Mark 5:7

Mar_5:7

What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the most high God:

Jesus confronting demons

I.

The devil cries out against the intrusion of Christ.

1. Christs nature is so contrary to that of the devil, war is inevitable when they meet.

2. There are no designs of grace for Satan; as, therefore, he has nothing to hope for from Jesus, he dreads His coming.

3. He wishes to be let alone. Thoughtlessness, stagnation, and despair suit his plans.

4. He knows his powerlessness against the Son of the Most High God, and has no wish to try a fall with Him.

5. He dreads his doom: for Jesus will not hesitate to torment him by the sight of good done and evil overcome.

II. Men under the devils influence cry out against the incoming of Christ by the Gospel.

1. Conscience is feared by them; they do not wish to have it disturbed, instructed, and placed in power.

2. Change is dreaded by them; for they love sin, and its gains, and pleasures, and know that Jesus wars with these things.

3. They claim a right to be left alone: this is their idea of religious liberty. They would not be questioned either by God or man.

4. They argue that the gospel cannot bless them. They are too poor, too ignorant, too busy, too sinful, too weak, too involved, perhaps too aged, to receive any good from it.

5. They view Jesus as a tormentor, who will rob them of pleasure, sting their consciences, and drive them to obnoxious duties. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Nothing to do with Jesus

It is said that Voltaire, being pressed in his last moments to acknowledge the Divinity of Christ, turned away, and said feebly, For the love of God dont mention that Man; let me die in peace!

The antagonism of evil provoked by good

The coming of Jesus into a place puts all into a commotion. The gospel is a great disturber of sinful peace. Like the sun among wild beasts, owls, and bats, it creates a stir. In this case, a legion of devils began to move. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Man responsible

Universally we judge of instincts, or the qualities and dispositions which make up natural character, as we see the creature brought into relation or juxtaposition with something else, and observe, What it will do with it. Especially is this true of man. This is just what makes up his probation. God has placed him in this world that he may show forth his character, and work out his own future condition, as he rightly uses or abuses it. Different men use the same material, or implement, or opportunity either for good or for evil. From the same forest and quarry one man builds a hospital, and another a gambling hell. Out of the grain from the same harvest field one man leavens wholesome bread, and another distils a destroying beverage. With the same ink and type and press, one prints Huxleys blasphemies, and another Gods Bibles. And while in all this perhaps few men are conscious that they are achieving their probation, yet verily they are. God has brought them into these conditions that the universe may see what the man will do with them. And according as he does evil or good, he displays his character and decides his own destiny.

I. Now this, in regard of all things, even secular and social, is the great law of life. But how much more is its solemnity increased when it has to do with matters religious and spiritual? The question, in its first connection, was addressed to Christ; and its must significant application is to the case of impenitent and ungodly men who, with a like question, turn away from the gospel. Oh, say some men, I have nothing to do with it! I am not a professing Christian! I never joined any Church! What, then, is all this to me? What have I to do with the gospel of Christ? But, alas, for their false logic! they have something to do with it. Their indifference cannot alter their relations to the gospel. Those relations grow out of character and condition. I can imagine a foolish man cherishing a settled dislike to the great law of gravitation, overlooking its beneficent results as working out, from the rounding of a dew drop to the rounding of a star-from the graceful equipoise of a lilys leaf to the harmonies of the stupendous systems of the universe-all the grand and gracious processes and phenomena of creation-overlooking all this, and thinking that but for its restraining power he might spring up as a pure spirit into the boundless expanse of heaven, and wander at will from star to star through immensity. I can conceive of such an one as disliking that great law, and in his insane hate blaspheming the Omnipotence which devised it. But what of that? Can the man escape from it? Will God have respect to his perverted taste, and annihilate that glorious force whereon depend all the beauties and harmonies of the universe? Oh, surely not. And just so it is of religion. It is that irresistible law of God under which all immortal creatures live. In the very nature of things, retribution must follow every act and experience of probation. Its solemn elements are two fold. First, there is a loss of all the unspeakable blessings which the gospel offers. Consider again these natural analogies. Take the law of gravitation. And the foolish man says:-I do not like that law; it is the law of falling bodies; it dashes men down precipices; it brings the destroying avalanche upon human habitations; I will let it alone! But not so a wise man. He says, I will have something to do with it; it makes the pendulum vibrate; I will set it to keep time for me; it gives momentum to the watercourses, it shall grind for me as a mill. And so of all the natural forces of the universe: by diligently working with them we secure immense benefits. What if a child, lost in a dangerous forest in the stormy night, amid ravening beasts and howling tempests, catching through the darkness the gleam of torches and the accents of gentle voices, and beholding the face of the father who, in agonizing love, had come forth to seek and save him, instead of springing joyfully into those outstretched arms, should turn away with the despising cry, What have I to do with thee? What would you call it but madness? And yet immeasurably greater is the madness of the impenitent man who rejects the precious Saviour; for the sinners danger is more terrible, and the Saviours love more tender.

II. In this rejection of the Gospel you incur terrible guilt. That gospel is not merely an invitation, but as well a sovereign mandate. The gospel is a law, and no law of God is ever violated with impunity. You may not believe in Gods ordinances of health; but if you make your bed in a lazar house you will be stricken with pestilence. You may laugh to scorn Gods law of great forces; but if you launch your bark above Niagara, it will sweep you to destruction. Alas! for this folly of infidelity and atheism! It may be effectual in persuading its abettor to have nothing to do with God, but is utterly powerless in persuading God to have nothing to do with him. Retribution is an awful thought, and an awful truth. But the aspect in which our text sets forth the neglect of the gospel is that of the utter folly of rejecting a great blessing. (C. Wadsworth, D. D.)

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

Mar 5:7. Μή με βασανίσῃς, do not torment me) Whilst the demon is being tormented, the man possessed is tormented, and yet he [the latter] is set free. The demon deprecates either the expulsion itself, or a second tormenting added to the expulsion.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 5:7 . τ . θ . τοῦ ὑψίστου ; Mt. has τοῦ θεοῦ only. Luke gives the full expression = the Son of God Most High. Which is the original? Weiss (Meyer) says Mt.’s, Mk. adding τ . ὑψ . to prepare for the appeal to One higher even than Jesus, in ὁρκίζω following. But why should not the demoniac himself do that? ὁρκίζω : in classics to make swear, in N. T. (here and in Act 19:13 ) to adjure with double accusative; not good Greek according to Phryn.; ὁρκόω the right word. μή με βασανίσῃς : no πρὸ καιροῦ as in Mt., the reference apparently to the present torment of demoniac or demon, or both; either shrinking from cure felt to be impending.

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

That is, assure me by an oath, that thou will not vex me.

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

Verse 7. What have I to do with thee] Or, What is it to thee and me, or why dost thou trouble thyself with me? See Clarke on Mr 1:24, and See Clarke on Mt 8:29, where the idiom and meaning are explained.

Jesus] This is omitted by four MSS., and by several in Lu 8:28, and by many of the first authority in Mt 8:29. See the note on this latter place.

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

(7) Thou Son of the most high God.—This is the first occurrence of the name in the New Testament, and is therefore a fit place for a few words as to its history. As a divine name “the Most High God” belonged to the earliest stage of the patriarchal worship of the one Supreme Deity. Melchizedek appears as the priest of “the Most High God” (Gen_14:18). It is used by Balaam as the prophet of the wider Semitic monotheism (Num_24:16), by Moses in the great psalm of Deu_32:8. In the Prophets and the Psalms it mingles with the other names of God (Isa_14:14; Lam_3:35; Dan_4:17; Dan_4:24; Dan_4:32; Dan_4:34; Dan_7:18; Dan_7:22; Dan_7:25; Psa_7:17; Psa_9:2; Psa_18:13; Psa_46:4, and elsewhere). In many of these passages it will be seen that it was used where there was some point of contact in fact or feeling with nations which, though acknowledging one Supreme God, were not of the stock of Abraham. The old Hebrew word (Elion) found a ready equivalent in the Greek ὕψιστος (hypsistos), which had already been used by Pindar as a divine name. That word accordingly appeared frequently in the Greek version of the Old Testament, and came into frequent use among Hellenistic or Greek-speaking Jews, occurring, e.g., not less than forty times in the book Ecclesiasticus. It was one of the words which, in later as in earlier times, helped to place the Gentile and the Jew on a common ground. As such, it seems, among other uses, to have been frequently used as a formula of exorcism; and this, perhaps, accounts for its being met with here and in Luk_8:28, Act_16:17, as coming from the lips of demoniacs. It was the name of God which had most often been sounded in their ears.

I adjure thee.—The verb is that from which comes our word “exorcise.” The phrase is peculiar to St. Mark, and confirms the notion that the demoniac repeated language which he had often heard. He, too, seeks in some sense to “exorcise,” though it is in the language not of command, but entreaty.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. What have I to do with thee?] Literally, What is there between Thee and me? What have we in common? Why interferest Thou with us?

I adjure thee] Notice the intermixture of praying and adjuring, so characteristic of demoniac possession when brought into the presence of Christ.

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.

And cried with a loud voice,.... The man possessed with the devil; or the devil in him, making use of his voice, expressing great fear, dread, and horror, at the appearance of Christ in these parts:

and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? The devils in the man, own the being of a God, and his supreme government over all, under the title of the Most High. The word here used, answers to the Hebrew word, "Elion", a name of God known to the ancient Canaanites: hence Melchizedek, a Canaanitish king, is called the priest of the most high God, Gen 14:18. And among the Phoenicians, he is called Elion, which a Phoenician writer (u) says, signifies "the Most High"; and hence in Plautus (w), he goes by the name of Alon, which is the same word a little differently pronounced; and by the same name he might be known among other neighbouring nations of the Jews, and by the Gadarenes; and the devil now being in a Gadarene, makes use of, this name. Devils believe there is one God, and tremble at him; and they confess that Jesus of Nazareth, who was born of the virgin, according to the human nature, is the Son of God, according to his divine nature: and whereas they had no interest in him, as a Saviour, they desired they might have nothing to do with him as God; and since they had no share in the blessings of his grace, they beg they might not feel the power of his hand. Truly they choose not to have any thing to do with God himself; they have cast off allegiance to him, and rebelled against him; and have left their estate, and departed from him; and still less do they care to have any thing to do with his Son: and indeed it seems as if it was the decree and counsel of God, made known unto them, that the Son of God should assume human nature, and in it be the head over principalities and powers, as well as men, which gave umbrage to them: upon which they apostatized from God, being unwilling to be under subjection to the man Christ Jesus; though whether they will or not, they are obliged unto it: for though they desire to have nothing to do with Christ, yet Christ has something to do with them; he had when he was here on earth, and when he hung upon the cross, and will have when he comes again to judge both quick and dead: they might be glad, one would think, to have to do with him as a Redeemer; but this they are not, their sin being the same with that against the Holy Ghost: they are malicious, obstinate, and inflexible, they cannot repent; and there is no pardon, nor was there any provided for them; they were passed by in the counsel and purposes of God's grace, and were not taken notice of in the covenant of grace: Christ took not on him their nature, but the nature of men; yea he came to destroy them, and their works; so that indeed they had nothing to do with him as a Saviour, though he had something to do with them as a judge, and which they dreaded: however, they own, and acknowledge him to be the Son of the most high God; they know and confess as much of him, and more too, than some that call themselves Christians, and hope to be saved by Christ; and yet at the same time own, they had nothing to do with him. Men may know much of Christ notionally; may know, and confess him to be God, to be the Son of God, in the highest and true sense of the phrase; to be the Messiah, to have been incarnate, to have suffered, died, and risen again: to be ascended to heaven, from whence he will come again; and yet have no more to do with him, or have no more interest in him, than the devils themselves; and will, at the last day, be bid to depart from him.

I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not: not that he required an oath of Christ, that he would swear to him by the living God, that he would not distress him; but he most earnestly and importunately entreated and beseeched him, in the name of God; see Luk 8:28, that he would not dispossess him from the man, and send him out of that country, to his own place, to his chains and prison; but suffer him either to lodge in the man, or walk about seeking, as a roaring lion, his prey: for it is torment to a devil to be cast out of a man, or to have his power curtailed, or to be confined in the bottomless pit, from doing hurt to men: See Gill on Mat 8:29.

(u) Sanchoniatho in Philo Bybl. apud Euseb. prepar. Evangel. l. 1. c. 10. p. 36. (w) In Poenulo.

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

7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

Ver. 7. I adjure thee by God] Exemplum horrendum impudentiae sceleratorum spirituum, saith Beza. To adjure one is to take an oath of him for our own security. An oath is not rashly to be undertaken, but by a kind of necessity, when it is exacted. Hence the Hebrew Nishbang is a passive, and signifieth to be sworn, rather than to swear.

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.

I adjure thee by God. The same is, I earnestly beg of thee not to torment me, by sending me into hell, and confining me in the abyss, there to be more tormented than I am at present. See St. Luke viii. 31. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

7. Torment me not — In Matthew they cry: “Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” From this we seem able to derive some inferences as to the laws under which these demons were, and which produce manifestations over and above the symptoms of mere disease. 1. The organs of the man are so completely possessed by the demon that the latter speaks through them, and thus he communicates with other beings in the body here on earth. 2. There is apparently a desire on the part of these unhappy spirits to come into such possession and into communion with the human scene of things, as if they were thus less miserable than when without. 3. These infernal beings dread to be driven back to their own infernal abode. They are there to be chained down in darkness, and in dread of the day of judgment yet to come. Jud_1:6; 2Pe_2:4. Hence they fear that Jesus will anticipate that day, and “torment them before the time.” Mat_8:29.

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

He cried with a loud voice; that is, the evil spirit cried out, using the organs of the man whom he possessed. What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? From hence it appears that, although at the great temptation of our Lord in the wilderness, Satan had but an imperfect knowledge of him: yet now, after the evidence of these great miracles, and more especially of his power over the evil spirits, there was a general belief amongst the hosts of evil that he was indeed the Son of God, the Messiah. I adjure thee by God, torment me not. The torment which he dreaded was that which tie might suffer after expulsion. So St. Luke says that they entreated him that he would not command them to depart into the abyss. Great as this mystery of evil is, we may believe that the evil spirits, although while they roam about upon this earth they are in misery, still it is some alleviation that they are not yet shut up in the prison-house of hell, but are suffered to wander about and their depraved pleasure in tempting men; so that, if possible, they may at last drag them down with them into the abyss. For they are full of hatred of God and envy of man; and they find a miserable satisfaction in endeavoring to keep men out of those heavenly mansions from which, through pride, they are themselves now for ever excluded.

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

General Information:

The information in these two verses may be reordered to present the events in the order that they happened, as in the UDB. (See: Order of Events)

He cried out

"The unclean spirit cried out"

What do I have to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

The unclean spirit asks this question out of fear. This can be written as a statement. AT: "Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! There is no reason for you to interfere with me." (See: Rhetorical Question)

Jesus ... do not torment me

Jesus has the power to torment unclean spirits.

Son of the Most High God

This is an important title for Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)

I beg you by God himself

Here the unclean spirit is swearing by God as he makes a request of Jesus. Consider how this type of request is made in your language. AT: "I beg you before God" or "I swear by God himself and beg you"

translationWords

cry

Jesus

Son of God

Most High

God

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.

7. Τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί. See on Mar 1:24.

τοῦ ὑψίστου. The girl with a Python uses the same expression (Act 16:17); elsewhere in N.T. “it occurs only in passages with an O.T. ring, Luk 1:32; Luk 1:35; Luk 1:76; Luk 6:35; Luk 8:28; Heb 7:1” (Swete). In LXX. it is freq. But the title is not exclusively Jewish, and may have been used by heathen before it was adopted by the Jews. It savours of polytheism in the sense of highest among many, and the demoniac may have been a heathen. In Jewish writings it is specially freq. in those of the second cent. B.C. See Charles, Book of Jubilees, p. 213; Clemen, Primitive Christianity, p. 81. Theophylact points out that Christ’s enemies, the demons, exhibited better knowledge of Him than His friends had shown (Mar 4:41), or showed even later (Mar 6:50).

ὁρκίζω σε τὸν θεόν. The common phrase; cf. Act 19:13 and ἐνορκίζω ὑμᾶς τὸν κύριον (1Th 5:27). The double acc. is found in inscriptions. Deissmann, Bib. St. p. 281. In LXX. we find both κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ and ἐν τῷ θεῷ. In order to influence Jesus, the demon uses the very phrase that was commonly employed in exorcisms.

μή με βασανίσῃς. While the man runs to Jesus and prostrates himself, the evil power by which he is obsessed shrinks in terror from Him. Immediate punishment is expected from One who has the power to inflict it. Mt. inserts the significant πρὸ καιροῦ. Cf. Rev 14:10; Rev 20:10; also βάσανος in Luk 16:23; Luk 16:28. The history of the noun indicates the delusion which has produced, and still produces, hideous suffering, that torture is a touch-stone or test of truth. Bede and Theophylact suggest that it was torture to the malignant spirits to be made to cease from tormenting a human being; but this is not what the cry means.

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.

7.] ὁρκ. σε τ. θ. = δέομαί σου Luke.

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

7. Τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοὶ;—What have I to do with thee? This reproduces the language of 1:24, a more or less suspicious imitation. The language of the expostulation is exactly the same as in Lk. In Mt. it is Τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί, υἱὲ τοῦ Θεου; As this is probably a reproduction of what was spoken originally in Aramaic, the resemblance points strongly to the interdependence of the Synoptics. The man speaks here under the influence of the demons possessing him, identifying himself with them, but not so as to represent their plurality stated in v. 9. It was such addresses as this which led Jesus to prevent the recognition of himself by the demoniacs.

μή με βασανίσῃς—torment me not. This would easily imply that Jesus’ command to them to vacate the man implied remanding them to the place of torment. And Lk.’s account follows this out in the ἄβυσσον, 8:31. Also Mt. in πρὸ καιροῦ, 8:29. But Mk. is not constructed on that basis, as he substitutes ἔξω τῆς χώρας for εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον. According to him, this would represent therefore the man’s insane terror of being driven out of his haunts.

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

Crying - he saith. The inarticulate cry (verse 5), and then the articulate speech.

What have I to do with thee? [τι εμοι και σοι; ] . Lit., what is there to me and thee? What have we in common?

I adjure thee by God. Stronger than Luke's I pray thee. The verb oJrkizw, I adjure, is condemned by the grammarians as inelegant.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.