Chapter II.—Of the Man Out of Whom the Unclean Spirit that Was Tormenting Him
Was Cast, and of the Question Whether Mark’s Version is Quite Consistent with that of
Luke, Who is at One with Him in Reporting the Incident.
3. Mark proceeds with his narrative in the following terms: “And they were astonished
at His doctrine: for He taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. And
there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit: and he cried out, saying,1589
What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?” and
so on, down to the passage where we read, “And He preached in the synagogues throughout
all Galilee, and cast out devils.”1590 Although there are some points here which are common
only to Mark and Luke, the entire contents of this section have also been already dealt with
when we were going over Matthew’s narrative in its continuity. For all these matters came
into the order of narration in such a manner that I thought they could not be passed over.
But Luke says that this unclean spirit went out of the man in such a way as not to hurt him:
whereas Mark’s statement is to this effect: “And the unclean spirit cometh out of him, tearing
him, and crying with a loud voice.” There may seem, therefore, to be some discrepancy here.
For how could the unclean spirit have been “tearing him,” or, as some codices have it,
“tormenting him,” if, as Luke says, he “hurt him not”? Luke, however, gives the notice in
full, thus: “And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and “hurt
him not.”1591 Thus we are to understand that when Mark says, “tormenting him,” he just
refers to what Luke expresses in the sentence, “When he had thrown him in the midst.” And
when the latter appends the words, “and hurt him not,” the meaning simply is, that the said
tossing of the man’s limbs and tormenting him did not debilitate him, as is often the case
226
with the exit of devils, when, at times, some of the members are even destroyed 1592 in the
process of removing the trouble.
1589 The words Let us alone, are omitted. [So the Greek text, according to the best mss.—R.]
1590 Mark i. 22–39.
1591 Luke iv. 35.
1592 Reading elisis. Various mss. give amputatis aut evulsis = amputated or torn off.
Of the Man Out of Whom the Unclean Spirit that Was Tormenting Him Was Cast, and of the Question Whether Mark’s Version is Quite Consistent with that of Luke, Who is at One with Him in Reporting the Incident.
504
Of the Man Out of Whom the Unclean Spirit that Was Tormenting Him Was Cast,…