“For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.”
For Jesus had said to him, come out of this man, you impure spirit — the command has already been given: Jesus spoke the exorcism command before the demonic speech of verse 7. The demon's speech is resistance to a command already issued — the spirit is trying to negotiate its way out of the judgment already pronounced. The come out of this man is the same command as in Mark 1:25, but the demonic resistance here is more elaborate and prolonged than in the synagogue exorcism. The greater the possession, apparently, the more complex the exorcism process — though the outcome is never in doubt.
Church Fathers on Mark 5:8
Those who were in the ship enquired among themselves, 'What manner of man is this?' and now it is made known Who He is by the testimony of His enemies. For the demoniac came up confessing that He was the Son of God. Proceeding to which circumstance the Evangelist says, 'And they came over unto the other side, &c.'
Geraza is a noted town of Arabia, across the Jordan, near mount Galaad, which the tribe of Manasseh held, not far from the lake of Tiberias, into which the swine were precipitated.
Though Matthew says that there were two, Mark and Luke mention one, that you may understand that one of them was a more illustrious person, concerning whose state that country was much afflicted.
Read all 23 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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