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Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Bible Commentaries
International Critical Commentary NT International Critical
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Driver, S.A., Plummer, A.A., Briggs, C.A. "Commentary on Mark 5". International Critical Commentary NT. https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/icc/mark-5.html. 1896-1924.
Driver, S.A., Plummer, A.A., Briggs, C.A. "Commentary on Mark 5". International Critical Commentary NT. https://studylight.org/
Whole Bible (47)New Testament (17)Gospels Only (7)Individual Books (13)
Verses 1-99
RELATION OF THE SYNOPTICAL ACCOUNTS
5. All of the Synoptics agree in correlating the three miracles narrated in this chapter. And Mk. and Lk. agree in general in the relation of these to events preceding and following. But Mt. places them in an entirely different connection. According to him, the occasion of Jesusâ crossing to the other side was the gathering of the multitude about him owing to the miracles accompanying the healing of Peterâs mother-in-law. And the parables are said to be delivered on a day following, not preceding, the sending forth of the twelve, and removed from these events by a considerable interval. According to our account, the evident intention is to connect Jesusâ departure with the failure of Jesusâ mission to the Galileans marked by the veiled teaching of the parables. The recurrence of the same language in various places marks the interdependence of the Synoptics, as also the correlation of the events. But Mk.âs fulness of detail, in which he is followed to some extent by Lk., is characteristic.
HEALING OF THE GERGESENE DEMONIAC
1-20. Jesus crosses the lake into Decapolis on the south-eastern shore, and heals a man said to be possessed of a host of demons. The demons, driven out of the man, enter with Jesusâ permission into a herd of swine, and the maddened beasts rush into the lake and are drowned.
1. Îµá¼°Ï Ïὴν ÏÏÏαν Ïῶν ÎεÏαÏηνῶνâinto the country of the Gerasenes. ÎαδαÏηνῶν is the probable reading in Mt., and ÎεÏγεÏηνῶν in Lk. The country of the Gadarenes designates the district generally by the name of a principal city. ÎεÏγεÏηνῶν is probably derived from the name of the town in whose immediate vicinity the event occurred, which must have been on the shore of the lake. ÎεÏαÏηνῶν is more difficult to dispose of, as Gerasa is too far away to be the scene of the incident, or even to become a familiar designation of the general locality. And the similarity of name indicates that it has been confused with the nearer Gergesa.1
ÎεÏαÏηνῶν, instead of ÎαδαÏηνῶν, Tisch. Treg. ×* BD Latt. ÎεÏγεÏηνῶν Treg. marg. WH. RV. ×c LU Î 1, 28, 33, 118, 131, 209, Memph. Harcl. marg. Internal, as well as external, evidence favors ÎεÏαÏηνῶν.
2. á¼Î¾ÎµÎ»Î¸ÏνÏÎ¿Ï Î±á½ÏοῦâThe TR. gives the proper construction of the part., putting it in agreement with αá½Ïá¿· after á½ÏήνÏηÏεν. This improper use of the gen. absolute is a specimen of the inaccuracy of Mk. in dealing with the part., like the μικÏÏÏεÏον á½Î½ of 4:31. The TR, is an evident correction of this mistake by some copyist. Mt.âs repetition of the inaccuracy is one of the proofs of the interdependence of the Synoptics. Matthew 8:28, Critical Text.
á¼Î¾ÎµÎ»Î¸ÏνÏÎ¿Ï Î±á½Ïοῦ, instead of á¼Î¾ÎµÎ»Î¸ÏνÏι αá½Ïá¿·, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. × BCL Î 1, 13, 33, 69,118, 124, 131, 209, 346, two mss. Lat. Vet. (Memph. Syrr.). á½ÏήνÏηÏεν, instead of�
δαιμονιζÏμενον is timeless. The temporal relation would be expressed by the aor. δαιμονιÏθÎÏα.1 ἱμαÏιÏμÎνονâclothed. This implies what Lk. states, that the man in his previous state had torn his clothes from him. Luke 8:27. Ïὸν á¼ÏηκÏÏα Ïὸν λεγιῶναâwho had the legion. We have already seen how it is implied that Mk. accepts the manâs account of himself in telling the story of the swine. Here he does it expressly. καὶ á¼ÏοβήθηÏανâand they were frightened. The thought of the miracle alone produced this effect.
16. καὶ διηγήÏανÏοâand ⦠reported in full, rehearsed. The verb denotes the fulness of the accountâthey went through it all.
17. THEY BESEECH HIM TO DEPART
This is the only case in our Lordâs ministry in which his miracles operated against him in this way, and it is to be accounted for by the strange element in this case, the mixture of gain and loss in the result. Men welcome a beneficent power, and so we find the multitudes following Jesus. But they are repelled from a destructive power, and all the more, if it is supernatural. This explains the singular treatment, but the infraction of our Lordâs rule, to use his power only for beneficent purposes, is itself to be accounted for. And it enforces the question already raised, if this is not one of the cases in which we have to separate between the facts and the explanations and inferences of the Evangelists. The facts are the cure of the man and the destruction of the swine. But is Jesus responsible for the destruction? The whole idea of possession is beset with serious difficulties, and in this case, the substitution of lunacy for possession removes not only these, but also this anomaly in the action of Jesus.
18. á¼Î¼Î²Î±Î¹Î½Î¿Î½ÏοÏâAs he was entering. The present part. denotes action contemporaneous with that of the principal verb.
á¼Î¼Î²Î±Î¯Î½Î¿Î½ÏοÏ, instead of á¼Î¼Î²Î¬Î½ÏοÏ, was come, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. × ABCDKLM ÎÎ 1, 33, 124, most mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg.
ὠδαιμονιÏθε0ίÏâHe who had been possessed with demons. The aor. part. denotes a state preceding the action of the principal verb.2
ἵνα μεÏʼ αá½Ïοῦ á¾âthat he may be with him.3
19. Îαὶ οá½Îºï¿½
καὶ ἦν ÏαÏá½° Ïὴν θάλαÏÏανâAnd he was by the sea. According to Mt., Jairus came to Jesus while he was in the house. He places the events after the crossing of the lake in the following order: first, the healing of the paralytic, and the dispute about forgiveness of sins; then, the call of Matthew; then, the question of Johnâs disciples about fasting; and then, while he was saying these things, the coming of Jairus. And these events are connected all the way through by marks of time, fixing the chronological connection. Matthew 9:1-18.
22. Îαὶ á¼ÏÏεÏαι Îµá¼·Ï Ïῶν�
á¼Î»Î±Î»Î¬Î¶Î¿Î½ÏαÏâwailing, is an onomatopoetic word, coming from�1 Corinthians 13:1, to denote the clanging of a cymbal. It is used very appropriately of the monotonous wail of hired mourners.
39. Τί θοÏÏ Î²Îµá¿Ïθε καὶ κλαίεÏε;âWhy do you make a tumult and weep? Mt. also speaks of the crowd as θοÏÏ Î²Î¿Ïμενον, and introduces αá½Î»Î·ÏάÏ, flute-players. There was the exaggerated noise and ostentation of hired mourners.
Ïὸ Ïαιδίον οá½Îºï¿½
5 See Leviticus 15:25-27.
1 ἴαÏαι is a perfect pass. of the deponent verb ἰάομαι, which has a passive signification in the perf., aor. pass., and 1 fut.
1 ÏκÏÎ»Î»ÎµÎ¹Ï means properly to flay, and is used in the weakened sense, to trouble, only in the Biblical and still later Greek. In the N.T. it is a rare word, and its use here and in the parallel passage, Luke 8:49, is one of the strong indications that the Synoptical Gospels are interdependent.
2 See Win. 43, 3 b.
F Codex Borelli.
1 In the earlier writers, this word is used disparagingly, belonging, as it does, only to colloquial speech. It is a rare word in the N.T., and its use here and in the parallel account, Matthew 9:24, points in the same direction as the use of ÏκÏλλειÏ, v. 35.
2 This is a weakened sense of both noun and verb, which denote the actual putting one out of his senses, beside himself, and it belongs to later Greek. On the use of the dat. akin to the acc. of kindred signification, see Win. 32, 2, at end.
3 The nearest approach to this meaning in earlier Greek is to decide or determine. This meaning belongs in the main to Biblical Greek.