Introductory remarks:
This chapter begins where chapter four ends with Christ and His disciples in a boat going across the Sea of Galilee. Mark records more of the miracles of Christ than any other of the Gospels. This chapter is outlined as follows: The healing of the Gerasene demoniac vv. 1-20; Jairus' daughter and the woman who touched Jesus' garment vv. 21-43.
The Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac
(Matt. 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-39)
Verse 1, "And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes."
LGT "And they came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes."
"In the quietness that followed the storm, Jesus and His disciples came into what Mark and Luke call the region of the Gerasenes. Gerasa was a large territory in Perea in which was located Gerash, one of the cities of Decapolis. Matthew states that He came into the region of the Gadarenes. Gadara was a town in Gerasa some six miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Therefore there is no contradiction in the accounts. One speaks of the general locality and the other of a more specific portion of the territory to which they came" (J. Dwight Pentecost).
McGee adds:
"The Gadarenes were the inhabitants of Gadara, and this is the land that was given to the tribe of Gad on the east side of the Jordan River. Remember, Gad chose the wrong side of Jordan. They were the ones who stayed on the east side, and now we find them in the pig business. You see, when you start away from God, you just keep going away from Him."
Verse 2, "And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit."
LGT "And on His going forth out of the boat, immediately a man met Him out of the tombs, with an unclean spirit."
Immediately, as Jesus is coming out of the boat, a man possessed of a demon meets Him; the thing Jesus sees is the man, and this brings compassion from Jesus.
Verses 3-5, "Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones."
LGT "Who [had] his dwelling in the tombs, and not even with chains, no one was able to bind: because that he often with fetters and chains had been bound, and the chains had been torn asunder by him, the chains and the fetters had been shattered, and no one was able to overpower him: and continually, night and day in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones."
"Jesus was met by an exhibition of human fury, and madness, and degradation, even more terrible than the rage of the troubled sea. Barely had He landed when, from among the rocky cavern-tombs there burst into His presence a man troubled with the most exaggerated form of that raging madness which was universally attributed to demoniacal possession. Amid all the boasted civilization of antiquity, there existed no hospitals, no penitentiaries, no asylums; and unfortunates of this class, being too dangerous and desperate for human intercourse, could only be driven forth from among their fellow-men, and restrained from mischief by measures at once inadequate and cruel. Under such circumstances they could, if irreclaimable, only take refuge in those holes along the rocky hill-sides which abound in Palestine, and which were used by the Jews as tombs. It is clear that the foul and polluted nature of such dwelling-places, with all their associations of ghastliness and terror, would tend to aggravate the nature of the malady; and this man, who had long been afflicted, was beyond even the possibility of control. Attempts had been made to bind him, but in the paroxysms [convulsions] of his mania he had exerted that apparently supernatural strength which is often noticed in such forms of mental excitement, and had always succeeded in rending off his fetters, and twisting away or shattering his chains; and now he had been abandoned to the lonely hills and unclean solitudes which, night and day, rang with his yells as he wandered among them, dangerous to himself and to others, raving, and gashing himself with stones" (Farrar - The Christ - quoted by Pentecost).
William Barclay adds:
"Out of the tombs there came a demon-possessed man. It was a fitting place for him to be, for demons, so they believed in those days, dwelt in woods and gardens and vineyards and dirty places, in lonely and desolate spots and among the tombs. It was in the nighttime and before cock-crow that the demons were specially active. To sleep alone in an empty house at night was dangerous; to greet any person in the dark was perilous, for he might be a demon. To go out at night without a lantern or a torch was to court trouble. It was a perilous place and a perilous hour, and the man was a dangerous man."
Verse 6, "But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,"
LGT "And having seen Jesus from afar, he ran and did homage to Him."
This is the man that ran to Jesus and paid his respects. The man bows down to the Lord, recognizing his power over the demonic world.
Verse 7, "And cried with a loud voice, and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not."
LGT "And crying with a great voice, saying, What to me and to You, Jesus, Son of the God, the Most High One? I appeal [lit. put you to the test] to You by the God, do not torment me."
The man runs up, seeing Christ from afar, and pays homage to Christ, but the spirit does the talking through the man; he says, What do we have in common; what have You to do with Me. "The demon was shrinking from the impending cure" (TEGNT).
Verse 8, "For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit."
LGT "For He was saying to him, Come forth the spirit, the unclean one, out of the man."
"For He had been saying ( elegen gar - 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. Matt. 8:29 had before time (pro kairou) and 8:31 shows that the demons did not want to go back to the abyss (ten abusson) right now. That was their real home, but they did not wish to return to the place of torment just now" (Robertson).
Verse 9, "And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is legion: for we are many."
LGT "And He asked him, What [is] your name? And saying to Him, My name is legion, because we are many."
After Jesus commands the demon to come out of the man, and because the demon does not act immediately, He asks the man his name; the demon speaks over the man and says that his name is legion, for we are many. A Roman legion was six thousand men; so this man had a serious case of demonic possession.
Verse 10, "And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country."
LGT "And He begged Him much, that He would send them away from out of the region."
"The region of Decapolis was beloved by demons, suggests Grotius, because it was full of Hellenistic apostate Jews" (TEGNT).
Shepherd shows the significance of the demon's request:
"In the popular conception there were three doors to Gehenna: the desert (Num. 16:33), the sea (Jonah 2:2), and Jerusalem (Isa. 31:9). Under the impression of this current idea the demonized besought Him that he would not send them away out of the country. Was the man thinking about the desert wilds to the east? The demons entreated by the man that they should not be sent into the abyss or bottomless pit, the deep sea (Gen. 1:2; 7:11), the eternal abode of demons (Rev. 9:1-11)."
Verse 11, "Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding."
LGT "Now there was there towards the mountains a great herd of swine feeding."
There was nearby on the side of the mountain a large herd of swine grazing.
Verse 12, "And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them."
LGT "And they all begged Him, saying, Send us into the swine, in order that we may enter them."
The demons knew full well that Jesus would not permit them to enter another man, so they begged Him to let them enter into the herd of swine.
Verse 13, "And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand ;) and were choked in the sea."
LGT "And He allowed them. And having gone out, the unclean spirits entered into the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep into the sea, about two thousand, and they were choked in the sea."
"And forthwith Jesus gave them leave."
Jesus allowed the demons their request.
"And the unclean spirits went out, and entered the swine:"
The demons went out of the man and entered the swine. "These words present the crucial difficulty for interpreters as to why Jesus allowed the demons to enter the hogs and destroy them instead of sending them back to the abyss. Certainly it was better for hogs to perish than men, but this loss of property raises a difficulty of its own akin to the problem of tornadoes and earthquakes."
"And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea."
There are people who believe that Christ would never have allowed these pigs to be drowned one after the other in the sea. To them it is unconscionable of such horrid treatment of God's creatures.
McGee gives a good illustration about this occurrence:
"There is a tremendous occurrence presented to us here. The demons made a very peculiar request. They preferred swine to the abyss. The permission of Jesus here has been severely criticized by men who are liberal in their theology. Their objection has been that He would not destroy swine, as the gentle Jesus wouldn't do things like that. That's nonsense of course. I was having breakfast in Chicago with a man who had gone into liberalism. I had known him in school, and he had been sound then, but the way he was talking about Jesus and describing Him was totally fictitious. And he used this illustration, saying he didn't believe Jesus would destroy swine because that was such a terrible thing. Well, to begin with, these people shouldn't have been in the pig business. The Mosaic Law forbade it. And then I reminded this fellow that the two thousand pigs destroyed here were insignificant compared to the pigs that were destroyed in the flood at the time of Noah. And the third interesting thing that as we were having breakfast together, he was eating bacon. Oh, my! I said to him, I wish the little piggy that you are eating this morning were here to tell you what he thinks of you, for you weep like the walrus and the carpenter. (You remember, they just kept on eating the oysters but they wept because there was a lot of sand, not because they were eating the oyster. They wept for the wrong thing.) Well I think we have a lot of that type of thinking about us today."
Verse 14, "And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done."
LGT "And the ones who fed them, fled and announced [it] in the city and the country. And they went out to see what it is that had been done."
The herdsman of the swine ran swiftly to tell all, as they went, and then at last into the city, where they announced the tragedy of the swine; then the entire city turned out to see what had happened.
Verse 15, "And they came to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind; they were afraid."
LGT "And they come to Jesus and see the one possessed by demons, sitting, clothed and of a sound mind, the one who had the legion; and they were afraid."
What a scene is presented here; The man everyone was afraid of sitting, quiet and serene, clothed, who normally they saw naked, and in his right mind, not a raving lunatic; and then the case of the demons entering into the hogs hurling them to their destruction into the sea, but now a calm scene. The townspeople see him sitting; the Greek word for 'see' is theorousin a present tense meaning to gaze intently upon, suggesting examination, and then being taken back in disbelief.
Verse 16, "And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine."
LGT "And they who had seen, related to them, how [it] happened to him possessed of demons, and concerning the swine."
The ones who had witnessed the exorcism told of the two events that had happened; the insane man made whole, and the demons being sent into the swine and the swine being drowned in the sea.
Verse 17, "And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts."
LGT "And they began to beseech Him to depart from their borders."
It would seem the natural reaction from the people would be that they would beg Christ to stay among them and minister more, but just the opposite happened; they begged Him to leave their borders.
Robertson notes:
"Once before the people of Nazareth had driven Jesus out of the city (Luke 4:16-31). Soon they will do it again on His return there (Mark 6:1-6; Matt. 13:3-4). Here in Decapolis pagan influence was strong and the owners of the hogs cared more for the loss of their property than for the healing of the demoniac. In the clash between business and spiritual welfare business came first with them as often today. All three Gospels tell of the request for Jesus to leave. They feared the power of Jesus and wanted no further interference with their business affairs."
Verse 18, "And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him."
LGT "And as He was entering the boat, the one possessed by the demons, begged Him, in order that he might be with Him."
The participle as He was entering reveals the graphic presence of Jesus being in the act of entering the boat, and the man confronting Jesus before it would be too late.
Verse 19, "Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee."
LGT "But He did not permit him, but says to him, Go into your house, to your own folks, and announce to them how much the Lord did for you, and pitied you."
The Lord sent the man back home, in order that his own people might see for themselves what the Lord had accomplished with the man, having taken pity on him; "no one," says Robertson, "needed this man's witness about Christ," more than these pig lovers. Robertson adds: "In Galilee, Jesus had several times forbidden the healed to tell what He had done for them because of the undue excitement and misunderstanding. But here it was different. There was no danger of too much enthusiasm for Christ in this environment."
Verse 20, "And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel."
LGT "And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and all kept on marveling."
The word 'marvel' (ethaumazon) is in the imperfect tense so it means that the people hearing this man's testimony kept on marveling. The Lord knew He had more use for the man to go to his own people than to travel with Him and the disciples, for these people really needed this man's witness.
Jairus' Daughter and the Woman Who
Touched Jesus' Garment
(Matt.9:18-26; Luke 8:40-56)
Verse 21, "And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea."
LGT "And Jesus, having passed over [in the boat], again unto the other side, a great crowd gathered to Him, and He was by the side of the sea."
As always, as soon as Jesus arrives at a particular location, great crowds gather to Him. He goes with His disciples to the western shore of Galilee, and receives a reception, much the opposite of the region of Decapolis.
Verse 22, "And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell down at his feet."
LGT "And one of the rulers of the synagogue comes, by name, Jairus, and seeing Him falls at His feet,"
Each synagogue has its chief ruler, and this rulers name was Jairus.
Verse 23, "And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live."
LGT "And he begged Him much saying, My little daughter lies at the point of death, [I pray] that, having come, You might lay hands on her, in order that she might be delivered and live."
The words 'I pray' are not in the original; and as Vincent points out, the phrase runs literally, My little daughter lies at the point of death - that thou come, etc. In his anguish Jairus speaks incoherently. The way it is put in the original suggests the panic in his voice. Jairus knew full well, from previous knowledge of Jesus, that He could and would heal his little daughter by laying His hands on her.
Verse 24, "And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him."
LGT "And He went away with him. And a great crowd kept following, and kept pressing upon Him."
The use of the imperfects in this verse gives very vivid detail of the crowd thronging after Jesus as they literally kept following and kept pressing upon Him.
Verses 25, 26, "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse."
LGT "And a woman being with a flux [instability] of blood twelve years, and having suffered much under many physicians, and having spent her all [resources] and in no way having benefited, but rather having become worse."
A very pathetic picture of a poor woman suffering from an uncontrollable issue of blood that caused her to be ceremonially unclean for twelve years. She had spent all her resources with many physicians but to no avail.
Robertson writes;
"Her money was gone, her disease was gaining on her, her one chance came now with Jesus. Matthew says nothing about her experience with the doctors and Luke 8:43 merely says that she had spent all her living upon physicians and could not be healed of any, a plain chronic case. Luke the physician neatly takes care of the physicians. But they were not to blame. She had a disease that they did not know how to cure. Vincent quotes a prescription for an issue of blood as given in the Talmud which gives one a most grateful feeling that he is not under the care of doctors of that nature. The only parallel today is Chinese medicine of the old sort before modern medical school came."
The following is Vincent's quote Robertson refers to:
"What she may have suffered will appear from the prescription for the medical treatment of such a complaint given in the Talmud. 'Take of the gum of Alexandria the weight of a zuzee (a fractional silver coin); of alum the same; of crocus the same. Let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that has an issue of blood. If this does not benefit, take of Persian onions three logs (pints); boil them in wine, and give her to drink, and say, Arise from thy flux. If this does not cure her, set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand, and let some one come behind and frighten her, and say, Arise from thy flux. But if that do no good, take a handful of cumin (a kind of fennel). A handful of crocus, and a handful of fenugreek (another kind of fennel). Let these be boiled in wine and give them her to drink, and say, Arise from thy flux! If these do no good, other doses, over ten in number, are prescribed, among them this: Let them dig seven ditches, in which let them burn some cuttings of vines, not yet four years old. Let her take in her hand a cup of wine, and let them lead her away from this ditch, and make her sit down over that. And let them remove her from that, and make her sit down over another, saying to her at each remove, Arise from thy flux!" (Quoted from Lightfoot by Geike, - Life and Words of Christ)
Verse 27, "When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment."
LGT "Having heard concerning Jesus, having come in the crowd behind, touched His garment;"
The woman bowed down to the King and touched the tassels of His garment; she had faith first that He was the King, and second that her touching His garment would cleanse her whole. She came in silently behind the crowd, so as not to be noticed, for she was very humbled by her conditioned.
Verse 28, "For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole."
LGT "For she kept saying, If but His garments I shall touch, I shall be cured."
Her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ cleansed her. The verb she said is in the imperfect tense, so it means that she kept saying to herself, If I touch but the hem of His garment, I shall be cured.
Verse 29, "And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague."
LGT "And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she knew in [her] that she was healed from the scourge [curse]."
The verb 'felt' (egno) is literally she knew that she was healed. No one who has not suffered as she can possibly relate to her twelve years under the curse. A scourge was a whip used in flagellations, so it rightly describes the discomfort and misery she suffered; so immediately she knew in her body she was cured.
Verse 30, "And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?"
LGT "And immediately Jesus perceiving in Himself [that] power had from Him gone out, having turned in the crowd, said, Who touched My garments?"
Here this large crowd is pressing upon Christ, and He asks the astounding question, Who touched My garments? As the woman knew that she was healed, that exact moment Christ felt the power surge from His body. The woman believed that Christ healed her, and I believe it was not just superstition of touching his garments.
Verse 31, "And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, who touched me?"
LGT "And His disciples said to Him, You see the crowd thronging You, and You say, Who touched Me?"
The disciples thought it was unreasonable for Christ to ask this question with this large crowd thronging him; but Christ knew that He was touched by the touch of faith.
Verse 32-34, "And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."
LGT "And He kept looking around to see her who had done this. But the woman, being frightened and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth. And He said to her, Daughter, your faith has cured you: Go in peace, and be sound from your curse."
Jesus kept looking around in answer to the disciple's response. Bruce says "Jesus knows the difference between a touch, and the touch [of faith]." In response to Christ's gaze, the woman could not hide in the crowd any longer; she came forth and told Christ the whole truth about her previous condition, and that she touched His garments she was healed. Jesus responds to the woman's confession with sweet words of Go in peace, your faith has healed you, and you continue to be healed from your curse.
Shepherd writes:
"Perhaps she had hoped to steal away unobserved but it was not to be so. Jesus knew in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He turned about. At His question as to who touched Him His disciples wondered, and Peter called attention to the throng that pressed upon Him. But He continued to look around searching to see the one who had done this. Who touched My garments? He said, for I was conscious of the touch and perceived clearly that power went out from Me.
Now, the woman, afraid and trembling, conscious of what had happened to her, knowing that she was not hidden, came and fell down before Him in the presence of all the whole truth, both as to the motive that led her to touch Him, her pitiable tale of years of chronic misery, and her present joyful experience of immediate cure. Instantly Jesus responded to this frank confession.
Daughter, be of good cheer, He said, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Continue to be whole from your malady of body and soul. She had found healing for her body and with it sympathy, and pardon for her sins. The latter she would not have obtained had she been allowed to steal away and disappear in the crowd without confession."
Verse 35, "While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the master any further?"
LGT "[While] yet He is speaking, they come from the ruler of the synagogue's [house], saying, Your daughter is dead; why still are you troubling the Teacher?"
Even though Christ had raised the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), people did not expect Him to raise the dead; they were saying, in effect, your daughter has died so there is no more reason for you to be bothering the Teacher (Robertson).
Verse 36, "As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe."
LGT "But Jesus over hearing the word being spoken, says to the ruler of the synagogue, Fear not, only believe."
Jesus hearing what was not spoken to Him directly, but to the ruler of the synagogue, that is, overhearing what was being spoken to him, spoke to him directly that he should not fear for what was told him, and that he should only believe, that is, have faith.
Verse 37, "And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James."
LGT "And He suffered no one to accompany Him except Peter, and James, and John, the brother of James."
This is the same group of disciples Jesus took with Him up to the Mount of Transfiguration. Some expositors believe Jesus did this as not to crowd the house and the family; but to my thinking, it is because these are the three apostles, that followed Jesus, excepting Paul, who would later communicate church doctrine; we have Matthew, however, he would write the history, that is the events of Christ's life in the Gospel, but not doctrine for the church. Mark and Luke would write their Gospels as given to them; Mark from Peter, and Luke from Paul. The Gospel of John has in it doctrine, because it was written presenting Christ as God; John also wrote three epistles and the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Verse 38, "And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly."
LGT "And He comes to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and beholds a commotion, and [people] weeping and wailing greatly."
The word for 'wailing greatly' is alalazontas polla used here of the monotonous wail of professional mourners. This scene is typical at a Jewish wake, and it was to be expected at the home of the ruler of the synagogue.
William Barclay writes:
"Jewish mourning customs were vivid and detailed, and practically all of them were designed to stress the desolation and the final separation of death. The triumphant victorious hope of the Christian faith was totally absent.
Immediately death had taken place. A loud wailing was set up so that all might know that death had struck. The wailing was repeated at the graveside. The mourners hung over the dead body, begging for a response from the silent lips. They beat their breasts; they tore their hair; and they rent their garments.
The rending of the garments was done according to certain rules and regulations. It was done just before the body was finally hidden from sight. Garments were to be rent to the heart, that is, until the skin was exposed, but were not to be rent beyond the navel. For fathers and mothers the rent was on the left side, over the heart; for others it was on the right side. A woman was to rend her garments in private; she was then to reverse the inner garment, so that it was worn back to front; she then rent her outer garment, so that her body was not exposed. The rent garment was worn for thirty days. After seven days the rent might be roughly sewn up, in such a way that it was still clearly visible. After the thirty days the garment was properly repaired.
Flute players were essential. Throughout most of the ancient world, in Rome, in Greece, in Phoenicia, in Assyria and in Palestine, the wailing of the flute was inseparably connected with the death and tragedy. It was laid down that, however poor a man was, he must have at least two flute-players at his wife's funeral. W. Taylor Smith in Hastings' Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels quotes two interesting instances of the use of flute-players, which show how widespread the custom was. There were flute-players at the funeral of Claudius, the Roman emperor. When in AD 67 news reached Jerusalem of the fall of Jotapata to the Roman armies, Josephus tells us that 'most people engaged flute-players to lead their lamentations'.
The wail of the flutes, the scream of the mourners, the passionate appeals to the dead, the rent garments and the torn hair must have made a Jewish house a poignant and emotional place on the day of mourning."
Verse 39, "And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth."
LGT "And having entered He says to them, Why make you a turmoil and weep? The child is not dead but she is sleeping."
Jesus inquires of the household why they are making such a commotion, with the flute playing and the professional weepers; He says the child is not dead, but is only sleeping; this is a beautiful way Christ expresses death of a believer, she is only sleeping.
Verse 40, "And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying."
LGT "And they were laughing at Him. But He, having put out all, takes with [Him] the father of the child, and the mother, and those with Him [the three disciples], and enters in where the child was lying."
"And they laughed him to scorn."
The reason the KJV translators used the term laughed him to scorn is because 'laughed' is in the imperfect tense, so it literally means they kept laughing at Him.
"But when he had put them all out,"
Christ has authority even in this stranger's house; in order to stop their ridiculous behavior, He orders them to leave.
"He taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying."
Mark alone mentions that Jesus takes the parents and His three disciples into the chamber with Him.
Verse 41, "And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise."
LGT "And having taken the hand of the child, He says to her, Talitha koumi; which is, being interpreted, Little girl, I say to you, arise."
As Jesus did with Peter's mother-in-law, He took her gently by the hand, and said in Aramaic, Talitha Koumi Damsel, arise. "These precious Aramaic words, spoken by Jesus to the child, Peter heard and remembered so that Mark gives them to us. Mark interprets the simple words into Greek for those who did not know Aramaic (to korasion, egeire), that is, Damsel, arise. Mark uses the diminutive korasion, a little girl, from kore, girl. Braid Scots has it: Lassie awaken. Luke 8:5-9 has it (He pais, egeire,) Maiden, arise. All three Gospels mention the fact that Jesus took her by the hand, a touch of life (kratesas tes cheiros), giving confidence and help" (Robertson).
Verse 42, "And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with great astonishment."
LGT "And immediately the little girl arose and walked around: for she was twelve years [old]. And they were amazed [immediately] with great ecstasy.
The little girl immediately arose and walked around. The verb 'walked' is in the imperfect tense (periepatei) so it means that she kept walking around. Mark inserts the fact the little girl was twelve years old, noting that she was old enough to walk. Everyone in the chamber was filled with amazement and ecstasy. The word ecstasy gr. ekstasei from which we get our English word ecstasy literally means "to be in a trance, in other words, they all stood around spellbound. I'm sure that outside the professional mourners will no longer laugh Christ to scorn.
Verse 43, "And he charged them straightly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat."
LGT "And prohibited them much that no one should know this, and said [that something] should be given to her to eat."
"And he charged them straightly that no man should know it:"
This sentence is hard for me to understand; why Christ did not want them to tell about this raising of the little girl baffles me; the little girl knew; the disciples knew; the parents knew; and those outside would know, as soon as she went outside. The only reason I can imagine is that this girl, as Lazarus, was only resuscitated and not resurrected; the ones who might talk about His raising the little girl might get the facts confused between the two; and we know from the rest of the Scriptures that Christ will be the first fruits of the resurrection, so this girl has only been resuscitated and not resurrected. All the benefits of the resurrection will be gained from Christ's resurrection. Of all the commentaries I have searched, only Matthew Henry responded to this sentence, and what He says it basically the same as I have written.
"And commanded that something should be given her to eat."
How appropriate this command of Christ is. Anyone who has had young children from 12-adulthood knows that as soon as they wake up they want food. Another reason might be that it would prove that she is really alive and not walking around in some sort of a trance. "She should walk and eat; not only alive, but well" (Bruce) Remember after He personally arose He dined with His disciples.
We come to end of chapter five and we will begin our study of chapter six with Jesus leaving here and heading into Nazareth.
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