19 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;
Come, hear, all ye who fear God, And I recount what he did for my soul.
A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah concerning his being sick, when he reviveth from his sickness: `I -- I said in the cutting off of my days, I go in to the gates of Sheol, I have numbered the remnant of mine years. I said, I do not see Jah -- Jah! In the land of the living, I do not behold man any more, With the inhabitants of the world. My sojourning hath departed, And been removed from me as a shepherd's tent, I have drawn together, as a weaver, my life, By weakness it cutteth me off, From day unto night Thou dost end me. I have set `Him' till morning as a lion, So doth He break all my bones, From day unto night Thou dost end me. As a crane -- a swallow -- so I chatter, I mourn as a dove, Drawn up have been mine eyes on high, O Jehovah, oppression `is' on me, be my surety. -- What do I say? seeing He said to me, And He Himself hath wrought, I go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul. Lord, by these do `men' live, And by all in them `is' the life of my spirit, And Thou savest me, make me also to live, Lo, to peace He changed for me bitterness, And Thou hast delighted in my soul without corruption, For Thou hast cast behind Thy back all my sins. For Sheol doth not confess Thee, Death doth not praise Thee, Those going down to the pit hope not for Thy truth. The living, the living, he doth confess Thee. Like myself to-day -- a father to sons Doth make known of Thy faithfulness, O Jehovah -- to save me: And my songs we sing all days of our lives In the house of Jehovah.'
`Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the earth: Your peace be great! The signs and wonders that God Most High hath done with me, it is good before me to shew. His signs how great! and His wonders how mighty! His kingdom `is' a kingdom age-during, and His rule `is' with generation and generation.
`Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and honouring the King of the heavens, for all His works `are' truth, and His paths judgment, and those walking in pride He is able to humble.'
Then Darius the king hath written to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the land: `Your peace be great! From before me is made a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom they are trembling and fearing before the God of Daniel, for He `is' the living God, and abiding to the ages, and His kingdom that which `is' not destroyed, and His dominion `is' unto the end. A deliverer, and rescuer, and doer of signs and wonders in the heavens and in earth `is' He who hath delivered Daniel from the paw of the lions.'
`Men, brethren, and fathers, hear my defence now unto you;' -- and they having heard that in the Hebrew dialect he was speaking to them, gave the more silence, and he saith, -- `I, indeed, am a man, a Jew, having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, and brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, having been taught according to the exactitude of a law of the fathers, being zealous of God, as all ye are to-day. `And this way I persecuted unto death, binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women, as also the chief priest doth testify to me, and all the eldership; from whom also having received letters unto the brethren, to Damascus, I was going on, to bring also those there bound to Jerusalem that they might be punished, and it came to pass, in my going on and coming nigh to Damascus, about noon, suddenly out of the heaven there shone a great light round about me, I fell also to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute? `And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? and he said unto me, I am Jesus the Nazarene whom thou dost persecute -- and they who are with me the light did see, and became afraid, and the voice they heard not of him who is speaking to me -- and I said, What shall I do, Lord? and the Lord said unto me, Having risen, go on to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee concerning all things that have been appointed for thee to do. `And when I did not see from the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who are with me, I came to Damascus, and a certain one, Ananias, a pious man according to the law, being testified to by all the Jews dwelling `there', having come unto me and stood by `me', said to me, Saul, brother, look up; and I the same hour did look up to him; and he said, The God of our fathers did choose thee beforehand to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice out of his mouth, because thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard; and now, why tarriest thou? having risen, baptize thyself, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord. `And it came to pass when I returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, I came into a trance, and I saw him saying to me, Haste and go forth in haste out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me; and I said, Lord, they -- they know that I was imprisoning and was scourging in every synagogue those believing on thee; and when the blood of thy witness Stephen was being poured forth, I also was standing by and assenting to his death, and keeping the garments of those putting him to death; and he said unto me, Go, because to nations far off I will send thee.'
`The manner of my life then, indeed, from youth -- which from the beginning was among my nation, in Jerusalem -- know do all the Jews, knowing me before from the first, (if they may be willing to testify,) that after the most exact sect of our worship, I lived a Pharisee; and now for the hope of the promise made to the fathers by God, I have stood judged, to which our twelve tribes, intently night and day serving, do hope to come, concerning which hope I am accused, king Agrippa, by the Jews; why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead? `I, indeed, therefore, thought with myself, that against the name of Jesus of Nazareth it behoved `me' many things to do, which also I did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I in prison did shut up, from the chief priests having received the authority; they also being put to death, I gave my vote against them, and in every synagogue, often punishing them, I was constraining `them' to speak evil, being also exceedingly mad against them, I was also persecuting `them' even unto strange cities. `In which things, also, going on to Damascus -- with authority and commission from the chief priests -- at mid-day, I saw in the way, O king, out of heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me a light -- and those going on with me; and we all having fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute? hard for thee against pricks to kick! `And I said, Who art thou, Lord? and he said, I am Jesus whom thou dost persecute; but rise, and stand upon thy feet, for for this I appeared to thee, to appoint thee an officer and a witness both of the things thou didst see, and of the things `in which' I will appear to thee, delivering thee from the people, and the nations, to whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, to turn `them' from darkness to light, and `from' the authority of the Adversary unto God, for their receiving forgiveness of sins, and a lot among those having been sanctified, by faith that `is' toward me. `Whereupon, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem, to all the region also of Judea, and to the nations, I was preaching to reform, and to turn back unto God, doing works worthy of reformation; because of these things the Jews -- having caught me in the temple -- were endeavouring to kill `me'. `Having obtained, therefore, help from God, till this day, I have stood witnessing both to small and to great, saying nothing besides the things that both the prophets and Moses spake of as about to come, that the Christ is to suffer, whether first by a rising from the dead, he is about to proclaim light to the people and to the nations.' And, he thus making a defence, Festus with a loud voice said, `Thou art mad, Paul; much learning doth turn thee mad;' and he saith, `I am not mad, most noble Festus, but of truth and soberness the sayings I speak forth; for the king doth know concerning these things, before whom also I speak boldly, for none of these things, I am persuaded, are hidden from him; for this thing hath not been done in a corner; thou dost believe, king Agrippa, the prophets? I have known that thou dost believe!' And Agrippa said unto Paul, `In a little thou dost persuade me to become a Christian!' and Paul said, `I would have wished to God, both in a little, and in much, not only thee, but also all those hearing me to-day, to become such as I also am -- except these bonds.'
And Jonah prayeth unto Jehovah his God from the bowels of the fish. And he saith: I called, because of my distress, to Jehovah, And He doth answer me, From the belly of sheol I have cried, Thou hast heard my voice. When Thou dost cast me `into' the deep, Into the heart of the seas, Then the flood doth compass me, All Thy breakers and Thy billows have passed over me. And I -- I said: I have been cast out from before Thine eyes, (Yet I add to look unto Thy holy temple!) Compassed me have waters unto the soul, The deep doth compass me, The weed is bound to my head. To the cuttings of mountains I have come down, The earth, her bars `are' behind me to the age. And Thou bringest up from the pit my life, O Jehovah my God. In the feebleness within me of my soul Jehovah I have remembered, And come in unto Thee doth my prayer, Unto Thy holy temple. Those observing lying vanities their own mercy forsake. And I -- with a voice of thanksgiving -- I sacrifice to Thee, That which I have vowed I complete, Salvation `is' of Jehovah. And Jehovah saith to the fish, and it vomiteth out Jonah on the dry land.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Mark 5
Commentary on Mark 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
Glorious Cure of the Gadarene Demoniac (Mr 5:1-20).
1. And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately—(see Mr 5:6).
there met him a man with an unclean spirit—"which had devils [demons] long time" (Lu 8:27). In Matthew (Mt 8:28), "there met him two men possessed with devils." Though there be no discrepancy between these two statements—more than between two witnesses, one of whom testifies to something done by one person, while the other affirms that there were two—it is difficult to see how the principal details here given could apply to more than one case.
3. Who had his dwelling among the tombs—Luke (Lu 8:27) says, "He ware no clothes, neither abode in any house." These tombs were hewn out of the rocky caves of the locality, and served for shelters and lurking places (Lu 8:26).
4. Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, &c.—Luke says (Lu 8:29) that "oftentimes it [the unclean spirit] had caught him"; and after mentioning how they had vainly tried to bind him with chains and fetters, because, "he brake the bands," he adds, "and was driven of the devil [demon] into the wilderness." The dark tyrant-power by which he was held clothed him with superhuman strength and made him scorn restraint. Matthew (Mt 8:28) says he was "exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way." He was the terror of the whole locality.
5. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones—Terrible as he was to others, he himself endured untold misery, which sought relief in tears and self-inflicted torture.
6. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him—not with the spontaneous alacrity which says to Jesus, "Draw me, we will run after thee," but inwardly compelled, with terrific rapidity, before the Judge, to receive sentence of expulsion.
7. What have I to do with thee, Jesus, Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not—or, as in Mt 8:29, "Art Thou come to torment us before the time?" (See on Mr 1:24). Behold the tormentor anticipating, dreading, and entreating exemption from torment! In Christ they discern their destined Tormentor; the time, they know, is fixed, and they feel as if it were come already! (Jas 2:19).
8. For he said unto him—that is, before the unclean spirit cried out.
Come out of the man, unclean spirit!—Ordinarily, obedience to a command of this nature was immediate. But here, a certain delay is permitted, the more signally to manifest the power of Christ and accomplish His purposes.
9. And he asked him, What is thy name?—The object of this question was to extort an acknowledgment of the virulence of demoniacal power by which this victim was enthralled.
And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many—or, as in Luke (Lu 8:30) "because many devils [demons] were entered into him." A legion, in the Roman army, amounted, at its full complement, to six thousand; but here the word is used, as such words with us, and even this one, for an indefinitely large number—large enough however to rush, as soon as permission was given, into two thousand swine and destroy them.
10. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country—The entreaty, it will be observed, was made by one spirit, but in behalf of many—"he besought Him not to send them, &c."—just as in Mr 5:9, "he answered we are many." But what do they mean by entreating so earnestly not to be ordered out of the country? Their next petition (Mr 5:12) will make that clear enough.
11. Now there was there, nigh unto the mountains—rather, "to the mountain," according to what is clearly the true reading. In Mt 8:30, they are said to have been "a good way off." But these expressions, far from being inconsistent, only confirm, by their precision, the minute accuracy of the narrative.
a great herd of swine feeding—There can hardly be any doubt that the owners of these were Jews, since to them our Lord had now come to proffer His services. This will explain what follows.
12. And all the devils besought him, saying—"if thou cast us out" (Mt 8:31).
Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them—Had they spoken out all their mind, perhaps this would have been it: "If we must quit our hold of this man, suffer us to continue our work of mischief in another form, that by entering these swine, and thus destroying the people's property, we may steel their hearts against Thee!"
13. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave—In Matthew (Mt 8:32) this is given with majestic brevity—"Go!" The owners, if Jews, drove an illegal trade; if heathens, they insulted the national religion: in either case the permission was just.
And the unclean spirits went out—of the man.
and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently—rushed.
down a steep place—down the hanging cliff.
into the sea (they were about two thousand)—The number of them is given by this graphic Evangelist alone.
and were choked in the sea—"perished in the waters" (Mt 8:32).
14. And they that fed the swine fled, and told it—"told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils" (Mt 8:33).
in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done—Thus had they the evidence, both of the herdsmen and of their own senses, to the reality of both miracles.
15. And they come to Jesus—Matthew (Mt 8:34) says, "Behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus."
and see him that was possessed with the devil—the demonized person.
and had the legion, sitting—"at the feet of Jesus," adds Luke (Lu 8:35); in contrast with his former wild and wandering habits.
and clothed—As our Evangelist had not told us that he "ware no clothes," the meaning of this statement could only have been conjectured but for "the beloved physician" (Lu 8:27), who supplies the missing piece of information here. This is a striking case of what are called Undesigned Coincidences amongst the different Evangelists; one of them taking a thing for granted, as familiarly known at the time, but which we should never have known but for one or more of the others, and without the knowledge of which some of their statements would be unintelligible. The clothing which the poor man would feel the want of the moment his consciousness returned to him, was doubtless supplied to him by some of the Twelve.
and in his right mind—but now, oh, in what a lofty sense! (Compare an analogous, though a different kind of case, Da 4:34-37).
and they were afraid—Had this been awe only, it had been natural enough; but other feelings, alas! of a darker kind, soon showed themselves.
16. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil—("the demonized person").
and also concerning the swine—Thus had they the double testimony of the herdsmen and their own senses.
17. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts—Was it the owners only of the valuable property now lost to them that did this? Alas, no! For Luke (Lu 8:37) says, "Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought Him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear." The evil spirits had thus, alas! their object. Irritated, the people could not suffer His presence; yet awe-struck, they dared not order Him off: so they entreat Him to withdraw, and—He takes them at their word.
18. he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him—the grateful heart, fresh from the hand of demons, clinging to its wondrous Benefactor. How exquisitely natural!
19. Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not, &c.—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.
20. And he departed, and began to publish—not only among his friends, to whom Jesus immediately sent him, but
in Decapolis—so called, as being a region of ten cities. (See on Mt 4:25).
how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel—Throughout that considerable region did this monument of mercy proclaim his new-found Lord; and some, it is to be hoped, did more than "marvel."
Mr 5:21-43. The Daughter of Jairus Raised to Life—The Woman with an Issue of Blood Healed. ( = Mt 9:18-26; Lu 8:41-56).
The occasion of this scene will appear presently.
Jairus' Daughter (Mr 5:21-24).
21. And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side—from the Gadarene side of the lake, where He had parted with the healed demoniac, to the west side, at Capernaum.
much people gathered unto him—who "gladly received Him; for they were all waiting for Him" (Lu 8:40). The abundant teaching earlier that day (Mr 4:1, &c., and Mt 13:1-58) had only whetted the people's appetite: and disappointed, as would seem, that He had left them in the evening to cross the lake, they remain hanging about the beach, having got a hint, probably through some of His disciples, that He would be back the same evening. Perhaps they witnessed at a distance the sudden calming of the tempest. The tide of our Lord's popularity was now fast rising.
and he was nigh unto the sea.
22. And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue—of which class there were but few who believed in Jesus (Joh 7:48). One would suppose from this that the ruler had been with the multitude on the shore, anxiously awaiting the return of Jesus, and immediately on His arrival had accosted Him as here related. But Matthew (Mt 9:18) tells us that the ruler came to Him while He was in the act of speaking at His own table on the subject of fasting; and as we must suppose that this converted publican ought to know what took place on that memorable occasion when he made a feast to his Lord, we conclude that here the right order is indicated by the First Evangelist alone.
Jairus by name—or "Jaeirus." It is the same name as Jair, in the Old Testament (Nu 32:41; Jud 10:3; Es 2:5).
and when he saw him, he fell at his feet—in Matthew (Mt 9:18), "worshipped Him." The meaning is the same in both.
23. And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter—Luke (Lu 8:42) says, "He had one only daughter, about twelve years of age." According to a well-known rabbin, quoted by Lightfoot, a daughter, till she had completed her twelfth year, was called "little," or "a little maid"; after that, "a young woman."
lieth at the point of death—Matthew (Mt 9:18) gives it thus: "My daughter is even now dead"—"has just expired." The news of her death reached the father after the cure of the woman with the issue of blood: but Matthew's brief account gives only the result, as in the case of the centurion's servant (Mt 8:5, &c.).
come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live—or, "that she may be healed and live," according to a fully preferable reading. In one of the class to which this man belonged, so steeped in prejudice, such faith would imply more than in others.
The Woman with an Issue of Blood Healed (Mr 5:24-34).
24. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him—The word in Luke (Lu 8:42) is stronger—"choked," "stifled Him."
26. And had suffered many things of many physicians—The expression perhaps does not necessarily refer to the suffering she endured under medical treatment, but to the much varied treatment which she underwent.
and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse—pitiable case, and affectingly aggravated; emblem of our natural state as fallen creatures (Eze 16:5, 6), and illustrating the worse than vanity of all human remedies for spiritual maladies (Ho 5:13). The higher design of all our Lord's miracles of healing irresistibly suggests this way of viewing the present case, the propriety of which will still more appear as we proceed.
27. When she had heard of Jesus, came—This was the right experiment at last. What had she "heard of Jesus?" No doubt it was His marvellous cures she had heard of; and the hearing of these, in connection with her bitter experience of the vanity of applying to any other, had been blessed to the kindling in her soul of a firm confidence that He who had so willingly wrought such cures on others was able and would not refuse to heal her also.
in the press behind—shrinking, yet seeking.
touched his garment—According to the ceremonial law, the touch of anyone having the disease which this woman had would have defiled the person touched. Some think that the recollection of this may account for her stealthily approaching Him in the crowd behind, and touching but the hem of His garment. But there was an instinct in the faith which brought her to Jesus, which taught her, that if that touch could set her free from the defiling disease itself, it was impossible to communicate defilement to Him, and that this wondrous Healer must be above such laws.
28. For she said—"within herself" (Mt 9:21).
If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole—that is, if I may but come in contact with this glorious Healer at all. Remarkable faith this!
29. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up—Not only was her issue of blood stanched (Lu 8:44), but the cause of it was thoroughly removed, insomuch that by her bodily sensations she immediately knew herself perfectly cured.
30. And Jesus immediately knowing in himself that virtue—or "efficacy."
had gone out of him—He was conscious of the forthgoing of His healing power, which was not—as in prophets and apostles—something foreign to Himself and imparted merely, but what He had dwelling within Him as "His own fulness."
turned him about in the press—crowd.
and said, Who touched my clothes?
31. And his disciples said unto him—Luke says (Lu 8:45), "When all denied, Peter and they that were with Him said, Master."
Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?—"Askest thou, Lord, who touched Thee? Rather ask who touched Thee not in such a throng." "And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched Me"—"a certain person has touched Me"—"for I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me" (Lu 8:46). Yes, the multitude "thronged and pressed Him"—they jostled against Him, but all involuntarily; they were merely carried along; but one, one only—"a certain person—TOUCHED Him," with the conscious, voluntary, dependent touch of faith, reaching forth its hand expressly to have contact with Him. This and this only Jesus acknowledges and seeks out. Even so, as Augustine long ago said, multitudes still come similarly close to Christ in the means of grace, but all to no purpose, being only sucked into the crowd. The voluntary, living contact of faith is that electric conductor which alone draws virtue out of Him.
32. And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing—not for the purpose of summoning forth a culprit, but, as we shall presently see, to obtain from the healed one a testimony to what He had done for her.
33. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her—alarmed, as a humble, shrinking female would naturally be, at the necessity of so public an exposure of herself, yet conscious that she had a tale to tell which would speak for her.
came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth—In Luke (Lu 8:47) it is, "When the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, she declared unto Him before all the people for what cause she had touched Him, and how she was healed immediately." This, though it tried the modesty of the believing woman, was just what Christ wanted in dragging her forth, her public testimony to the facts of her case—the disease, with her abortive efforts at a cure, and the instantaneous and perfect relief which her touching the Great Healer had brought her.
34. And he said unto her, Daughter—"be of good comfort" (Lu 8:48).
thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague—Though healed as soon as she believed, it seemed to her a stolen cure—she feared to acknowledge it. Jesus therefore sets His royal seal upon it. But what a glorious dismissal from the lips of Him who is "our Peace" is that, "Go in peace!"
Jairus' Daughter Raised to Life (Mr 5:35-43).
35. Thy daughter is dead; why troublest thou the Master any further?—the Teacher.
36. he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe—Jesus, knowing how the heart of the agonized father would sink at the tidings, and the reflections at the delay which would be apt to rise in his mind, hastens to reassure him, and in His accustomed style: "Be not afraid, only believe"—words of unchanging preciousness and power! How vividly do such incidents bring out Christ's knowledge of the human heart and tender sympathy! (Heb 4:15).
37. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James—(See on Mr 1:29).
38. And he cometh—rather, "they come."
to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly—"the minstrels and the people making a noise" (Mt 9:23)—lamenting for the dead. (See 2Ch 35:25; Jer 9:20; Am 5:16).
39. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth—so brief her state of death as to be more like a short sleep.
40. And they laughed him to scorn—rather, simply, "laughed at Him"—"knowing that she was dead" (Lu 8:53); an important testimony this to the reality of her death.
But when he had put them all out—The word is strong—"turned them all out"; meaning all those who were making this noise, and any others that may have been there from sympathy, that only those might be present who were most nearly concerned, and those whom He had Himself brought as witnesses of the great act about to be done.
he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him—Peter, and James, and John.
and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
41. And he took the damsel by the hand—as He did Peter's mother-in-law (Mr 1:31).
and said unto her, Talitha cumi—The words are Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldaic, the then language of Palestine. Mark loves to give such wonderful words just as they were spoken. See Mr 7:34; 14:36.
42. And straightway the damsel—The word here is different from that in Mr 5:39-41, and signifies "young maiden," or "little girl."
arose, and walked—a vivid touch evidently from an eye-witness.
And they were astonished with a great astonishment—The language here is the strongest.
43. And he charged them straitly—strictly.
that no man should know it—The only reason we can assign for this is His desire not to let the public feeling regarding Him come too precipitately to a crisis.
and commanded that something should be given her to eat—in token of perfect restoration.