2 and he having come forth out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling in the tombs, and not even with chains was any one able to bind him, 4 because that he many times with fetters and chains had been bound, and pulled in pieces by him had been the chains, and the fetters broken in pieces, and none was able to tame him, 5 and always, night and day, in the mountains, and in the tombs he was, crying and cutting himself with stones. 6 And, having seen Jesus from afar, he ran and bowed before him, 7 and having called with a loud voice, he said, 'What—to me and to thee, Jesus, Son of God the Most High? I adjure thee by God, mayest thou not afflict me!' 8 (for he said to him, 'Come forth, spirit unclean, out of the man,') 9 and he was questioning him, 'What 'is' thy name?' and he answered, saying, 'Legion 'is' my name, because we are many;' 10 and he was calling on him much, that he may not send them out of the region. 11 And there was there, near the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding, 12 and all the demons did call upon him, saying, 'Send us to the swine, that into them we may enter;' 13 and immediately Jesus gave them leave, and having come forth, the unclean spirits did enter into the swine, and the herd did rush down the steep place to the sea—and they were about two thousand—and they were choked in the sea.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 5:2-13
Commentary on Mark 5:1-20
(Read Mark 5:1-20)
Some openly wilful sinners are like this madman. The commands of the law are as chains and fetters, to restrain sinners from their wicked courses; but they break those bands in sunder; and it is an evidence of the power of the devil in them. A legion of soldiers consisted of six thousand men, or more. What multitudes of fallen spirits there must be, and all enemies to God and man, when here was a legion in one poor wretched creature! Many there are that rise up against us. We are not a match for our spiritual enemies, in our own strength; but in the Lord, and in the power of his might, we shall be able to stand against them, though there are legions of them. When the vilest transgressor is delivered by the power of Jesus from the bondage of Satan, he will gladly sit at the feet of his Deliverer, and hear his word, who delivers the wretched slaves of Satan, and numbers them among his saints and servants. When the people found that their swine were lost, they had a dislike to Christ. Long-suffering and mercy may be seen, even in the corrections by which men lose their property while their lives are saved, and warning given them to seek the salvation of their souls. The man joyfully proclaimed what great things Jesus had done for him. All men marvelled, but few followed him. Many who cannot but wonder at the works of Christ, yet do not, as they ought, wonder after him.