John Gill Commentary Mark 5

And they came over unto the other side of the sea
Of Galilee, or Tiberias;

into the country of the Gadarenes :
in the Evangelist Matthew it is called, "the country of the Gergesenes", as it is here in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions. The Vulgate Latin reads, "of the Gerasenes", and so some copies, from Gerasa, a place in the same country; but the Syriac and Persic versions read, "Gadarenes", as do most copies; so called from Gadara, a city either adjacent to, or within the country of the Gergesenes; which was called by both names, from these different places.

It was not far from Tiberias, the place from which this sea has its name, over which Christ and his disciples passed, (John 6:1) . Chammath was a mile from ^F5 Tiberias, and this Chammath was so near to the country of Gadara, that it is often called, (rdgd tmx) , "Chammath of Gadara" ^F6 ; unless it should be rather rendered, "the hot baths of Gadara": for so it is ^F7 said, that at Gadara are the hot baths of Syria; which may be the same with the hot baths of Tiberias, so often mentioned in the Jewish writings ^F8 ;

hence the town of Chammath has its name, which was so near to Tiberias, that it is sometimes reckoned the same with it {i}: Pliny ^F11 places this Gadara in Decapolis, and Ptolemy ^F12 in Coelo Syria; and Meleager, the collector of epigrams, who is called a Syrian, is said ^F13 to be a Gadarene, a native of this Gadara.

Mention is made of the whirlpool of Gadara ^F14 , which remained ever since the flood. It appears to be an Heathen country, both from its situation, and the manners of the people.

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 2. 2.
• F6: T. Hieros. Erubin, fol. 23. 3. & Trumot, fol. 41. 3. & Sabbat, fol. 5. 4.
• F7: Eunapius in Vita Iamblici, p. 26.
• F8: T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 108. 1. T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 6. 1.
• F11: L. 5. c. 18.
• F12: L. 5. c. 15.
• F13: Fabricii Bibliotheca Grace. T. 2. p. 683.
• F14: T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 108. 1.

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, to 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:

therefore 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.

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.

Who had his dwelling among the tombs
Which is one of the characters of a madman among the Jews; who say it is ^F17the sign of a madman, that he goes 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.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: T. Hieros. Gittin, fol. 48. 3. & Trumot, fol. 40. 2.
• F18: Jarchi & Bartenora in Misn. Gittin, c. 7. sect. 1.

And always night and day, he was in the mountains
And this being in a Heathen country, would have rendered him an unclean person, if he had not been possessed with an unclean spirit; for so runs one of the Jewish canons ^F19: "he that walks in a Heathen land, on mountains and rocks, is unclean." And in the tombs:
which very likely were on the mountains, and cut out of them, it being usual to cut their sepulchres out of rocks: crying, and cutting himself with stones;
with sharp pieces of stone, which he picked up among the broken tombstones, or from off the mountains, where he was night and day; and besides taking up stones with his hands, and cutting himself with them, he might cut his feet with the sharp stones of the mountains, in which he ran about; these mountains were those, that encompassed the sea of Tiberias; for of it is (htwa Nypyqm Myrhv), "that the mountains surround it" ^F20: for the place where this man was, was near the sea of Tiberias, over which Christ was just now come; and soon as he arrived on shore, he met him, and found him in this condition.

This man was a lively emblem of a man in a state of nature and unregeneracy: he had "an unclean spirit", as every natural man has; his soul or spirit is defiled with sin, particularly his mind and conscience: this pollution is natural to him; he brings it into the world with him; it is very universal, it has spread itself over all the powers and faculties of his soul, and is what he cannot cleanse himself from: "who can say I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" (Proverbs 20:9). Nothing that he can do, or can be done for him by a mere creature, can free him from it: nothing but the blood of Christ, and that cleanses from all sin.

This man, through the possession of Satan, was a madman, and exceeding fierce and furious: there is a spirit of madness in all unregenerate men; they are exceeding mad against God, and Christ, and the saints, as Saul was before conversion, (Acts 26:9–11). For who but madmen would stretch out their hands against God, strengthen themselves against the Almighty, run upon him, even on his neck, and upon the thick bosses of his bucklers? (Job 15:25Job 15:26). Who but such would oppose themselves to the Son of God, or do despite to the Spirit of grace, who are equal in power and glory with God the Father? or kick against the pricks, by persecuting the members of Christ? Who but men out of their senses, would seek to ruin and destroy themselves, both soul and body?

This man was altogether under the power and influence of Satan, and had a legion of devils within him. Satan is in every unconverted man, in every child of disobedience; and works effectually in him, and leads him captive at his will: and he has besides a swarm of fleshly lusts in him, which have the government over him.

This man had his dwelling among the tombs, where the dead lay: so unregenerate men dwell among dead sinners, they have their conversation among the men of the world, who are dead in trespasses and sins, and according to the course of it.

And as this man could not be bound with chains and fetters, but these were broke asunder by him; so wicked men are not to be bound, restrained, and governed, by the laws, commands, and ordinances of God; they despise them, break through them, and cannot be subject to them, their language is, "let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us", (Psalms 2:3).

And as no man could tame this man, so it is not in the power of men, by the force of moral persuasion, by all the arguments, expostulations, exhortations, promises, or threatenings, they can make use of, to influence the carnal minds of men, or make any real change in them: or bring them into a subjection to the law of God, or Gospel of Christ, and remove from them the spirit of madness, and opposition to all that is good.

And to say no more; as this man was mischievous to himself, and cut himself with stones, so carnal men are the worst enemies to themselves; they cut and wound themselves with their sins, though, like the madman, they are not sensible of it; and if grace prevent not, will destroy themselves, both soul and body, with their transgressions.

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: Misn Oholot, c. 19. sect. 6.
• F20: T. Hieros. Erubin, fol. 25. 2.