What is the meaning of Mark 5?

Introduction to Mark 5

Mark 5 stands as one of the most dramatic chapters in the Gospel accounts, showcasing three remarkable miracles that demonstrate Yeshua’s absolute authority over the spiritual realm, physical illness, and even death itself. The chapter presents a powerful triptych of divine intervention: the deliverance of the Gerasene demoniac, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, and the raising of Jairus’s daughter. Each miracle progressively demonstrates greater power, building to the climactic resurrection, while also revealing the Messiah’s compassionate heart for the outcast, the unclean, and the grieving.

The significance of this chapter lies not just in its demonstration of supernatural power, but in its careful portrayal of faith, fear, and transformation. Through these encounters, we witness how Yeshua’s power transforms not just individuals but entire communities, challenging social norms and religious conventions while revealing His true identity as the Son of God.

Context of Mark 5

Mark 5 follows directly after Yeshua’s demonstration of authority over nature through calming the storm in Mark 4:35-41. This progression is intentional, as Mark builds a careful narrative showing Yeshua’s complete dominion over every aspect of creation: natural forces, demonic powers, chronic illness, and death itself. The chapter serves as a pivotal point in Mark’s Gospel, where Yeshua’s identity becomes increasingly clear through His actions, even as opposition to His ministry grows.

Within the larger context of Mark’s Gospel, this chapter falls within the section (Mark 4-8) that emphasizes Yeshua’s mighty works and growing fame in Galilee. These miracles serve multiple purposes: they authenticate His messianic claims, demonstrate the arrival of God’s kingdom, and reveal His compassionate heart. The geographic movement in the chapter – crossing the Sea of Galilee into Gentile territory and back – also highlights the universal scope of His mission, breaking down barriers between Jew and Gentile.

The chapter also connects thematically to the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah’s ministry. The power over demons, healing, and resurrection all echo prophecies from Isaiah 35:5-6 and Isaiah 61:1-3, where the coming of God’s kingdom would be marked by such signs. This positions Yeshua firmly within the prophetic tradition while showing Him to be greater than any prophet who came before.

Ancient Key Word Study

• Legion (Λεγιὼν): Derived from the Latin “legio,” this military term referred to a unit of 6,000 Roman soldiers. Its use here emphasizes the overwhelming force of evil opposing the one Man, Yeshua. The term would have carried political overtones for Mark’s readers, suggesting both oppression and foreign occupation, making the demon’s defeat even more significant.
• Torment (βασανίσῃς): This Greek word originally referred to testing metals with a touchstone but came to mean torture or severe testing. Its use here reveals the demons’ recognition of Yeshua’s authority and their fear of judgment, highlighting His divine identity.
• Unclean (ἀκάθαρτος): This ritual term appears repeatedly in the chapter, connecting physical and spiritual impurity. In Jewish thought, uncleanness was contagious and isolating. Yeshua’s willingness to encounter and cleanse uncleanness demonstrates His mission to restore both ritual and moral purity.
• Issue of blood (ῥύσει αἵματος): This medical term describes a chronic hemorrhage that rendered the woman perpetually unclean according to Levitical law (Leviticus 15:25-27). The physical condition carried severe social and religious implications.
• Touch (ἅπτομαι): This word appears multiple times in the chapter, emphasizing physical contact that would typically transmit uncleanness. However, in Yeshua’s case, His touch transmits cleansing and life instead of contamination.
• Talitha koum (ταλιθα κουμ): These Aramaic words, meaning “Little girl, arise,” are preserved in their original form, suggesting the authenticity of the account and providing a glimpse into Yeshua’s everyday language.
• Faith (πίστις): The Greek term implies both belief and trust. Its repeated use in this chapter emphasizes that the recipients of miracles demonstrated active faith rather than passive acceptance.
• Fear (φόβος): This term describes both terror at supernatural events and reverent awe before divine power. The different responses to fear in the chapter reveal various stages of spiritual understanding.
• Daughter (θυγάτηρ): Used for both Jairus’s child and the woman with the issue of blood, this term emphasizes familial relationship and indicates Yeshua’s creation of a new family through faith.

Compare & Contrast

• Verse 7: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The demoniac’s words echo ancient near eastern exorcism formulas, but with a crucial difference – the demon acknowledges Yeshua’s divine sonship. The Greek construction “τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί” (literally “what to me and to you?”) is a Semitic idiom expressing distance or separation, highlighting the absolute opposition between divine and demonic power.
• Verse 19: “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.” Unlike other times when Yeshua commands silence, here He instructs the man to testify. The difference lies in the location (Gentile territory) and the specific terminology used – “the Lord” (ὁ κύριός) could be understood by Gentiles while still carrying divine connotations.
• Verse 25-26: The description of the woman’s condition uses medical terminology familiar to Greek readers while emphasizing her ritual uncleanness in Jewish terms. The phrase “suffered many things under many physicians” employs vocabulary from Greek medical writings, suggesting Mark’s careful adaptation for different audiences.
• Verse 34: “Daughter, your faith has made you well” uses σέσωκέν (saved) rather than just ἰάομαι (healed), indicating both physical and spiritual restoration. The perfect tense suggests permanent transformation.
• Verse 39: “The child is not dead but sleeping” employs καθεύδει (sleeping) rather than κοιμᾶται (the usual euphemism for death), emphasizing that for Yeshua, death itself has been reduced to a temporary state.
• Verse 41: The preservation of Aramaic words “Talitha koum” alongside their Greek translation shows Mark’s attention to both historical authenticity and reader comprehension. The command is strikingly simple compared to contemporary magical formulas.
• Verse 43: The command to give her food demonstrates both practical care and proof of genuine resurrection – ghosts don’t eat. The Greek emphasizes continuous action (present infinitive), suggesting ongoing life.

Mark 5 Unique Insights

The chapter contains several elements that would have resonated deeply with ancient readers while carrying profound theological significance. The presence of pigs in the Gerasene account, while explaining the economic impact of the miracle, also carries deeper meaning. In Jewish thought, pigs represented the ultimate in uncleanness, making their destruction a powerful symbol of purification. The number 2,000 (pigs) and 12 (years of hemorrhage) both carry symbolic weight in Jewish numerology – 2,000 suggesting complete destruction and 12 representing the people of God.

Early rabbinic sources discuss the concept of ritual impurity transfer through touch, making the healing of the woman with the issue of blood particularly significant. The Talmud (Hagigah 2b) discusses cases where even indirect contact with someone with such a condition could transmit impurity. Yet in this account, instead of Yeshua becoming unclean, His power flows outward to cleanse and heal. This reversal of the normal flow of ritual impurity challenged fundamental assumptions about holiness and divine presence.

The early church father Tertullian saw in the Gerasene demoniac a symbol of the Gentile nations being delivered from idolatry, while Clement of Alexandria interpreted the woman’s hemorrhage as representing the flow of sin that only the Messiah could stanch. The Jewish historian Josephus mentions various exorcism practices contemporary to Yeshua, typically involving elaborate rituals and incantations. The stark simplicity of Yeshua’s authority stands in marked contrast.

The chapter also demonstrates sophisticated literary structure. The story of Jairus’s daughter frames the account of the woman with the issue of blood (a technique called intercalation or sandwiching), creating multiple layers of meaning. Both stories involve the number 12, both feature desperate individuals falling at Yeshua’s feet, and both demonstrate the relationship between faith and healing. This careful composition suggests deep theological reflection on the events.

Mark 5 Connections to Yeshua

The miracles in Mark 5 powerfully reveal Yeshua’s identity as the promised Messiah and more – as God incarnate. His authority over demons recalls the prophecies of Psalm 110 about the Messiah’s victory over all enemies. The healing of the woman with the issue of blood fulfills prophecies about the Messiah bringing cleansing and restoration (Ezekiel 36:25). Most dramatically, the raising of Jairus’s daughter points to Yeshua’s ultimate victory over death through His own resurrection.

The chapter presents Yeshua as the one who crosses all boundaries – geographic (Jew/Gentile), ritual (clean/unclean), and social (outcast/elite) – to bring God’s kingdom. This universal scope of His ministry anticipates the great commission and the global spread of the gospel. His compassionate response to faith, regardless of the person’s background, demonstrates the heart of His redemptive mission. The power displayed in these miracles serves as a preview of the complete restoration that His death and resurrection would accomplish.

Mark 5 Scriptural Echoes

This chapter resonates with numerous Old Testament themes and prophecies. The deliverance of the demoniac recalls Psalm 107:10-16, where יהוה delivers those bound in darkness. The woman’s healing echoes the promise of Malachi 4:2 that healing would flow from the wings (corners) of the Messiah’s garment. The raising of Jairus’s daughter parallels Elijah and Elisha’s resurrections (1 Kings 17:17-24, 2 Kings 4:32-37), but with greater authority and simplicity.

The theme of faith overcoming fear connects to numerous psalms, particularly Psalm 27. The restoration of the ritually unclean to community reflects the promised new covenant’s cleansing (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Even the command to give food to the raised girl echoes Genesis 1:29, suggesting new creation.

Mark 5 Devotional

This remarkable chapter challenges us to examine our own response to Yeshua’s authority and invitation. Like the Gerasene demoniac, we might find ourselves bound by forces that seem overwhelming – yet Yeshua’s power to deliver remains absolute. Like the woman with the issue of blood, we might feel unworthy or excluded – yet His compassion welcomes even the most hesitant faith. Like Jairus, we might face situations that seem beyond hope – yet Yeshua’s power extends even over death itself.

The chapter invites us to move from fear to faith, from isolation to community, from death to life. It reminds us that no situation is too desperate for divine intervention, no person too unclean for divine touch, no cause too hopeless for divine power. The key is reaching out to Yeshua in faith, even if that faith is expressed in something as simple as touching His garment.

Did You Know?

• The region of the Gerasenes was part of the Decapolis, a group of ten cities with strong Greek influence. The presence of a pig herd indicates this was primarily Gentile territory, making this miracle a powerful statement about Yeshua’s mission beyond Israel.
• The woman’s condition would have rendered her perpetually unclean according to Levitical law, meaning she had been effectively excommunicated from religious and social life for 12 years. Her touch of Yeshua’s garment was therefore a serious breach of religious protocol.
• The “fringe” of Yeshua’s garment likely refers to the tzitzit (ritual fringes) commanded in Numbers 15:38-39. These were symbols of covenant faithfulness and were associated with messianic healing in Jewish tradition.
• The story of Jairus’s daughter is one of only three resurrection miracles performed by Yeshua recorded in the Gospels, the others being the widow’s son at Nain and Lazarus.
• The term “Legion” for the demons would have carried political overtones for Mark’s readers, as Roman legions were symbols of oppression. The demons’ defeat thus carried implications of liberation on multiple levels.
• The detail about the girl being twelve years old creates a poignant connection with the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, suggesting themes of completion and restoration of God’s people.
• Archaeological excavations in the region have uncovered steep banks near the Sea of Galilee that could correspond to the site where the pigs rushed into the water, lending historical credibility to the account.
• The command to give the raised girl something to eat parallels other resurrection accounts in Scripture, serving both as proof of genuine resurrection and a sign of restoration to normal life.
• The description of the woman’s condition uses technical medical terminology similar to that found in ancient Greek medical writings, suggesting Mark’s careful research and attention to detail.
• Jairus’s position as synagogue ruler makes his public appeal to Yeshua particularly significant, as it likely put his religious standing at risk.