And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion, 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.
- BSB “What is your name?” Jesus asked. “My name is Legion,” he replied, “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.”
- 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 8:30Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him.
- Mark 5:15They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid.
- Matt 26:53Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
- Matt 12:45Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”
- Luke 11:21–26“When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe.
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 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.