Mark 5:3

3 who had his dwelling in the tombs; and no one was able to 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 to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.

2 And immediately on his going out of the ship there met him out of the tombs a man possessed by an unclean spirit,

3 who had his dwelling in the tombs; and no one was able to bind him, not even with chains;

4 because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn asunder by him, and the fetters were shattered; and no one was able to subdue him.

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