Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 5:8
For he said unto him, Come out of the man, [thou] unclean spirit.
8. For he said unto himthatis, before the unclean spirit cried out.
Come out of the man, uncleanspirit!Ordinarily, obedience to a command of this nature wasimmediate. But here, a certain delay is permitted, the more signallyto manifest the power of Christ and accomplish His purposes.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For he said unto him,…. Or he had said unto him, as soon as he came up to him, and fell before him; even before he had confessed, and adjured him; and which indeed drew out the confession from him, that he was superior to him, and therefore became his supplicant:
come out of the man, thou unclean spirit; which was said with so much authority and power, that there was no withstanding it: the devil knew he was not a match for him; that he must, at his command, quit his possession, and therefore fell to confession and entreaty. Christ will not dwell where Satan does; when therefore he is about to take up his residence in the hearts of any, he outs with Satan; he binds the strong man armed, and dispossesses him; he causes the spirit of uncleanness to depart; he sanctifies the heart by his grace and Spirit, and so makes it a proper habitation for him to dwell in by faith; and this is done by mighty power: a man cannot deliver himself out of the hands of Satan, or cause him to quit his hold of him, or the unclean spirit to depart; nor can he sanctify and cleanse himself, and make himself meet for the master’s use: this is all owing to efficacious grace.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
For he said ( ). For he had been saying (progressive imperfect). Jesus had already repeatedly ordered the demon to come out of the man whereat the demon made his outcry to Jesus and protested. Mt 8:29 had “before the time” ( ) and 8:31 shows that the demons did not want to go back to the abyss ( ) right now. That was their real home, but they did not wish to return to the place of torment just now.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
For he said [] . Imperfect tense, he was saying; the force of which is lost both in the A. V. and Rev. The imperfect gives the reason for this strange entreaty of the demon. Jesus was commanding, was saying “come out;” and, as in the case of the epileptic child at the Transfiguration Mount, the baffled spirit wreaked his malice on the man. The literal rendering of the imperfect brings out the simultaneousness of Christ ‘s exorcism, the outbreak of demoniac malice, and the cry Torment me not.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For He said unto him,” (elegen gar auto) ”Because He, Jesus, was about to say to him,” that is Jesus was about to speak to the demon possessing the madman, the mentally and emotionally unstable wild man, which He did, Mar 5:13.
2) “Come out of the man,” (ekselthe ek tou anthropou) “You come out of and away from, the man,” that he may be capable of choosing for himself matters of life.
3) “Thou unclean spirit.” (to pneuma to akatharton) “You unclean (deranged and degraded) spirit,” though the unclean spirit was yet in the man of Mar 5:2. Let it be observed that even demon spirits are ill at ease in the presence of Jesus – – how much more should sinners be? Rom 2:4-5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(8) For he said unto him.The Greek verb is in the imperfect tense, he was saying, as though the demoniac had interrupted our Lord even while the words were in the act of being uttered.
Thou unclean spirit.It is noticeable that our Lord first speaks as if the men were oppressed by a single demon only, and that it is in the answer of the man himself that we learn that their name was Legion. (On the mans use of the word Legion, see Note on Mat. 8:29.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. For he said That is, our Lord had said so. The demon’s cry of terror of coming torment was in consequence of the Lord’s previous order to depart out of the man. Unclean spirit Some spirits may be specially spiteful, and some unclean or sensual.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
Ver. 8. For he said ] Or, For he had said: and so had put him into a new hell, as it were,
” Qui si non aliqua nocuisset mortuus esset. “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8. ] Mark generally uses the direct address in the second person: see Mar 5:12 .
] not imperf. for pluperf., either here or any where else ; for He was saying to him , &c.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 5:8 . , for He was about to say: not yet said, but evident from Christ’s manner and look that it was on His tongue; the conative imperfect (Weiss).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
8.] Mark generally uses the direct address in the second person: see Mar 5:12.
] not imperf. for pluperf., either here or any where else; for He was saying to him, &c.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 5:8. ) The language is so framed, as if it were of only one demon; and Mar 5:13; Mar 5:9, imply there were many demons, who rendered obedience to one superior, as a legion does to its commander. That one alone, and pre-eminently, seems to maintain a continual and uninterrupted connection with his own legion, inasmuch as they are comprehended under his own name.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mar 1:25, Mar 9:25, Mar 9:26, Act 16:18
Reciprocal: Mat 8:16 – and he Mat 17:18 – rebuked Mar 5:2 – with Luk 8:29 – commanded
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8This verse explains the demand of the preceding verse. If the devil is required to leave the man he may have to return to his former place in Hades which would mean the torment that he adjured Jesus not to inflict upon him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 5:8. For he said, or, was saying. This and the next verse show that the language just used was that of the demon speaking through the man. The adjuration of the demon and the command of our Lord were uttered about the same moment, the conversation (Mar 5:9-12) taking place immediately afterwards.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 8
For he said; he had said.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Jesus evidently addressed the leading demon. The Greek imperfect tense can mean that Jesus had been repeatedly commanding the demons to depart, as the NASB and NIV translations imply. However, it can also mean that something was about to follow. In this case a translation such as the AV, "For He said unto him," is better. Apparently in Mar 5:8 Mark gave us the reason for the demons’ request in Mar 5:7 even though Jesus did not command the demons to depart until Mar 5:13.