Mark 9:26

26 And the spirit cried , and rent him sore, and came out of him : and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said , He is dead .

Mark 9:26 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 9:26

And [the spirit] cried, and rent him sore
We rightly supply, "the spirit", as do the Syriac and Persic versions, "the demon"; for it was he, and not the child, that cried, and made an hideous noise, at his ejection; being filled with wrath and rage, that he must be obliged to quit the possession he had so long held; and therefore, in spite and malice, before it left him, shook and tore him, and threw him into dreadful convulsions:

and came out of him;
though sore against his will, being obliged to it, by the superior power of Christ:

and he was as one dead:
that is, the child, when the devil had left him, lay as still as if he had no breath, nor life in him:

insomuch that many said, he is dead;
really dead: that there was no life in him, nor any hopes of his coming to himself again.

Mark 9:26 In-Context

24 And straightway the father of the child cried out , and said with tears, Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief.

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together , he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

26 And the spirit cried , and rent him sore, and came out of him : and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said , He is dead .

27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up ; and he arose .

28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately , Why could not we cast him out ?