Barnes Commentary

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Mark 5

Public-domain commentary by Albert Barnes.

Commentary Notes

v1

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 2

Verses 1-20. See this account of the demoniacs fully explained in Barnes Notes on

Mt 8:28-34.

{q} "And they came" Mt 8:28; Lu 8:26

Matt 8 28-Matt 8 34Matt 8 28Luke 8 26
v2

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 3

Verse 2. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v3

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 4

Verse 3. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{r} "his dwelling"

Isa 65:4

Isa 65 4
v4

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 5

Verse 4. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v5

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 6

Verse 5. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v6

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 7

Verse 6. Worshipped him . Bowed down before him; rendered him homage. This was an acknowledgment of his power, and of his control over fallen spirits.

{s} "worshipped" Ps 72:9

Ps 72 9
v7

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 8

Verse 7. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v8

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 9

Verse 8. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{t} "Come out of him"

Ac 16:18; Heb 2:14; 1 Jo 3:8

Acts 16 18Heb 2 141John 3 8
v9

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 10

Verse 9. My name is Legion. See Barnes "Mt 8:29" .

Matt 8 29
v10

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 11

Verse 10. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v11

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 12

Verse 11. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{x} "swine feeding" Le 11:7,8; De 14:8

Lev 11 7Lev 11 8Deut 14 8
v12

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 13

Verse 12. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{y} "besought him"

Job 1:10,12; 2:5,6

Job 1 10Job 1 12Job 2 5Job 2 6
v13

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 14

Verse 13. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{z} "gave them leave"

Re 13:7; 1 Pe 3:22

Rev 13 71Pet 3 22
v14

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 15

Verse 14. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v15

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 16

Verse 15. Sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind . There could be no doubt of the reality of this miracle. The man had been well known. He had long dwelt among the tombs, an object of terror and alarm. To see him all at once peaceful, and calm, and rational, was proof that it was the power of God only that had done it.

They were afraid . They were awed, as in the presence of God. The word does not mean here that they feared that any evil would happen to them, but that they were affected with awe; they felt that God was there; they were struck with astonishment at what Jesus had done.

{a} "devil, and had" Isa 49:25; Col 1:13 {b} "they were afraid" Job 13:11; Psa 14:5; 2 Ti 1:7

Isa 49 25Col 1 13Job 13 11Ps 14 52Tim 1 7
v16

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 17

Verse 16. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v17

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 18

Verse 17. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{c} "depart"

Job 21:14; Lu 5:8; Ac 16:39

Job 21 14Luke 5 8Acts 16 39
v18

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 19

Verse 18. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v19

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 20

Verse 19. Jesus suffered him not . Various reasons have been conjectured why Jesus did not suffer this malt to go with him. It might be, that he wished to leave him among the people, as a conclusive evidence of his power to work miracles. It might be that the man feared that if Jesus left him the devils would return, and that Jesus told him to remain to show to him that the cure was complete and that he had power over the devils when absent, as well as when present. But the probable reason is, that he desired to restore him to his family and friends. He was probably a man of influence, and Jesus was unwilling to delay the joy of his friends, and prolong their anxiety, by suffering him to remain away from them.

{d} "and tell them" Ps 66:16; Isa 38:19

Ps 66 16Isa 38 19
v20

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 21

Verse 20. In Decapolis . See Barnes "Mt 4:25" .

How great things , etc. This was the natural expression of right feeling at being cured of such a calamity. So the desire of sinners freed from sin is to honour Jesus; to ascribe all to his power; and to invite the world to participate in the same salvation, and to join them in doing honour to the Son of God. Compare Ps 66:16.

Matt 4 25Ps 66 16
v21

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 22

Verse 21. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v22

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 23

Verses 22-43. See the account of the raising of Jairus' daughter, and the healing of the woman with an issue of blood, fully explained

See Barnes "Mt 9:18"

and Mt 9:19-26.

{e} "And behold" Mt 9:18; Lu 8:41

Matt 9 18Matt 9 19-Matt 9 26Luke 8 41
v23

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 24

Verse 23. Lieth at the point of death . Is dying; in the last agonies.

{f} "point of death" Ps 107:18

Ps 107 18
v24

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 25

Verse 24. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v25

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 26

Verse 25. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{g} "an issue of blood"

Lev 15:19

Lev 15 19
v26

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 27

Verse 26. Had suffered many things . Had resorted to many things painful, by the direction of the physicians, in order to be healed.

{h} "nothing bettered" Job 13:4; Ps 108:12; Jer 30:12,13

Job 13 4Ps 108 12Jer 30 12Jer 30 13
v27

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 28

Verse 27. Came in the press behind . In the crowd that pressed upon him. This was done to avoid being noticed. It was an act of faith. She was full of confidence that Jesus was able to heal: but she trembled on account of her conscious unworthiness, thus illustrating the humility and confidence of a sinner coming ta God for pardon and life.

{i} "touched his garment" 2 Ki 13:21; Mt 14:30; Ac 5:15; 19:12

2Kgs 13 21Matt 14 30Acts 5 15Acts 19 12
v28

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 29

Verse 28. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v29

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 30

Verse 29. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v30

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 31

Verse 30. Virtue had gone out of him Power to heal. The word in the original means power .

Who touched my clothes ? This he said, not to obtain information, for he had healed her, and must have known on whom the blessing was conferred; but he did it, that the woman might herself make a confession of the whole matter, by which the power of her faith and the greatness of the miracle might be manifested, to the praise of God.

{k} "virtue" Lu 6:19.

Luke 6 19
v31

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 32

Verse 31. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v32

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 33

Verse 32. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v33

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 34

Verse 33. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v34

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 35

Verse 34. Daughter . A word of kindness, tending to inspire confidence, and to dissipate her fears.

Be whole . That is, continue to be whole; for she was already cured.

Of thy plague . Thy disease; literally, thy scourge . So a word from Jesus heals the moral malady of the sinner.

{m} "faith hath made" Mr 10:52; Ac 14:9 {n} "go in peace" 1 Sa 1:17; 20:42; 2 Ki 5:19

Mark 10 52Acts 14 91Sam 1 171Sam 20 422Kgs 5 19
v35

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 36

Verses 35,36. Why troublest thou , etc. It seems that the people had not yet confidence that Jesus could raise the dead. He had not yet done it; and as the child was now dead, and as they supposed that his power over her was at an end, they wished no farther to trouble him. Jesus kindly set the fears of the ruler at rest, and assured him that he had equal power over the dead as the living, and could as easily raise those who had expired as those who were expiring.

{o} "is dead" Joh 5:25; 11:25

John 5 25John 11 25
v36

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 37

Verse 36. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{p} "only believe"

2 Ch 20:20; Joh 11:40

2Chr 20 20John 11 40
v37

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 38

Verse 37. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

{q} "save Peter"

Mr 9:2; 14:33

Mark 9 2Mark 14 33
v38

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 39

Verse 38. The tumult . The confusion and weeping of the assembled people.

Wailed . Making inarticulate, mournful sounds, howling for the dead.

v39

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 40

Verse 39. This ado . This tumult, this bustle, or confusion.

And weep . Weep in this inordinate and improper manner.

But sleepeth . See Mt 9:24.

{r} "sleepeth" Joh 11:11-13

Matt 9 24John 11 11-John 11 13
v40

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 41

Verse 40. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v41

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 42

Verse 41. Talitha cumi . This is the language which our Saviour commonly spoke. It is a mixture of Syriac and Chaldee, called Syro-Chaldaic. The proper translation is given by the evangelist—- "Damsel, arise."

{r} "arise" Ac 9:40

Acts 9 40
v42

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 5 - Verse 43

Verse 42. No notes from Barnes on this verse.

v43

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6

Verse 43. Something should be given her to eat . "He had raised her by extraordinary power, but he willed that she should be sustained by ordinary means ." He also in this gave full evidence that she was really restored to life and health. The changes were great, sudden, and certain. There could be no illusion. So when the Saviour had risen, he gave evidence of his own resurrection, by eating with his disciples, Joh 21:1-13.

{s} "charged" Mt 8:4; 12:16-18; Mr 3:12; Lu 5:14

John 21 1-John 21 13Matt 8 4Matt 12 16-Matt 12 18Mark 3 12Luke 5 14