The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!”
Parallel translations
- KJV And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
- BSB And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”
- NKJV And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”
- NASB And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”
- NLT And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, the spirits would throw them to the ground in front of him shrieking, “You are the Son of God!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Unclean spirits fall before Jesus and confess him as the Son of God. It matters because even demons recognize his true divine identity.
Overview
The evil spirits, encountering Jesus, are forced to acknowledge his authority and his identity as God's Son. Their terrified recognition contrasts sharply with the blindness of the religious leaders. Mark shows that Jesus' divine sonship is undeniable even in the spiritual realm, though it must be confessed in faith, not mere fear, to bring salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Luke 4:41Demons also came out of many, crying out, and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Rebuking them, he didn’t allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
- Luke 8:28When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!”
- Mark 1:23–24Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out,
- Matt 8:29Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
- Jas 2:19You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
- Matt 4:3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
- Acts 16:17Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!”
- Matt 4:6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”
- Matt 8:31The demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs.”
- Acts 19:13–17But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
- Mark 5:5–6Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
- Matt 14:33Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!”
- Mark 1:1The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 3:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.