Mark 5:3

3 The man lived in the tombs. No one could keep him tied up anymore. Not even a chain could hold him.

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 went across the Sea of Galilee to the area of the Gerasenes.

2 Jesus got out of the boat. A man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.

3 The man lived in the tombs. No one could keep him tied up anymore. Not even a chain could hold him.

4 His hands and feet had often been chained. But he tore the chains apart. And he broke the iron cuffs on his ankles. No one was strong enough to control him.

5 Night and day he screamed among the tombs and in the hills. He cut himself with stones.