Mark 5:3
in Mark 5This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
who had his dwelling in the tombs: and no man could any more bind him, no, not with a chain;
KJV
Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
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This verse in Mark 5
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes
on Mark 5:1-5
Mark's portrait of the man runs five verses where Matthew gives one. He lived among the tombs and kept crying out and cutting himself with stones, and the tombs made him unclean under the law.
This site's exposition
could no longer be restrained
Matthew Henry reads the man as a picture of the soul in which the devil has dominion. All sinners need holding in like the horse and the mule, he says, but some are like the wild ass beyond all holding. Human restraint had come to its end.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Behold where is he, who was promised all the glories of this world, found to dwell—where?—in the tombs! Compassed about with the putrid rottenness of dead bodies.
Then a man bereft of reason, dwelling in sepulchral caves, Bound with cruel and grinding fetters and with raging frenzy torn, Rushes forth and kneels in worship, as the saving Christ draws near.
(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. et v. Chrys. Hom. in Matt. 28) Or else, Mark and Luke relate what was most worthy of compassion, and for this reason they put down more at length what had happened to this man; for there follows, no man could bind him, no, not with chains. They therefore simply said, a man possessed of a devil, without taking heed to the number; or else, that he might show the greater virtue in the Worker; for He who had cured one such, might cure many others. Nor is there any discrepancy shown here, for they did not say that there was one alone, for then they would have contradicted Matthew. Now devils dwelt in tombs, wishing to convey a false opinion to many, that the souls of the dead were changed to devils.
The Medieval Church2 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.
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.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Who had his dwelling among the tombs,....
This sets forth the sad condition of those souls in which the devil has dominion; those children of disobedience, in whom that unclean spirit works. Some notoriously wilful sinners are like this madman; all are herein like the horse and the mule, that they need to be held in with bit and bridle; but some are like the wild ass, that will not be so held.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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 .
Who had his dwelling among the tombs - See Mat 8:28.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὃς | hos | who | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κατοίκησιν | katoikesin | dwelling | G2731 → | |
| εἶχεν | eichen | had | G2192 → | 707 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τοῖς | tois | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μνήμασιν. | mnemasin | tombs. | G3418 → | |
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οὐδὲ | oude | not even | G3761 → | 141 times |
| ἁλύσει | halusei | with a chain | G254 → | 11 times |
| οὐκέτι | ouketi | no longer | G3756 →G2089 → | 140 times |
| οὐδεὶς | oudeis | no [one] | G3762 → | 232 times |
| ἐδύνατο | edunato | was able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| αὐτὸν | auton | him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| δῆσαι | desai | to bind | G1210 → | 43 times |
ὃςwho
hosG3739 →1405 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
κατοίκησινdwelling
katoikesinG2731 →
εἶχενhad
eichenG2192 →707 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τοῖςthe
toisG3588 →19766 times
μνήμασιν.tombs.
mnemasinG3418 →
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οὐδὲnot even
oudeG3761 →141 times
ἁλύσειwith a chain
haluseiG254 →11 times
οὐκέτιno longer
οὐδεὶςno [one]
oudeisG3762 →232 times
ἐδύνατοwas able
edunatoG1410 →207 times
αὐτὸνhim
autonG846 →5565 times
δῆσαιto bind
desaiG1210 →43 times
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 66:17
“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.
- Leviticus 11:7
And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.
- 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.…
- 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…
- Deuteronomy 18:11
casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.
- Isaiah 66:17
Through
Luke 8:29For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and…
it leads to
- Mark 5:8
For Jesus had already declared, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!”
- Acts 19:12–16
so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them.
- Mark 5:3–5
This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains.
- Mark 5:8
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Peter Chrysologus, SERMONS 17; Prudentius, HYMN 9 and Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.