And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.
Parallel translations
- WEB They began to beg him to depart from their region.
- KJV And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
- BSB And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region.
- NKJV Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.
- NASB And they began to beg Him to leave their region.
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
The people begin to beg Jesus to leave their region.
Overview
Rather than embracing the One who delivered the man, the people ask Jesus to depart, valuing their comfort and property over his presence. Their fear of his power outweighs their gratitude for his mercy. This tragic response warns against rejecting Christ when his demands unsettle our priorities.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 8:34Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
- Mark 1:24saying, “Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!”
- Luke 8:37All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. He entered into the boat, and returned.
- Gen 26:16Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
- Job 21:14–15They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways.
- Luke 5:8But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”
- Acts 16:39and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city.
- Mark 5:7and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.”
- 1 Kgs 17:18She said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, you man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my son!”
- Deut 5:25Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear Yahweh our God’s voice any more, then we shall die.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 5:17 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.