Mark 5:3

3 Who had his dwelling in the tombs, and no man now could bind him, not even with chains.

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 And they came over the strait of the sea, into the country of the Gerasens.

2 And as he went out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the monuments a man with an unclean spirit,

3 Who had his dwelling in the tombs, and no man now could bind him, not even with chains.

4 For having been often bound with fetters and chains, he had burst the chains, and broken the fetters in pieces, and no one could tame him.

5 And he was always day and night in the monuments and in the mountains, crying and cutting himself with stones.