Mark 5 17

Mark 5:17 kjv

And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.

Mark 5:17 nkjv

Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.

Mark 5:17 niv

Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

Mark 5:17 esv

And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

Mark 5:17 nlt

And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.

Mark 5 verses

Mark 5 17 Meaning

This verse describes the immediate and fearful reaction of the people from the region of the Gerasenes (or Gadarenes) after witnessing Jesus deliver a man from a legion of demons, a profound act of divine power which coincided with the destruction of a large herd of their pigs. Overwhelmed by fear and primarily concerned with their significant material losses, the entire community urgently and persistently begged Jesus to leave their territory. Their request highlights a tragic preference for their earthly security and material comfort over the liberating presence of divine power and true spiritual healing.

Mark 5 17 Context

Mark 5:17 stands as the culminating reaction to the narrative of Jesus' encounter with the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20). Immediately preceding this verse, Jesus performed a dramatic exorcism, liberating a man from a "legion" of demons. In a unique turn, Jesus permitted the expelled demons to enter a large herd of approximately 2,000 pigs, which then stampeded into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. The swineherds, witnessing this colossal and economically devastating event, fled to the nearby town and countryside to report what had occurred. The local population, hearing of the destroyed herd, came out to see Jesus. The original audience would have understood the Jewish law rendering pigs unclean (Lev 11:7-8), suggesting this was likely a Gentile region or a mixed community, where pigs represented significant wealth. The people's profound fear stemmed not only from the massive economic loss but, more critically, from encountering a divine power they could not control, which dramatically disrupted their perceived stability. Their demand for Jesus to leave reveals their inability to reconcile the profound good of divine intervention (the healed man) with its unexpected and challenging disruption to their worldly affairs, exposing a tragic prioritizing of material possessions over spiritual truth.

Mark 5 17 Word analysis

• And (καὶ - kai): This conjunction links the community's reaction directly and immediately to the events recounted previously, especially the loss of the pigs, establishing a clear cause-and-effect relationship.
• they (αὐτοὶ - autoi, implied from the verb): Refers to the collective citizenry from the "whole city" and "the country" who had gathered, indicating a unanimous and widespread response.
• began (ἤρξαντο - ērxanto): Implies the initiation of an action. It wasn't a spontaneous, isolated cry, but the commencement of a concerted and persistent effort to express their desire.
• to implore (παρεκάλουν - parekaloun): The imperfect tense of parakaleō. This verb signifies a persistent, repeated, or urgent appeal—they kept on begging. It conveys a strong sense of earnest entreaty, likely born of desperation, anxiety, or deep fear. It suggests an active and ongoing process of persuasion or beseeching.
• Him (αὐτὸν - auton): Directly specifies Jesus, the object of their fervent and collective plea.
• to depart (ἀπελθεῖν - apelthein): Aorist infinitive of aperchomai, meaning "to go away," "to leave," or "to get out." It indicates a definitive action of removal. There is no ambiguity; their request is for His complete physical absence from their locale.
• from their region (ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτῶν - apo tōn horiōn autōn):
  • from (ἀπὸ - apo): A preposition indicating separation, demanding a clear physical distance.
  • their (αὐτῶν - autōn): Possessive pronoun, emphasizing the people's sense of ownership and the self-interested nature of their request. Their territory, their concerns.
  • region (ὁρίων - horiōn): From horion, referring to "boundaries," "borders," or "territory." This signifies the defined geographical and socio-economic limits of their community, from which they wished Jesus to withdraw completely.

Words-group analysis

• And they began to implore Him: This phrase underscores the immediate, overwhelming, and collective nature of their response. Their intense plea was a direct consequence of their fear and perception of massive economic loss, overriding any potential gratitude for the demoniac's liberation.
• to depart from their region: This expresses the explicit goal of their intense pleading: the physical removal of Jesus from their local sphere of influence. This demand reveals a community valuing material security and worldly stability above the radical, healing presence of divine power. It signals a tragic spiritual blindness, a choice to reject the profound implications of the Kingdom of God breaking into their midst because it disrupted their comfortable, established order. They preferred the absence of transformative divine intervention to the loss of their earthly comforts.

Mark 5 17 Bonus section

• Polemics against Pragmatic Worldview: The narrative implicitly challenges contemporary pragmatic worldviews that might prioritize economic stability and control over all else. Jesus' actions suggest a divine economy operates by different values, where one liberated soul outweighs thousands of animals. The people's rejection becomes a testament to their inability or unwillingness to align with these divine priorities.
• Cost of an Encounter with Holiness: This event illustrates that encountering raw, holy power can be both awe-inspiring and terrifying. For many, it's not the blessing but the disruptive nature of true spiritual power that is challenging. The "cost" for the community, in this case, was material loss, a cost they were unwilling to pay for the spiritual benefit that could have followed Jesus' prolonged presence among them.
• Territoriality of Evil and Kingdom Advancement: The demons acknowledged Jesus' authority over their 'region' (Luke 8:31, seeking permission). The people’s request for Jesus to depart could be seen as aligning, perhaps unknowingly, with the demonic desire to keep the territory free of Jesus' liberating influence, preferring the familiar spiritual stagnation over the kingdom's unsettling breakthrough.

Mark 5 17 Commentary

Mark 5:17 offers a striking, almost disheartening, insight into the human reaction to divine power. Despite witnessing an unparalleled act of compassion and liberation in the healing of the Gerasene demoniac—a man whom no one could control and who was a menace to himself and others—the community's overwhelming response was one of fear and rejection. Their focus shifted immediately to the considerable economic loss incurred through the destruction of the pig herd, demonstrating a stark prioritizing of material possessions over spiritual well-being and the life of a restored individual. This verse profoundly illustrates humanity's tendency to recoil from the unsettling, transformative presence of God, particularly when it challenges their perceived security, wealth, or comfort zones. Rather than embrace the bringer of profound good, they demanded His departure, seeking a return to their undisturbed, though demon-haunted, normal. It serves as a somber warning against valuing the tangible but fleeting above the eternal and life-altering, showing how fear can blind people to grace and true liberation.