Mark 5

They crossed to the other side of the lake, into the region of the Gadarenes.

1And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

NoteThe "sea" throughout this chapter is the Sea of Galilee, a freshwater lake roughly thirteen miles long and eight across, crossable by fishing boat in a few hours. The "country of the Gadarenes" lay on its eastern shore, territory with a largely non-Jewish population. Ancient manuscripts disagree here, reading Gadarenes, Gerasenes or Gergesenes, three different towns of that general region; the difference cannot be resolved from the evidence.

2As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man came out of the tombs to meet him. The man had an unclean spirit in him.

2And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

NoteThe King James "ship" translates a word for an ordinary open boat, of the kind used for fishing on the lake, not a seagoing vessel. Tombs in this region were commonly caves or chambers cut into rock, large enough for a person to shelter in. "Unclean" is ritual vocabulary rather than a comment on dirt: it marks something as belonging outside the sphere of the holy, and under Jewish law contact with graves made a person unclean in exactly that sense.

3He lived among the tombs, and no one could tie him up anymore, not even with chains.

3Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

4People had often bound him with chains and iron cuffs on his feet, but he pulled the chains apart and smashed the cuffs to pieces. No one was strong enough to control him.

4Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

5Night and day he stayed among the tombs and in the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones.

5And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

6But when he saw Jesus far off, he ran to him and threw himself down before him.

6But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,

NoteIn 1611 English "worshipped" covered any act of prostrating oneself before a superior, human or divine. The Greek word means to fall to the ground in homage, which is what the man does.

7He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in God's name, do not torture me!"

7And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

Note"What have I to do with thee" is a word for word carryover of a Hebrew and Greek idiom meaning roughly "what business do you have with me?" or "leave me alone." "I adjure thee" means to put someone under oath; it is the formal language of binding a spirit, and here the spirit uses it against Jesus. "Most high God" was a title outsiders, including Gentiles, commonly used for the God of Israel.

8He said this because Jesus had told him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit."

8For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

9Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "My name is Legion, because there are many of us."

9And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

NoteA legion was the largest unit of the Roman army, nominally around five or six thousand men. The name says two things at once: an overwhelming number, and the vocabulary of a foreign occupying force.

10And he begged Jesus over and over not to send them out of that region.

10And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

11Nearby, on the hillside, a large herd of pigs was feeding.

11Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

NotePigs were forbidden food under Jewish law and were not kept in Jewish areas. A herd of two thousand is one of the signals that this territory is Gentile.

12All the demons begged him, "Send us into the pigs. Let us go into them."

12And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

NoteThe King James uses "devils" where the Greek has a plural word meaning lesser malign spirits. Modern translations say "demons" to keep them distinct from "the devil," which in the Greek is a separate, singular term.

13Jesus let them. The unclean spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand of them, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned there.

13And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

Note"Gave them leave" means gave them permission. "Were choked in the sea" means they drowned; "choke" in 1611 covered suffocation of any kind, including by water.

14The men taking care of the pigs ran off and told the news in the town and in the countryside. People came out to see what had happened.

14And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.

15They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been controlled by the demons, the one who had the legion in him. He was sitting there, dressed and thinking clearly. That frightened them.

15And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

16The people who had watched it happen told the others what had been done for the man and what had happened to the pigs.

16And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.

17Then the people began begging Jesus to leave their area.

17And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.

Note"Coasts" in the King James means borders or territory generally, with no implication of a shoreline. They are asking him to leave their district.

18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been controlled by the demons begged to go with him.

18And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.

19But Jesus would not let him. He said, "Go home to your own people, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you."

19Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.

Note"Suffered him not" means did not allow him; "suffer" in the King James regularly means permit. "Thy friends" translates a phrase meaning your own household and relations, not friends as opposed to family.

20So the man went away and began telling all through the Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him. Everyone was amazed.

20And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

NoteThe Decapolis, literally "Ten Cities," was a group of Greek speaking cities mostly east and south of the Sea of Galilee, self governing and culturally Gentile. Sending the man there sends him through territory where Jesus himself is unknown.

21When Jesus had crossed back by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him. He was beside the lake.

21And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.

22One of the synagogue leaders, a man named Jairus, came up. When he saw Jesus, he fell down at his feet.

22And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,

NoteA ruler of the synagogue was a lay official, not a priest. He administered the building and arranged who would read and speak at the assembly, a position of standing in the local community.

23He begged him again and again, saying, "My little daughter is close to death. Please come and put your hands on her, so she will be made well and live."

23And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

NotePlacing hands on a sick person was the customary physical gesture accompanying a blessing or a healing, so the request is for a specific action, not a vague one.

24So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed in around him.

24And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

25In the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years.

25And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

Note"An issue of blood" means continuous vaginal bleeding. Beyond the physical toll, Jewish law treated a woman in this condition as ritually unclean for as long as it lasted, and anyone and anything she touched became unclean too. Twelve years of that means twelve years of being unable to touch people freely.

26She had gone through a great deal at the hands of many doctors and had spent everything she had. It did her no good; she only got worse.

26And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

27She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his coat.

27When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

Note"The press" is the crowd, from the crush of bodies. The "garment" is the outer cloak, the loose robe worn over everything else.

28She kept telling herself, "If I can just touch his clothes, I will be made well."

28For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

Note"Whole" in the King James means healthy or intact; "I shall be whole" means I will be well, not I will be complete as a person.

29Right away the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she was healed of the illness that had troubled her.

29And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

Note"The fountain of her blood" means the source of the bleeding. "Plague" in the King James means any affliction or scourge striking a single person, with no sense of an epidemic.

30At once Jesus knew inside himself that power had gone out of him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

30And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

Note"Virtue" here has its older sense of power or potency, from the Latin for strength, the same sense preserved in phrases like "the virtue of a medicine." It carries no moral meaning.

31His disciples said, "You can see the crowd pressing in on you, and you ask, 'Who touched me?'"

31And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

32But he kept looking around to see the woman who had done it.

32And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

33The woman was afraid and shaking, because she knew what had happened to her. She came and fell down in front of him and told him the whole truth.

33But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

34He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be free of your illness."

34And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

NoteThe Greek verb behind "made thee whole" is the ordinary word for rescue or save, used across the New Testament both for physical healing and for deliverance in a wider sense. English has no single word that holds both, so translations must pick one.

35While he was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader's house and said, "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any further?"

35While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

Note"Master" translates a word meaning teacher, an address for a recognized instructor. It does not mean master as opposed to servant.

36Jesus heard what they said and told the synagogue leader, "Do not be afraid. Just believe."

36As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

37He did not let anyone come with him except Peter, James, and James's brother John.

37And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.

38They came to the synagogue leader's house, and Jesus saw the uproar there, with people crying and wailing loudly.

38And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.

NoteLoud public mourning was the expected response to a death, and in this period a household would often hire professional mourners, wailing women and flute players, who arrived quickly. The "tumult" is therefore an organized noise as much as a spontaneous one, which is also why the mourners can switch to laughter in verse forty.

39He went in and said to them, "Why all this noise and crying? The child is not dead. She is asleep."

39And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

Note"Why make ye this ado" means why are you making this commotion. "Damsel" in 1611 simply meant a girl or young unmarried woman, without the archaic or storybook flavor it now has.

40They laughed at him. But he put them all outside. Then he took the child's father and mother and the men with him, and went in where the child was lying.

40And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.

41He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up."

41And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.

NoteMark preserves the words in Aramaic, the everyday spoken language of Galilee, and then translates them for readers who did not know it. He does this at several points in his book. "Talitha" is a homely word for a young girl, closer to "little one" than to a formal address.

42Right away the girl stood up and walked around. She was twelve years old. The people there were completely astonished.

42And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.

Note"Astonished with a great astonishment" repeats the same root as noun and verb, a Hebrew and Aramaic way of intensifying a statement that Greek writers of this period imitate. It means they were utterly overwhelmed.

43He gave them strict orders that no one was to know about this, and he told them to give her something to eat.

43And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

Note"Straitly" means strictly or tightly, and is unrelated to "straight." The instruction about food is practical: it shows the child is genuinely alive and functioning, not a vision.