Mark 5:11
in Mark 5There on the nearby hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now there was there on the mountain side a great herd of swine feeding.
KJV
Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
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This verse in Mark 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseNow there was there, nigh unto the mountains,.... Where this man often was, Mar 5:5 according to Beza, the mountains of Galaad, which ran through that country, or the mountains that surrounded Tiberias. Some copies, as the Alexandrian copy and others, read "at", or "about the mountain", in the singular number. The Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions read, "about the mountain".
This site's exposition
a large herd of pigs was feeding
on Mark 5:11-14
At His permission the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, a number Mark alone gives. The pigs, unclean under the law, show at scale the destruction that had lived in one man.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
For this is what follows, "But deliver us from the wicked one," that is, do not lead us into temptation by giving us up to the wicked one, for then are we delivered from the power of the devil, when we are not handed over to him to be tempted. Nor would the devil's legion have had power over the herd of swine unless they had got it from God; so far are they from having power over the sheep of God.
(de Con. Evan. ii. 24) What Mark here says, that the herd was about the mountain, and what Luke calls on the mountain, are by no means inconsistent. For the herd of swine was so large, that some part were on the mountain, the rest around it. It goes on: And the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
The Medieval Church3 voices
(ubi sup.) Who dwelt in the tombs, because they delighted in dead works, that is, in sins; who were ever raging night and day, because whether in prosperity or in adversity, they were never free from the service of malignant spirits: again, by the foulness of their works, they lay as it were in the tombs, in their lofty pride, they wandered over the mountains, by words of most hardened infidelity, they as it were cut themselves with stones. But he said, My name is Legion, because the Gentile people were enslaved to divers idolatrous forms of worship. Again, that the unclean spirits going out from man enter into swine, which they cast headlong into the sea, implies that now that the people of the Gentiles are freed from the empire of demons, they who have not chosen to believe in Christ, work sacrilegious rites in hidden places.
There was a large herd of pigs feeding near the mountain. And the spirits implored him, saying: Send us into the pigs, that we may enter them. And Jesus immediately granted them. Therefore, he allowed what they were asking for, that through the destruction of …
Here again the demoniac is the people of the Gentiles, in a most hopeless case, bound neither by the law of nature, nor of God, nor by human fear. Or they are choked in hell without any touch of mercy by the rushing on of an early death; which evils many persons thus avoid, for by the scourging of the fool, the wise is made more prudent.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses describe one of those mysterious miracles which the Gospels frequently record — the casting out of a devil. Of all the cases of this kind in the New Testament, none is so fully described as this one. Of all the three evangelists who relate the history, none gives it so fully and minutely as Mark. We see, in the first place, in these verses, that the possession of a man's body by the devil, was a real and true thing in the time of our Lord's earthly ministry . It is a painful fact, that there are never lacking professing Christians who try to explain away our Lord's miracles. They endeavor to account for them by natural causes, and to show that they were not worked by any extraordinary power. Of all miracles, there are none which they assault so strenuously as the casting out of devils. They do not scruple to deny Satanic possession entirely. They tell us that it was nothing more than lunacy, or frenzy, or epilepsy, and that the idea of the devil inhabiting a man's body is absurd. The best and simplest answer to such skeptical objections, is a reference to the plain narratives of the Gospels, and especially to the one before us at this moment. The facts here detailed are utterly inexplicable, if we do not believe Satanic possession. It is notorious that lunacy, and frenzy, and epilepsy are not infectious complaints, and at any rate cannot be communicated to a herd of swine! And yet men ask us to believe, that as soon as this man was healed, two thousand swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, from a sudden impulse, without any apparent cause to account for their so doing! Such reasoning is the height of credulity. When men can satisfy themselves with such explanations, they are in a pitiable state of mind. Let us beware of a skeptical and incredulous spirit in all matters relating to the devil.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses describe one of those mysterious miracles which the Gospels frequently record — the casting out of a devil. Of all the cases of this kind in the New Testament, none is so fully described as this one. Of all the three evangelists who relate the history, none gives it so fully and minutely as Mark. We see, in the first place, in these verses, that the possession of a man's body by the devil, was a real and true thing in the time of our Lord's earthly ministry .
A great herd of swine - See the notes on Mat 8:30.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἦν | en | There was | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ἐκεῖ | ekei | there | G1563 → | 105 times |
| πρὸς | pros | near | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τῷ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὄρει | orei | hill | G3735 → | 62 times |
| ἀγέλη | agele | a herd | G34 → | |
| χοίρων | choiron | of pigs | G5519 → | 12 times |
| μεγάλη | megale | great | G3173 → | 243 times |
| βοσκομένη· | boskomene | feeding; | G1006 → |
ἦνThere was
enG1510 →2333 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
ἐκεῖthere
ekeiG1563 →105 times
πρὸςnear
prosG4314 →700 times
τῷthe
toG3588 →19766 times
ὄρειhill
oreiG3735 →62 times
ἀγέληa herd
ageleG34 →
χοίρωνof pigs
choironG5519 →12 times
μεγάληgreat
megaleG3173 →243 times
βοσκομένη·feeding;
boskomeneG1006 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 65:4sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:3
Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s…
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 66:17
“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 11:7
And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 66:3
Through
Matthew 8:30In the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 14:8
Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud.…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 65:3–4
to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick,
- Deuteronomy 14:8
Through
Deuteronomy 14:8Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud.…
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:4
sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 11:26–27
Every animal with hooves not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean.
- Luke 15:15–16
So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.
- Isaiah 65:4
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Tertullian, On Flight in Persecution.