The Gerasene demoniac in Mark revisited.

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Ben C. Smith
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The Gerasene demoniac in Mark revisited.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

On another thread I made a case for the gospel of Mark having been written for people who already knew at least some parts of the story. This argument implies, as a necessary corollary, that there was a story which was told before Mark was penned. To my mind, Mark is full of little indicators that this is, in fact, the case: that Mark is a retelling of the story, not the first instance of it. In this thread I intend to demonstrate that the exorcism of the Gerasene/Gadarene demoniac in Mark 5.1-20 contains such indicators, meaning that it is not the first instance of this particular miracle story; it is a retelling. I will not argue that Mark presumed his readers would already have knowledge of it; rather, the argument is simply that this pericope is drawn from a previously existing story known to Mark himself (whether his readership knew of it or not).

(Possibly of related interest: I have elsewhere argued that Homer is probably not being imitated in this pericope, at least not in a constitutional sense.)

Introduction

There are multiple kinds of indicators in this pericope. First, there are some Semitisms which may point to a Semitic background for this story. Second, there are some differences of vocabulary for the same items or concepts within the pericope itself which may point to different layers of retelling (or to different sources, as the case may be). Third, there are several ways in which this pericope is uncharacteristic of the rest of Mark as a whole. Fourth, there are little seams or inconsistencies which seem characteristic of a storyteller retelling a story with which he is perhaps a bit too familiar for his own good. I will run through the pericope verse by verse, in the style of a commentary, highlighting the various instances of these indicators.

For reference, the text itself is as follows:

Mark 5.1-20 (Greek)
Mark 5.1-20 (English)
1 Καὶ ἦλθον εἰς τὸ πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν Γερασηνῶν. 2 καὶ ἐξελθόντος αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου εὐθὺς ὑπήντησεν αὐτῷ ἐκ τῶν μνημείων ἄνθρωπος ἐν πνεύματι ἀκαθάρτῳ, 3 ὃς τὴν κατοίκησιν εἶχεν ἐν τοῖς μνήμασιν, καὶ οὐδὲ ἁλύσει οὐκέτι οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο αὐτὸν δῆσαι 4 διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν πολλάκις πέδαις καὶ ἁλύσεσιν δεδέσθαι καὶ διεσπάσθαι ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰς ἁλύσεις καὶ τὰς πέδας συντετρῖφθαι, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἴσχυεν αὐτὸν δαμάσαι· 5 καὶ διὰ παντὸς νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἐν τοῖς μνήμασιν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν ἦν κράζων καὶ κατακόπτων ἑαυτὸν λίθοις. 6 καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἔδραμεν καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ 7 καὶ κράξας φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγει· τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, Ἰησοῦ υἱὲ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου; ὁρκίζω σε τὸν θεόν, μή με βασανίσῃς. 8 ἔλεγεν γὰρ αὐτῷ· ἔξελθε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀκάθαρτον ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. 9 καὶ ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν· τί ὄνομά σοι; καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· λεγιὼν ὄνομά μοι, ὅτι πολλοί ἐσμεν. 10 καὶ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν πολλὰ ἵνα μὴ αὐτὰ ἀποστείλῃ ἔξω τῆς χώρας. 11 ἦν δὲ ἐκεῖ πρὸς τῷ ὄρει ἀγέλη χοίρων μεγάλη βοσκομένη· 12 καὶ παρεκάλεσαν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· πέμψον ἡμᾶς εἰς τοὺς χοίρους, ἵνα εἰς αὐτοὺς εἰσέλθωμεν. 13 καὶ ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτοῖς. καὶ ἐξελθόντα τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα εἰσῆλθον εἰς τοὺς χοίρους, καὶ ὥρμησεν ἡ ἀγέλη κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, ὡς δισχίλιοι, καὶ ἐπνίγοντο ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ. 14 Καὶ οἱ βόσκοντες αὐτοὺς ἔφυγον καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀγρούς· καὶ ἦλθον ἰδεῖν τί ἐστιν τὸ γεγονὸς 15 καὶ ἔρχονται πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ θεωροῦσιν τὸν δαιμονιζόμενον καθήμενον ἱματισμένον καὶ σωφρονοῦντα, τὸν ἐσχηκότα τὸν λεγιῶνα, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν. 16 καὶ διηγήσαντο αὐτοῖς οἱ ἰδόντες πῶς ἐγένετο τῷ δαιμονιζομένῳ καὶ περὶ τῶν χοίρων. 17 καὶ ἤρξαντο παρακαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἀπελθεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτῶν. 18 Καὶ ἐμβαίνοντος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πλοῖον παρεκάλει αὐτὸν ὁ δαιμονισθεὶς ἵνα μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ ᾖ. 19 καὶ οὐκ ἀφῆκεν αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ λέγει αὐτῷ· ὕπαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου πρὸς τοὺς σοὺς καὶ ἀπάγγειλον αὐτοῖς ὅσα ὁ κύριός σοι πεποίηκεν καὶ ἠλέησέν σε. 20 καὶ ἀπῆλθεν καὶ ἤρξατο κηρύσσειν ἐν τῇ Δεκαπόλει ὅσα ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ πάντες ἐθαύμαζον.1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the graves with an unclean spirit met Him. 3 And he had his dwelling among the graves. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the fetters broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the graves and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him. 7 And shouting with a loud voice he said, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!" 8 For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" 9 And He was asking him, "What is your name?" And he said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many." 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 They implored Him, saying, "Send us into the pigs so that we may enter them." 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. 14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. 17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

And now for my commentary.

Verse 1

The main textual issue associated with this verse is very well known. LaParola has:

5:1
ἦλθον] ‭א* A B D K W Π f1 33 157 565 1071 1424 2427 Byz it vg copsa goth ς WH
ἦλθεν] ‭א1vid C E G L M Δ Θ f13 28 579 700 892 1241 1342 2542 al itq syr copbo geo Epiphanius

Γερασηνῶν] (see Luke 8:26) ‭א* B D 1282 2427 itaur itb itc itd ite itf itff2 iti itl itq itr1 vg copsa Tertullian Juvencus Eusebius mssaccording to Origen WH NR CEI Riv TILC Nv NM
Γαδαρηνῶν] (see Matthew 8:28) A C E F G H K Π Σ f13 157 180 597 1006 1009 1010 1079 1195 1216 1230 1242 1243 1253 1342 1344 1365 1505 1546 2148 2876 Byz l68 l76 l185 l292 l313 l514 l673 l813 l1223 l1552 l1761 lAD syrp syrh goth Diatessaronsyr mssaccording to Origen ς ND Dio
Γεργεσηνῶν] ‭א2 L U (W) Δ Θ f1 22 28 33 205 372 517 565 579 700 892 954 1071 1241 1424 1646 1675 2737 2766 pc Lect (l211 Γεργεσινῶν) syrs copbo arm eth geo slav Diatessaronarm Origen Hesychius Theophylact
Γεργυστηνῶν] W syrh(mg) (Epiphanius Γεργεσθᾶν)

One intriguing suggestion for resolving this problem is that the original story took place nowhere near the sea (Gerasa, for example, which lies some 35+ miles from the sea of Galilee) and also lacked the part about casting pigs into the sea. Once that part was added, the location was changed in certain streams of transmission to reflect a seaside venue (Gadara, which city issued coins with a ship, indicating that its territory extended to the sea; or Gergesa, Origen's suggestion). This suggestion is one among many, but, if true, it would automatically entail a transmission history for this story which precedes Mark.

Verse 2

There appears to be a Semitism in this verse:

A. T. Robertson, Grammar of the Greek New Testament, under ἐν: Accompanying Circumstance. It is needless to multiply unduly the various uses of ἐν, which are "innumerable" in the LXX where its chief extension is due to the imitation of the Hebrew בְּ. But by no means all these uses are Hebraic. Thus ἐν for the idea of accompanying circumstance is classical enough (cf. ἐν ὅπλοις εἶναι, Xen. Anab. 5. 9, like English "The people are up in arms"), though the LXX abounds with it. It occurs also in the papyri. Cf. Tb.P. 41 (119 B.C.). .... Somewhat more complicated is a passage like ἄνθρωπος ἐν πνεύματι ἀκαθάρτω (Mk. 1:23), which Blass properly compares with πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον ἔχει (Mk. 3:30).

Blass judges that the phrase in question in Mark 1.23 and 5.2 "must mean 'with an unclean spirit'" (Grammar of New Testament Greek, page 131) in a section discussing the influence of the Hebrew preposition בְּ on the Greek preposition ἐν. W. C. Allen writes in his commentary on Mark, "We expect 'a man having an unclean spirit.' Probably a mistranslation of דאית הות בה רוחא = 'in whom was a spirit.'"

It is also worth noting that, in the first part of the exorcism, the spirits are "unclean spirits" (Mark 5.2, 8, 13). In the second part, the man is "demon-possessed" (Mark 5.15, 16, 18), an interesting midstream change of vocabulary.

Verses 2-5

Another change of vocabulary is present, as well. The word for "grave" in verse 2 is μνημεῖον, but the word for "grave" in verses 3 and 5 is μνῆμα. These words, while etymologically related, are not the same.

Verses 2-7

There are potential scriptural allusions in 5.2-7:

Isaiah 65.4-5: 4 καὶ ἐν τοῖς μνήμασιν καὶ ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις κοιμῶνται δι᾽ ἐνύπνια οἱ ἔσθοντες κρέα ὕεια καὶ ζωμὸν θυσιῶν μεμολυμμένα πάντα τὰ σκεύη αὐτῶν 5 οἱ λέγοντες πόρρω ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ μὴ ἐγγίσῃς μου ὅτι καθαρός εἰμι οὗτος καπνὸς τοῦ θυμοῦ μου πῦρ καίεται ἐν αὐτῷ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας. / 4 "Who sit among the graves and spend the night in secret places. Who eat swine's flesh, and the broth of unclean meat is in their pots. 5 Who say, 'Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!' These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day."

Psalm 67.7 LXX: 7 ὁ θεὸς κατοικίζει μονοτρόπους ἐν οἴκῳ ἐξάγων πεπεδημένους ἐν ἀνδρείᾳ ὁμοίως τοὺς παραπικραίνοντας τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν τάφοις. / 7 God settles solitary ones into a home, leading out prisoners with manliness, likewise those who embitter them that live in tombs.

Psalm 106.8-14 LXX: 8 Let them acknowledge the Lord for his mercies and for his wonderful works to the sons of men, 9 because he fed an empty soul and a hungry soul he filled with good things, 10 when they sat in darkness and death's shadow, fettered [πεπεδημένους] in poverty and iron, 11 because they had embittered the sayings of God, and the counsel of the Most High [τοῦ ὑψίστου] they had provoked. 12 And their heart was brought low by exertion; they became weak, and there was no one to help. 13 And they shouted [ἐκέκραξαν] to the Lord when they were being afflicted, and from their anguish he saved them, 14 and he brought them out of darkness and death's shadow, and their bonds [τοὺς δεσμοὺς αὐτῶν] he broke asunder.

Verses 23-32 of this same psalm (106 LXX, 107 Masoretic) seem to form part of the background to the calming of the sea in Mark 4.35-41. Psalm 107/106 may form (at least part of) the rationale for the conjunction of these two stories. Compare and contrast the above scriptural passages with Mark:

Mark 5.2-7: 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the graves [ἐκ τῶν μνημείων] with an unclean spirit met Him. 3 And he had his dwelling among the graves [ἐν τοῖς μνήμασιν]. And no one was able to bind [δῆσαι] him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with fetters [πέδαις] and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the fetters [τὰς πέδας] broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was shouting [ἦν κράζων] among the graves and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him. 7 And he shouted [κράξας] with a loud voice and said, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High [τοῦ ὑψίστου] God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!"

Yet some of the connections are more conceptual than verbal ("pigs" versus "swine's flesh," for example, and "spend the night" versus "day and night," which employ different Greek words for the night), while others actually conflict (for instance, in the psalm the afflicted one shouts out to the Lord in a positive sense, whereas in the gospel the afflicted one shouts out in a negative sense). It seems possible to me that the story originally had tighter connections to these scriptures, but those connections were partially lost or obscured over subsequent retellings.

Verse 3

This verse features a sort of triple negative: καὶ οὐδὲ ἁλύσει οὐκέτι οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο αὐτὸν δῆσαι. There are double negatives aplenty in Mark (12.34 is a great example), but this example is the only triple negative I have been able to find. (There are verses which have more than two negatives, but the negatives are spread out amongst different clauses or sentences; in this case they all apply to the same basic action: the ability to bind this man.)

Verse 6

This verse marks the only instance in Mark in which somebody bows down to or worships Jesus (the instance in 15.19 is in mockery). Worshiping Jesus is much more common in Matthew (2.2, 8, 11; 8.2; 9.18; 14.33; 15.25; 20.20; 28.9, 17).

Verse 7

The phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί (literally, "what to me and to you") is a Semitism, also found in Judges 11.12; 2 Samuel 16.10; 19.23; 1 Kings 17.18; 2 Kings 3.13; 2 Chronicles 35.21; Matthew 8.29; Mark 1.24; Luke 4.34; 8.28; John 2.4; refer also to Joshua 22.24; Jeremiah 2.18; Hosea 14.9.

It is interesting that the demon(iac) adjures the exorcist in this verse rather than vice versa (contrast Acts 19.13). In the Greek Magical Papyri the adjuration is almost always spoken by the magician or exorcist to the god, demon, or angel being conjured. In this story, however, the demon(iac) actually adjures Jesus!

The demons' plea not to torment them seems to imply that the intended torment is, in fact, their banishment to the abyss (especially in light of how Matthew 8.29 and Luke 8.31 interpret the story at this point; also, the demons' feared punishment in Mark 1.24 is destruction). I agree with D. C. Hindley on this point: 1 Enoch 10.13 dooms Semjaza and his fellow rebellious spirits "to the chaos of fire" (εἰς τὸ χάος τοῦ πυρὸς) and "to the torment" (εἰς τὴν βάσανον) which they will begin suffering forever on the day of judgment. However, the later request to send them into the swine, and not out of the country, seems to imply that this option is a better one than the alternative (despite the actual outcome).

Verse 8

This verse in its entirety is a backtracking comment explaining the demon(iac)'s words in verse 7. On the presumption of Marcan priority to Luke (that is, that Luke copied from Mark), it is interesting that Luke, too, indulges in this sort of backtracking in his own parallel to this very same pericope, having apparently skipped a bit of Mark only to have to add it in slightly later in the story. In other words, he retains Mark's instance of backtracking and adds another of his own:

Mark 5.2-8
Luke 8.27-29
2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the graves with an unclean spirit met Him. 3 And he had his dwelling among the graves. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the fetters broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the graves and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him. 7 And shouting with a loud voice he said, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!" 8 For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"27 And when He had come out onto the land, He was met by a certain man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. 28 And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me." 29 For He had been commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and fetters and kept under guard; and yet he would burst his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.

If Luke's backtracking to explain the demoniac's history with fetters and chains is explicable as a consequence of his reuse of the Marcan version of the story, then surely it is plausible that Mark's backtracking to explain the reason for the demoniac's words is explicable as a consequence of his reuse of a version of the story previous to him.

Luke, in fact, bears a similar instance only a few verses later in this same story!

Mark 5.17-18: 17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him.

Luke 8.37-38a: 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to depart from them; for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat, and returned. 38a But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him.

Rather than explicitly noticing the missing information and filling it in by way of a backtrack, however, Luke has simply related Jesus' departure in a blatantly nonchronological (and somewhat jarring) order.

Mark himself offers us other examples of actual backtracking:

Mark 3.9-10: 9 And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; 10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.

Mark 3.21: 21 And when His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses."

Mark 6.30-31: 30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31 And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

Mark 9.33-34: 33 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.

These instances may hint at his retelling of already existing pericopes elsewhere in his narrative, as well, just as the two examples from Luke seem to hint at his retelling of something resembling Mark.

We also find another possible Semitism (articular nominative for vocative) in this verse. Daniel B. Wallace defines this phenomenon on page 56 of Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics as follows: "A substantive in the nominative is used in the place of the vocative case. It is used... in direct address to designate the addressee." He continues on pages 56-57: "The nominative for vocative can be broken down into two structural categories: anarthrous and articular. The articular use... involves two nuances: address to an inferior and simple substitute for a Semitic noun of address, regardless of whether the addressee is inferior or superior. The key for determining which use is being followed has to do with whether the text in question can be attributed to a Semitic source (such as quotation from the LXX)." William Henry Guillemard notes on page 2 of Hebraisms in the Greek Testament that this construction is common in the Old Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. He lists Mark 5.8 as a possible Semitism in this respect.

Verse 9

Jesus' asking of Legion's name seems to reflect the popular magical motif that one controls spirits by knowing their name; but this motif is absent from the rest of Mark.

Verse 10

The unclean spirits' plea not to be sent out of the country is yet another feature found only here in Mark. The limits of "the country" is set up in verse 1 as Jesus enters "the country of the Gerasenes."

Verse 11

I noted for verse 7 that the spirits' request to be cast into the pigs seems to imply that such a procedure is better than whatever alternative torment they were imagining. But this instance of unclean spirits jumping from one host to another is the only one of its kind in Mark.

Verse 12

The demoniac is named Legion, which of course conjures the image of a Roman combat unit. The number of pigs, however (2000), does not match the manpower of a Roman legion. This mismatch suggests to me the possibility that the story has found some of its details being adjusted, for better or worse, along its course of transmission: whoever thought up the name Legion and whoever came up with the count of 2000 may not be the same person.

Verse 15

In Mark 5.6-13 = Luke 8.28-33 Jesus exorcises the Gadarene demoniac, after which event, in Mark 5.14-15 = Luke 8.34-35, both authors narrate that the locals have come out to see what is going on and are amazed to find the demoniac himself, Legion, in his right mind and "clothed." Is the reader of Luke aware that Legion was up until that point unclothed? Yes, because in 8.27 the narrator notes that Legion "for quite some time had not dressed in clothing." Is the reader of Mark aware that Legion was unclothed before? No, because Mark has no parallel for the relevant part of Luke 8.27. So the fact that the demoniac is now clothed in Mark is somewhat anticlimactic. The possible relevance to the case at hand is something that Mark Goodacre has brought up in synoptic studies.

Goodacre argues on page 48 of his article "Fatigue in the Synoptics" (New Testament Studies 44, 1998, pages 45-58) for a case of fatigue in Matthew 12.46-50 = Mark 3.31-35. This instance begins, however, earlier in the narrative, at Mark 3.20, in which Jesus enters "into a house." There is no actual Matthean parallel to Mark 3.20-21, in which the family of Jesus think him mad and set out to rein him in (apparently to save the family honor). Matthew has instead inserted at this point in the narrative (in 12.22-23) the healing of a demoniac who was both blind and mute; in doing so he happens to have omitted any mention of Jesus entering a house, and, in the words of Goodacre, the most recent scene change was a departure from the synagogue, with many following Jesus, in 12.15. This Matthean omission makes one scratch one's head later on in the narrative when Matthew 12.46, like Mark 3.31, has the mother and brothers of Jesus standing "outside." That Matthew does not mean "outside the circle of disciples" or some such is confirmed in 13.1, in which we find Jesus coming "out of the house," something of a surprise to the reader of Matthew, who has not been informed that Jesus was in a house in the first place. Goodacre takes this Matthean omission earlier in the narrative as evidence that Matthew has copied from Mark.

On pages 54-55 of the same article, "Fatigue in the Synoptics," Goodacre draws attention to part of the mission instructions of Jesus to the disciples in Matthew 10.11-12, 14a = Luke 9.4-5a. Luke manifests a continuity error that Matthew does not. In Luke 9.4 Jesus has mentioned only entrance into a house, but then in Luke 9.5 he tells the disciples to exit "that city." The attentive reader might well ask, "What city?" The answer lies in Matthew 10.11-12, in which Jesus instructs his disciples more fully to enter a city or village and ask about a worthy house. Luke betrays that he has a city in mind, but he has not set the reader up for it. Goodacre takes this Lucan omission earlier in the instructions as evidence that Luke has been copying from Matthew (or Q would also hypothetically work) at this point, and has become editorially fatigued.

Paul Davidson offers a similar example between Mark and Luke: "In Jesus' trial as depicted in Mark 14, the Sanhedrin and high priest bring witnesses to testify against Jesus, but they run into trouble because the testimonies are "false" and contradict each other. But after the high priest asks Jesus directly if he is the Messiah and Jesus answers in the affirmative (or prevaricates; there is a manuscript issue here), the high priest declares that the witnesses are no longer needed [refer to Mark 14.53, 55–56]. .... In Luke's version, the high priest is not present, and no witnesses are called. No false or contradictory testimony impedes the trial. It is somewhat odd, then, that that the council declares, using the same Greek words as Mark, that they have no further need of witnesses [refer to Luke 22.66, 70–71]." Davidson takes this Lucan omission earlier in the narrative as evidence that Luke has been copying from Mark at this point.

Finally, in Luke 23.18, after Pilate has offered to punish Jesus and then release him, the crowd instead asks him to release a certain troublemaker named Barabbas. This request would seem highly unusual (why would an official release a guilty party in the stead of an innocent?) unless the reader happens to have read 23.17: "And he was compelled to release one man to them at the feast." This custom, often called the Passover amnesty, explains both why Pilate would offer to release Jesus and why the crowd would instead request the release of Barabbas; Pilate is obliged to set a single prisoner free at any rate, and he and the crowd are simply haggling over which one. However, it is a serious question whether the most ancient readers of Luke would have ever found this custom explained in 23.17. The entire verse, while present in many manuscripts (א, W, Δ, Θ, Ψ, ƒ1, ƒ13, Byzantine; D has it after 23.19), is also missing from some very important ones (Ƿ75, A, B, L). If Luke 23.17, which parallels Matthew 27.15 and Mark 15.6, belongs to Luke, then this example of editorial fatigue by omission does not count. If, however, Luke 23.17 does not belong to the original text of Luke, then I take this Lucan omission earlier in the narrative as evidence that Luke has been copying from Mark at this point.

There is very little difference, if any, between Mark failing to narrate the demoniac's lack of clothing, on the one hand, and Matthew failing to narrate any entrance to a house, Luke failing to narrate any entrance into a city, Luke also failing to narrate the role of the witnesses at a trial, and Luke once again failing to explain the Passover amnesty, on the other hand. If one believes that Matthew and Luke both copied from Mark, and also that Luke copied either from Matthew or from Q, then one has to be aware of the distinct plausibility that this kind of omission signals a reliance upon an already existing story. And, if the pattern holds true, Mark himself is reliant upon an earlier version of this story, and has simply neglected to narrate the lack of clothing earlier in the pericope.

Verse 17

The negative response by the locals, actually begging Jesus to leave their land, is yet another motif that is unique to this story in the gospel of Mark.

The use of ἤρξαντο + the infinitive παρακαλεῖν is likely a Semitism. W. C. Allen writes on page 49 of his commentary on the gospel of Mark, "'The use of ἤρξατο, -αντο with an infinitive following when nothing at all is to be said of any further development of the action thus introduced is one of the peculiarities that mark the style of all three Synoptists' (Dalman, Words of Jesus, p[age] 26). Dalman has not, however, remarked a distinction between the Synoptists in their use of this idiom. It occurs in S[aint] Mark twenty-six times. Of these S[aint] Matthew retains six only, whilst S[aint] Luke retains only two. The reason for this is perhaps to be found in the nature of S[aint] Mark's use of the construction. As used in his Gospel it occurs always in narrative, and in many cases is practically meaningless. .... There is no case in S[aint] Mark where the word has any special emphasis, and the construction may well be due to the use of שׁרי in Aramaic as an auxiliary verb."

Verses 18-19

These verses mark the only time a person is not allowed to follow Jesus in the gospel of Mark.

Verse 19

This verse also marks the only time Jesus tells somebody to tell others instead of telling him/her to keep quiet in Mark; contrast 1.44; 5.43; 7.36.

I have heard various solutions to this problem.

For example, perhaps secrecy was no longer an option after an entire herd of swine veered off a cliff, with the herdsmen standing by as witnesses. Indeed, Mark 5.20 seems to imply that the Decapolis as a whole has now heard of Jesus. But, if secrecy is no longer an option, why the injunction to be silent still in Mark 7.36, once again in the Decapolis (refer to 7.31)? The problem is simply intensified in this case, not resolved.

William Wrede, who literally wrote the book on The Messianic Secret, painstakingly showed how two of Mark's themes (the injunctions to silence and the outrageous publicity of the dominical miracles) failed to work together in any sort of plausibly historical way. He recognized, of course, the modest challenge that Mark 5.19 posed to his thesis, since it actually breaks the first of these Marcan themes (thus constituting "an exception from Jesus' usual practice," according to page 140); he therefore proposed that Jesus' command to "go on unto your house, toward your own people," was, in fact, a limitation of the former demoniac's proclamation to his own family. But, were this the case, would we not expect an adversative conjunction of some kind to start the next verse? Instead we get καί (not ἀλλά or even δέ). Furthermore, even if Wrede were right, we would still have the only case in the gospel in which there is actually a command to "report" the news to anyone (to anyone at all) instead of an injunction to silence. In Mark 1.44, at least, the ex-leper is both enjoined to silence and commanded to show (not to tell!) the priests the results of his cleansing.

No matter how we slice and dice, this verse presents yet another unique aspect with respect to the rest of the gospel of Mark.

Conclusion

There is actually one more unique element to this story as a whole: this particular exorcism comprises the longest, most detailed miracle in Mark. Furthermore, to recap the commentary, verses 2, 7, 8, and 17 bear Semitisms which range from possible to probable; verses 2 versus 3 and 5 and the first part of the story versus the second part bear differences of vocabulary for the same items or concepts within the pericope itself; verses 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, and 19 bear elements unique to this particular pericope in the gospel of Mark; and verses 1, 8, 12, and 15 bear seams or inconsistencies which seem characteristic of a storyteller retelling a story with which he is perhaps a bit too familiar.

I myself count the differences in vocabulary as very little; and the overall value of the Semitisms I am still deciding on. The numerous unique features and several seams or inconsistencies, however, seem pretty formidable to me. If Mark composed this story from scratch, using only his own wits and a few parallels to the Hebrew scriptures, then he certainly broke his own mold on this one.

Again, my contention is that Mark, like Matthew and Luke, was retelling this story; he was not telling it for the first time. The same indicators which point to Matthew and Luke having relied upon Mark also point to Mark having relied on something which came before him. None of our extant gospels gets us back to the first stirrings of the gospel narratives; all of them are responding to lost gospel texts, lost versions of extant gospel texts, and/or oral renditions (lost to us by definition) which eventually were made into gospel texts.

Ben.

PS: For reference:

Matthew 8.28-34: 28 And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs; they were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road. 29 And behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now there was at a distance from them a herd of many swine feeding. 31 And the demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." 32 And He said to them, "Begone!" And they came out, and went into the swine, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city, and reported everything, including the incident of the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they entreated Him to depart from their region.

Luke 8.26-39: 26 And they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He had come out onto the land, He was met by a certain man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. 28 And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me." 29 For He had been commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard; and yet he would burst his fetters and be driven by the demon into the desert. 30 And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," for many demons had entered him. 31 And they were entreating Him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons entreated Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. 33 And the demons came out from the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned. 34 And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. 35 And the people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. 36 And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to depart from them; for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat, and returned. 38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him. But He sent him away, saying, 39 "Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

PPS: I also had several possible parallels at hand which I did not wind up using. I offer them here simply to make them available as needed:

Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 4.25: 25 .... And the lady said: "Cease your ill-omened talk and begone"; and she pretended to be disgusted at what she heard, and in fact she was inclined to rail at philosophers and say that they always talked nonsense. When, however, the goblets of gold and the show of silver were proved as light as air and all fluttered away out of their sight, while the wine-bearers and the cooks and all the retinue of servants vanished before the rebukes of Apollonius, the phantom pretended to weep, and prayed him not to torture her nor to compel her to confess what she really was. .... [Link: http://www.livius.org/sources/content/p ... 1-25/#4.25.]

Talmud, Pesachim 112b-113a: .... 'And do not go out alone at night,' for it was taught: One should not go out alone at night, i.e., on the nights of neither Wednesday nor Sabbaths, because Igrath the daughter of Mahalath, she and one hundred eighty thousand destroying angels go forth, and each has permission to wreak destruction independently. Originally they were about a day. On one occasion she met R. Hanina b. Dosa [and] said to him, 'Had they not made an announcement concerning you in Heaven, "Take heed of Hanina and his learning," I would have put you in danger.' 'If I am of account in Heaven,' replied he, 'I order you never to pass through settled regions.' 'I beg you,' she pleaded, 'leave me a little room.' So he left her the nights of Sabbaths and the nights of Wednesdays. On another occasion she met Abaye. Said she to him, 'Had they not made an announcement about you in Heaven, "Take heed of Nahmani and his learning," I would have put you in danger.' 'If I am of account in Heaven,' replied he, 'I order you never to pass through settled regions.' But we see that she does pass through? — I will tell you: Those are the narrow paths [which they frequent], whence their horses bolt and come [into civilized places] bringing them along. ....

Testament of Solomon 51: 51 And I praised the Lord God of heaven and earth, and bade another demon come forward to me; and there came before me one in the form of a lion roaring. And he stood and answered me saying: "O king, in the form which I have, I am a spirit quite incapable of being perceived. Upon all men who lie prostrate with sickness I leap, coming stealthily along; and I render the man weak, so that his habit of body is enfeebled. But I have also another glory, O king. I cast out demons, and I have legions under my control. And I am capable of being received in my dwelling-places, along with all the demons belonging to the legions under me." But I Solomon, on hearing this, asked him: "What is thy name?" But he answered: "Lion-bearer, Rath in kind." And I said to him: "How art thou to be frustrated along with thy legions? What angel is it that frustrates thee?" And he answered: "If I tell thee my name, I bind not myself alone, but also the legions of demons under me." [Link: http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/testamen.htm.]

Pliny, Natural History 5.16: On the side of Syria, joining up to Judaea, is the region of Decapolis, so called from the number of its cities; as to which all writers are not agreed. Most of them, however, agree in speaking of Damascus as one, a place fertilized by the river Chrysorroös, which is drawn off into its meadows and eagerly imbibed; Philadelphia, and Rhaphana, all which cities fall back towards Arabia; Scythopolis (formerly called Nysa by Father Liber, from his nurse having been buried there), its present name being derived from a Scythian colony which was established there; Gadara, before which the river Hieromix flows; Hippo, which has been previously mentioned; Dion, Pella, rich with its waters; Galasa, and Canatha. The Tetrarchies lie between and around these cities, equal, each of them, to a kingdom, and occupying the same rank as so many kingdoms. Their names are, Trachonitis, Panias, in which is Caesarea, with the spring previously mentioned, Abila, Arca, Ampeloëssa, and Gabe. [Link: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... apter%3D16. The Latin text may be found here: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/R ... er/5*.html.]

Targum, Psalm 91.1-16:

1 He who makes his presence abide in secret is the Most High; he will lodge in the shadow of the clouds of the glory of Shaddai.

2 David said: "I will say to the Lord, 'My confidence and my strong fortress,' my God, I will trust in his word. 3 For he will deliver you, Solomon my son, from the snare and the obstacle, from death and confusion. 4 With the shelter of his presence he will shelter you, and you will be confident under the shelter of his glory; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 5 Be not afraid of the terror of demons who walk at night, of the arrow of the angel of death that he looses during the day, 6 of the death that walks in darkness, of the band of demons that attacks at noon. 7 You will invoke the holy name; a thousand will fall at your left side, and ten thousand at your right; they will not come near you to do harm. 8 Only with your eyes you will watch, and you will see the wicked as they are destroyed."

9 Solomon answered and said: "For you are my confidence, O Lord; in the highest dwelling place you have placed the house of your presence."

10 The Lord of the world responded and thus he said: "No harm shall happen to you; and no plague or demon shall come near to your tents. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 They will lift you up by their strength, lest you stumble on the evil impulse, which is likened to the stones at your feet. 13 You will trample on the lions' whelp and the adder; you will tread down the lion and the viper. 14 Because he has taken pleasure in my word, and I will deliver him; I will exalt him because he knows my name. 15 He will pray in my presence and I will answer him; I am with him in distress, I will save him and glorify him. 16 I will satisfy him with length of days; I will show him my redemption."

Last edited by Ben C. Smith on Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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John2
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Re: The Gerasene demoniac in Mark revisited.

Post by John2 »

Of course this makes me think of MacDonald, who writes in Does the New Testament Imitate Homer?: Four Cases from the Acts of the Apostles, for example:
In the epic, when the ogre asks Odysseus his name, he responds by saying, "Nobody is my name," a ruse that later allows him to escape. A similar motif appears in Mark, but now it is Jesus who asks for the name, and the demoniac responds, "Legion is my name." Both works use the technique of asking for a name but Mark transforms it: the hero asks for the name of the caveman, who replies with a name indicating multiplicity. Nobody has become Legion.

https://books.google.com/books?id=VFJda ... er&f=false
He also writes about it in The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark, but not all of it is viewable on Google books (for me, anyway).

https://books.google.com/books?id=8JkFq ... er&f=false

Come on, Ben, join us .... ;)
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Ben C. Smith
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Re: The Gerasene demoniac in Mark revisited.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

John2 wrote: Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:07 pmCome on, Ben, join us .... ;)
:facepalm: :D

What I hear is more like: "Come play with us...."
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Steven Avery
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Re: The Gerasene demoniac in Mark revisited.

Post by Steven Avery »

Ben C. Smith wrote: Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:22 pmOn another thread I made a case for the gospel of Mark having been written for people who already knew at least some parts of the story. This argument implies, as a necessary corollary, that there was a story which was told before Mark was penned. To my mind, Mark is full of little indicators that this is, in fact, the case: to wit, that Mark is a retelling of the story, not the first instance of it. In this thread I intend to demonstrate that the exorcism of the Gerasene/Gadarene demoniac in Mark 5.1-20 contains such indicators, meaning that it is not the first instance of this particular miracle story; it is a retelling.
Have you considered that there is an obvious potential precursor account. Luke's letter (Gospel) written to the high priest Theophilus c. 41 AD.

This would be similar to Mark pointing to the post-resurrection appearances in Galilee during the Gospels. And I have seen this pattern a few times.

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Re: The Gerasene demoniac in Mark revisited.

Post by perseusomega9 »

No, that would be stupid.
The metric to judge if one is a good exegete: the way he/she deals with Barabbas.

Who disagrees with me on this precise point is by definition an idiot.
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Re: The Gerasene demoniac in Mark revisited.

Post by Charles Wilson »

Hello Ben --

Just a reminder...

A consistent container for this is the Transvaluation of a Story written around a Priest who was saved by Peter in 4 BCE and is "setting his face" towards Jerusalem in the run-up to the 9 CE Passover. Jairus asks the Priest to make one more try to obtain God's grace to expel the Romans and Herodians. This Priest tells the Lunatic to go to The Decapolis, site of a Culture War:

15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they became frightened.

WhatEVER could that mean? Also: "...the very man who had had the legion..." Ehhh...Ahhh. Wh...?!??
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