Mark 3:11

11 And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, the spirits would throw them to the ground in front of him shrieking, “You are the Son of God!”

Mark 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 3:11

And unclean spirits, when they saw him
That is, as the Syriac and Arabic versions read, "they who had unclean spirits": or, as the Ethiopic, "they that were possessed with unclean spirits"; as soon as ever they beheld Christ, though they had never seen him before, and he was an entire stranger to them, yet

fell down before him:
the unclean spirits being said to do that, which they that were possessed with them did; and which, notwithstanding their possession of them, they could not prevent, but were obliged to admit of it, as a token of their subjection to Christ:

and
even the devils themselves in the men,

cried, saying, thou art the Son of God;
a divine person, equal with God; and such his power over them, and his healing all manner of diseases, by a word, or touch, showed him to be.

Mark 3:11 In-Context

9 Jesus instructed his disciples to have a boat ready so the crowd would not crush him.
10 He had healed many people that day, so all the sick people eagerly pushed forward to touch him.
11 And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, the spirits would throw them to the ground in front of him shrieking, “You are the Son of God!”
12 But Jesus sternly commanded the spirits not to reveal who he was.
13 Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Greek unclean; also in 3:30 .
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