Mark 5:11

Mar_5:11-14

Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

The demonized swine

To clear away the difficulty presented by this miracle of judgment, we must remember-

(1) Pork was forbidden for food to Israel and with good reason. The pigs and the dogs are the scavengers of Syria; the pig itself is vastly inferior to the animal as we know it and furnishes a food too gross for such a climate. For these and other reasons Moses prohibited its use; for similar reason Mohammed followed his example in doing so; but

(2) salt pork was a great article of food with the Romans; and therefore

(3) many who, perhaps, would not use pork for their own food had no objections to making a profit by breeding some for the use of others. It was contrary to the whole law, but it was remunerative. So here several owners have together as many as two thousand.

(4) Where Christ comes in, the swine must go out. As He purged the temple in Jerusalem, so He purges the temple of nature in Gadara. Men must part with their sins, if they want to have their Saviour. The swine will be driven out of our hearts, if Christ enters them. He came with mercy to Gadara, but it was not a weak but a purifying mercy.

(5) God is perpetually using the devil as His whip, with which He corrects the follies of our heart, no evil being permitted to exist which Christ cannot employ in some way for good. This destruction of the swine is, therefore, a call to repentance; a miracle that does for Christ in Gadara what John the Baptist did for Him in Judaea, stimulating conscience and awakening solicitude. It is a message to convince of sin. (R. Glover.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 5:11 . ἐκεῖ , there, near by. Cf. Mat 8:30 . πρὸς τῷ ὄρει ; on the mountain side.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This whole country is for the greater part of it very hilly, for the mountains of Galeed run through it.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 11. A great herd of swine] See Clarke on Mt 8:30.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. a great herd swine] The lawless nature of the country, where Jews lived mingled with Gentiles, the Evangelist denotes by the circumstance of the two thousand swine, emphasizing the greatness of the herd. If their owners were only in part Jews, who merely trafficked in these animals, still they were not justified before the Law. The territory was not altogether Jewish.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now 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". The Syriac and Ethiopic, "at the mountain"; so in Luk 8:32,

a great herd of swine feeding; on one side of the mountain, or mountains; it may be called a great one, for there were about two thousand hogs in it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Ver. 11. Nigh unto the mountains] All this country was full of hills ( intercursantibus montibus Galaad) and mountains of Gilead.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now there was there nigh unto the mountains literally, on the mountain side (pro orh)a great herd of swine feeding. St. Matthew says, (Mat_8:30) "There was a good way off from them:" our Lord"s interview with the demoniac was on the seashore. "The herd of swine," two thousand in number (as St. Mark tells us, with his usual attention to details), were at a distance, feeding on the slopes of the mountain; The Jews were not allowed to eat swine"s flesh. But Jews were not the only inhabitants of that district. It had been colonized, at least in part, by the Romans immediately after the conquest of Syria, some sixty years before Christ. It was in this district that ten cities are said to have been rebuilt by the Romans, whence the territory acquired the name of "the Decapolis." And though the Jews were forbidden their Law to eat this kind of food, yet they were not forbidden to breed swine for other uses, such as provisioning the Roman army.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The casting out:

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

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

v. 13. And 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.

Not in the immediate vicinity of the speaker, but at some distance, yet in plain sight, on the slope of the hills near the sea, there was a large herd of swine grazing. To the Jews, swine were unclean animals, and they were not allowed to eat them. But here on the border the inhabitants were influenced but little by Jewish customs and laws. The evil spirits knew that Jesus would not give them permission to enter into any man , and therefore they wanted to vent their spite and helpless anger on dumb animals. They changed their plea to this effect, that they might take possession of the swine. The devil is a murderer from the beginning. If he cannot destroy the soul of man, he takes possession of the body; and when this is forbidden him, he tortures brute beasts. His one desire is to destroy the life which God has created. Jesus here permitted, gave leave to, the spirits to do as they had asked; it was better that animals should perish than that man, made in the image of God, should be tormented. The result: With a mighty uproar the swine, numbering about two thousand, cast themselves down the precipice overhanging the sea, and were drowned in the water. The devil, in his work of destruction, is not permitted to go one step farther than God gives him leave. Note: Why it is that God sometimes permits the spirits of darkness and destruction to work harm to His creation is one of the secrets which our weak reason cannot fathom. We know only so much, that the loss of money and goods are chastisements of God, by which He intends to rouse men out of their security.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Mountain side. At Gersa the mountain rises near the sea. A great herd of swine. Either the property of Gentiles, or of Jews who disobeyed the law of Moses for gain.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

they begged him

"the unclean spirits begged Jesus"

he allowed them

It may be helpful to state clearly what Jesus allowed them to do. AT: "Jesus allowed the unclean spirits to do what they asked permission to do" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

they rushed

"the pigs rushed"

into the sea, and about two thousand pigs drowned in the sea

You can make this a separate sentence: "into the sea. There were about two thousand pigs, and they drowned in the sea"

about two thousand pigs

"about 2,000 pigs" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

flocks

pig

demon

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

11. πρὸς τῷ ὄρει. “At the mountain,” or on the mountain side (R.V.); cf. Luk 19:37; Joh 18:16; Joh 20:11-12.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. πρὸς τῷ ὄρει—on the mountain side.2

τῷ ὄρει, instead of τὰ ὄρη, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. and about all the principal sources.

χοίρων—swine. The presence of these unclean animals, so abhorrent to the Jews, indicates, what we know from other sources, that the region was inhabited by a mixed population, in which Gentiles predominated.3

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.