Mark 5:16

Mar 5:16 . The eyewitnesses in further explanations to their employers now connect the two events together the cure and the catastrophe not representing the one as cause of the other, but simply as happening close to each other. The owners draw a natural inference: cure cause of catastrophe, and (Mar 5:17 ) request Jesus, as a dangerous person, to retire. ἤρξαντο , began to request, pointing to transition from vague awe in presence of a great change to desire to be rid of Him whom they believed to be the cause both of it and of the loss of their swine. Fritzsche takes ἤρξαντο as meaning that Jesus did not need much pressure, but withdrew on the first hint of their wish.

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

And they that saw it,.... Not the keepers of the swine, for they were fled and gone; but others that were eyewitnesses of the whole affair, who lived in houses hard by, or were working in the fields; or the disciples of Christ:

told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil; gave a particular account, how, upon first sight of Christ, he ran to meet him, and fell down and worshipped him; how Christ ordered the unclean spirit to come out of him; and how he was dispossessed of a legion of devils by a word speaking:

and also concerning the swine; how, at the request of the devils, and by the leave of Christ, they entered into them; upon which they ran mad; and betaking themselves to the rocks by the sea side, fell down the precipice, and were suffocated in the sea.

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

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

Ver. 16. They come to Jesus] And, amazed with the miracle, they expostulate not an injury; but, acknowledging him Lord of all, they beg him to be gone, lest they should sustain further loss by him. The devil shall have his dwelling again in themselves rather than in their pigs (as the martyr Bradford phrased it): they will rather lose Christ than their porkers.

And in his right mind] Sanguis medici factus est medicina phrenetici. The surgeon’s blood was the sick man’s salve.

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.

16. Also concerning the swine — Our Lord had saved the man; the devils had destroyed the swine. The Gadarenes are thankless for the mercy, and hold our Lord responsible for the loss of the swine.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 16, 17. How it befell him that was possessed with devils, and concerning the swine. The loss of the swine. They could not get over that. They thought far more of the worldly loss than of the spiritual gain; and they began to beseech him to depart from their borders. St. Luke (Luk_8:37) says that "they were taken (suneiconto) literally, were holden with great fear." This was the dominant feeling. They did not entreat him to depart out of humility, as though they felt themselves unworthy of his presence; but out of servile, slavish fear, lest his continued presence among them might bring upon them still greater losses. They saw that Jesus, a Jew according to the flesh, was holy, powerful, Divine. But they knew that they were Gentiles, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Wherefore they feared lest he should punish them more grievously, both on account of their being Gentiles and on account of their past sins. It was not, therefore, so much on account of hatred, as out of a timorous fear, that they besought Jesus that he would depart out of their borders.

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

Those who had seen what happened

"The people who had witnessed what had happened"

translationWords

demon-possessed

pig

Jesus

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

16. διηγήσαντο. Cf. Luk 9:10; Act 9:27; Act 12:17. The compound indicates the fulness with which the spectators narrated what had taken place. The spectators would be chiefly the Twelve and the swineherds.

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.

16.] Omitted by Matt., as also vv. 18-20. The whole of this is full of minute and interesting detail.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. καὶ διηγήσαντο—and … reported in full, rehearsed. The verb denotes the fulness of the account—they went through it all.

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