Marc 5:2

2 Aussitôt que Jésus fut hors de la barque, il vint au-devant de lui un homme, sortant des sépulcres, et possédé d'un esprit impur.

Marc 5:2 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 5:2

And when he was come out of the ship
As soon as he was landed,

immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean
spirit.
The Jews have a notion, that a man by dwelling among the tombs, becomes possessed with an unclean spirit: hence they say of one that seeks to the dead, or a necromancer ^F15, this is he that starves himself, and goes "and lodges in the tombs"; (hamwj xwr wyle) (hrvtv ydk) , "that so an unclean spirit may dwell upon him": which notion may arise from unclean spirits hurrying persons possessed by them, unto such places; partly for the terror, both of themselves and others; and partly to possess the minds of men with a persuasion, that they have power over the dead, and which is very great in such places. This case is the same with that, which is mentioned in ( Matthew 8:28 ) as appears partly from its following the storm, from which the disciples had a remarkable deliverance; and partly from the country, in which this affair happened; for the country of the Gergesenes, and of the Gadarenes, is the same, as has been observed; only it is called by different names, from two principal places in it: as also from various circumstances in this relation; as the character of the possessed being exceeding fierce, dwelling among the tombs, and coming out from thence; the expostulation of the devil with Christ, and adjuration not to torment him; his entreaty to go into the herd of swine, and the leave he had; the destruction of the swine in the sea; the fear and flight of the swine herds; the report they made to their masters and others; and the request of the people in general to Christ, that he would depart out of their coasts. And though Matthew makes mention of two that were possessed, and Mark but of one, there is no contradiction in the one to the other; for Mark does not say there were no more than one; had he, it would have been a glaring contradiction to the other evangelist; but as he has put it, there is none, and it creates no difficulty: wherefore the Jew ^F16 has no reason to object this as he does, as if the evangelists clashed with one another; and Mark may only take notice of this one, because he was the fiercest of the two, and had the most devils in him, having a legion of them; and because the conversation chiefly passed between Christ and him; and because the power of Christ was more manifestly seen in the dispossession of the devils out of him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 65. 2. Nidda, fol. 17. 1. & Chagiga, fol. 3. 2.
F16 Jacob Aben Amram, porta veritatia, No. 1028. apud Kidder's Demonstr. of the Messiah, par. 3. p. 51.

Marc 5:2 In-Context

1 Ils arrivèrent à l'autre bord de la mer, dans le pays des Gadaréniens.

2 Aussitôt que Jésus fut hors de la barque, il vint au-devant de lui un homme, sortant des sépulcres, et possédé d'un esprit impur.

3 Cet homme avait sa demeure dans les sépulcres, et personne ne pouvait plus le lier, même avec une chaîne.

4 Car souvent il avait eu les fers aux pieds et avait été lié de chaînes, mais il avait rompu les chaînes et brisé les fers, et personne n'avait la force de le dompter.

5 Il était sans cesse, nuit et jour, dans les sépulcres et sur les montagnes, criant, et se meurtrissant avec des pierres.