He was to be the first seed which in time was to become a mighty harvest. The first contact with Greek civilization was made in the Decapolis. Everything must start somewhere; and the glory of all the Christianity which one day flowered in the Greek mind and genius began with a man who had been possessed by demons and whom Christ healed. Christ must always begin with someone. In our own circle and society why should He not begin with us?