📖 Biblical Definition
Mark 5 records one of the most dramatic deliverances in the Gospels. A man of the country of the Gadarenes (or Gerasenes), possessed by an unclean spirit, lived among the tombs and could not be bound. He cried day and night and cut himself. Christ asked his name: my name is Legion: for we are many. The demons begged Christ to send them into a nearby herd of about two thousand swine; He permitted; the swine ran violently into the sea and drowned. The man was found sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
LEGION AND THE, n.
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A scriptural miracle of Christ; the deliverance of the Gadarene demoniac and the destruction of the swine.
📖 Key Scripture
Mark 5:9 — "My name is Legion: for we are many."
Mark 5:13 — "And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea... and were choked in the sea."
Mark 5:15 — "They come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid."
Mark 5:19 — "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often denies real demonic activity; Mark 5 was a real deliverance from real evil.
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The Gadarene deliverance is one of the most concrete demon-possession accounts in the Gospels. The man was unbound, unhinged, isolated, self-harming. Christ commanded the demons; the demons obeyed; the man was restored to his right mind. The locals reacted not with worship but with fear — they begged Christ to leave their country. The swine were worth more to them than the man.
Modern Christianity often denies real demonic activity, treating Mark 5 as ancient psychological language for mental illness. The Bible distinguishes; not every illness is demonic, but some bondage is. The man went home and told how great things the Lord had done for him. Pray for the bound. The same Christ still casts out the legion; sometimes the cost is the local pig industry.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek roots below.
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G3003 — legion — legion
G1140 — daimonion — demon
Usage
"Modern Christianity denies real demonic activity; Mark 5 was real deliverance from real evil."
"The locals begged Christ to leave; the swine were worth more than the man."
"Pray for the bound; the cost may be the local pig industry."