Mark 5:3

3 This man lived in the caves, and no one could tie him up, not 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 Jesus and his followers went to the other side of the lake to the area of the Gerasene people.

2 When Jesus got out of the boat, instantly a man with an evil spirit came to him from the burial caves.

3 This man lived in the caves, and no one could tie him up, not even with a chain.

4 Many times people had used chains to tie the man's hands and feet, but he always broke them off. No one was strong enough to control him.

5 Day and night he would wander around the burial caves and on the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones.