“What is your name?” Jesus asked. “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He asked him, “What is your name?” He said to him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
- KJV And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
- NKJV Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”
- NASB And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
- NLT Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.”
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
Asked his name, the spirit answers 'Legion,' for many demons possessed the man.
Overview
The name 'Legion,' a Roman military term for thousands of soldiers, conveys the overwhelming force occupying the man. Yet however many the enemies, they are no match for Christ. The detail underscores both the severity of the bondage and the greatness of the deliverance about to come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 8:30“What is your name?” Jesus asked. “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.
- Mark 5:15When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
- Matt 26:53Are you not aware that I can call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
- Matt 12:45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”
- Luke 11:21–26When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure.
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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 5:9 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.