Mark 5:1-20

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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary & sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • The Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto.
  • Comparative texts about Spirit Possession and Exorcism and Purity and Social Relations, from Philo, Josephus, Lucian, Pseudepigrapha, Babylonian Talmud, Midrash, Philostratus. At Mahlon H. Smith's (Rutgers University) Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus.
  • From the Catena Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas.
  • From the Geneva Notes.
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
  • From Wesley's Notes.
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
  • From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
  • Exposition of Mark 5:1-20, Charles H. Spurgeon, 1892.
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 5:1 - 6:6, Carl W. Conrad. (Click superscript numbers for commentary.)
  • "Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac," Michael A. Turton's Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, "a complete verse-by-verse commentary on the Gospel of Mark, focusing on the historicity of people, places, events, and sayings in the world of the Gospel of Mark."
  • "The Demon of Addiction: A Bible Study on Mark 5:1-20," Harry C. Kiely, Sojourners Online, May/June 1996.
    • "Actually, this man is possessed by a demon, but I saw him as a fellow drunk. The more I reflected on this story, the more I realized how perfectly it describes the life of addiction and the good news of the possibility of recovery."
  • "The Demoniac Healed," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
  • "The Gerasene Demoniac," Robert Deffinbaugh, Biblical Studies Foundation.
    • "Some today have given demons far more than their due by blaming demons for every malady of mankind. There is the so-called demon of doubt, of anger, of overindulgence, of drunkenness, laziness and so on. Let me say as graciously as I can, Satan does not need to work on us in those areas as we are doing very well without his exploitation."
• Articles & Background:
  • "Mark 5," "Legion," wikipedia.
  • "Magic, Miracles, and The Gospel," L. Michael White. PBS From Jesus to Christ.
    • "Probably in some ways, and more than any other issue within the development of early Christianity and the gospels tradition, miracles present one of the problematic areas."
  • "Miracles, In Other Words: Social Science Perspectives on Healings," Jerome H. Neyrey, University of Notre Dame, 1995.
    • "...we should attend to the institution in which the healing takes place, either kinship or politics. What roles does the family have in an illness? How are they socially and economically affected? What role do they play in the seeking of a cure? What costs do they pay or debts to they incur? What if the healing occurs in the political realm, even if this is a healing shrine such as the temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus? Healings, moreover, might have important political implications, for "prophets" arose, echoing themes of liberation and freedom. The political significance of the account of the healing by the Jewish Eleazar before the emperor Vespasian and his retinue should not be discounted (Josephus. Ant. 8.45-48)."
  • "Conflicts in Interpretation," Hans W. Frei, Yale University. Theology Today, 1992.
    • "Huxley declared that the faithful could not have it both ways. Either the Evangelists were fabricating a story when they spoke of Jesus casting out devils and permitting them to enter a herd of swine, who immediately plunged into the sea, or Jesus had wantonly destroyed the property of others. Gladstone rose to the bait; roused by the suggestion that Jesus might have undermined the fundamental liberal principle of the sacredness of private property, he declared that this accusation against our Lord was intolerable. The destruction of the swine was legitimate because Jews were forbidden under Mosaic law to keep pigs."
  • "Demonism in Jewish/Hellenistic Literature and Its Relation to Mark 5," by Greg Herrick at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
    • "The Jewish source materials that were written in and around the era of the shaping of the N.T. contribute greatly to an understanding of the historical/theological milieu of the Scriptures, in particular in this study, references to demons and their relation to Mark 5."
  • "Jesus and the Demons in the Gospel of Mark: Contrasting Secular and Animistic Interpretations," Tod K. Vogt, Journal of Applied Missiology, Abilene Christian University.
    • "Fon Christians perceive an ordered spiritual realm. They believe that there are greater and lesser spiritual powers. They believe there are personal spiritual powers and impersonal spiritual forces. When they read the Bible, this perception is confirmed. They observe the demons and their reaction to Jesus and understand Jesus to be near the top (if not at the top) of the spiritual hierarchy. In this passage they see the inability of human beings to control the demoniac and the ease with which Jesus casts out Legion."
  • "Demonology in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament," Hermann Lichtenberger, Orion center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 2004.
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  • Burdon, Christopher, "'To the Other Side': Construction of Evil and Fear of Liberation in mark 5:1-20," Journal for the Study New Testament, 2004.
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  • Petersen, Norman R., "The Composition of Mark 4:1-8:26," Harvard Theological Review, 1980.
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  • Verhey, Allen, "Health and Healing in Memory of Jesus," Ex Auditu, 2005.
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    • "Response to Verhey," Dwight Peterson.
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• Reviews:
  • Reviews: Michael Willett Newheart, "My Name Is Legion": The Story and Soul of the Gerasene Demoniac. Liturgical Press, 2004. Reviews by William Telford, D. Kille and Kamila Blessing, Review of Biblical Literature, 2005.
  • Review: Rami Arav and Richard A Freund, eds., Bethsaida: A City by the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee. Truman State University, 2004. Review by Mark Fairchild, Review of Biblical Literature, 2005.
• Sermons:
  • "What Do You Want with Me, Jesus?" the Rev. Dr. William L. Self, Day 1, 2009.
  • "The Exorcist," Brian K. Blount, Duke Divinity School, 2009.
  • "Hopeful Coping with Grief," Dr. John Claypool, 30 Good Minutes, Chicago Sunday Evening Club, 2002.
• With Children:
  • "Jesus Sends a Man's Demons into a Herd of Swine," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
  • "Traffic Lights of God," Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com.
  • "Mark 5 & 6 Crossword," Don Crownover's Bible Puzzles.
• Drama:
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Clip Art: Jesus Drives Out a Demon, Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld woodcuts, World Mission Collection, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
  • Bill the Pig's Paranoia, Piggy Possession, Pigs Overboard, Must...Follow...Friends, Look Out Below, Turtle Farmer, Deviled Ham, When Life Gives Lemons, Reverend Fun Cartoon, gospelcom.net. Check for printing permissions at right-hand side of destination page.
• Hymns and Music:
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Mark 5:19. The Cyber Hymnal.
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • Satan/Demons
• Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
  • Satan/Demons
  • Evil as "Possession"
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Mark