Mark 5:3

3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no * one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;

Mark 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 5:3

Who had his dwelling among the tombs
Which is one of the characters of a madman among the Jews; who say it is ^F17

``the sign of a madman, that he goeth out in the night, (twrbqh) (tybb Nlhw) , "and lodges among the tombs", and rends his garments, and loses what is given to him.''

The same they say, in the same place, of an hypochondriac, and melancholy man; and of Kordiacus, which they give out ^F18 is a demon that possesses, and has power over some sort of persons:

and no man could bind him, no, not with chains;
so as to hold him for any length of time: not only cords were insufficient to hold, but even chains of iron; so strong was he through the possession; for this could not be by his own natural strength.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 T. Hieros. Gittin, fol. 48. 3. & Trumot, fol. 40. 2.
F18 Jarchi & Bartenora in Misn. Gittin, c. 7. sect. 1.

Mark 5:3 In-Context

1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.

2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,

3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;

4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.