Mark 3:11

11 1And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they 2fell down before him and cried out, "You are 3the Son of God."

Mark 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 3:11

And unclean spirits, when they saw him
That is, as the Syriac and Arabic versions read, "they who had unclean spirits": or, as the Ethiopic, "they that were possessed with unclean spirits"; as soon as ever they beheld Christ, though they had never seen him before, and he was an entire stranger to them, yet

fell down before him:
the unclean spirits being said to do that, which they that were possessed with them did; and which, notwithstanding their possession of them, they could not prevent, but were obliged to admit of it, as a token of their subjection to Christ:

and
even the devils themselves in the men,

cried, saying, thou art the Son of God;
a divine person, equal with God; and such his power over them, and his healing all manner of diseases, by a word, or touch, showed him to be.

Mark 3:11 In-Context

9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him,
10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.
11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God."
12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Mark 1:26, 34; Luke 4:41
  • 2. Luke 8:28
  • 3. See Matthew 14:33
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.