New Testament · Gospel

Mark 5:13

Legion and the Little Girl

He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water. Mark 5:13 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Mark 5:13, in plain English

Jesus gives them permission, and the evil spirits rush into the pigs. Instantly, the whole herd — about two thousand animals — stampedes down a steep cliff into the lake and drowns.

Why it's here

This is shocking and dramatic, but it reveals something important: what those demons were doing to that man every single day was this destructive. The pigs show the true cost of evil.

Who's speaking

Mark describes the terrifying result of the demons entering the pigs.

Where it sits in the story

Two thousand pigs destroyed in moments. It's a vivid, unforgettable picture of what evil really does. And it shows you what Jesus rescued that man from — total destruction.

A Closer Look

The scholar's commentary

Jesus grants permission (epetrepsen), and the unclean spirits enter approximately two thousand pigs (dis chilioi) that rush down the steep bank (kata tou kremnou) into the sea and drown — graphically demonstrating the legion's destructive nature.

Language and setting

The drowning of the pigs serves multiple functions: it proves the exorcism's reality, reveals the demons' inherently destructive character, and may symbolically echo the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea (Exod 15:4).

Voice

Mark narrates the dramatic result of Jesus granting the demons' request.

Significance

Jesus permits the transfer, and two thousand pigs stampede down a cliff into the sea and drown. The demons' true destructive nature is revealed — what they did to pigs, they were doing to the man.

In context

Mark 5:11–15

11There on the nearby hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding.

12So the demons begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.”

13He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.

14Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.

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.

Read all of Mark 5 — A man possessed by a thousand demons, a woman who has bled for twelve years, a father whose daughter has just died — all healed in a single chapter.

Understand every verse, not just this one

This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.

Get BibleKey

In the App

What's in the app that isn't here.

Seven translations

NIV, NLT, NKJV, KJV and the Berean — plus the Catholic NLT-CE and Douay-Rheims, with the full deuterocanon in the reading order.

Every verse, as you read

Tap any of the 31,102 for what it means, and any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, without leaving the chapter.

Selah

Start recording at church and put your phone away. You get the transcript, the key moments, and every verse referenced.

Prayer Maker

Say what's sitting on your heart and hear it back as a real prayer, in a warm voice. Keep the ones that land.

Every Word

The whole Bible in a year — five chapters a day, five days a week, weekends off. Built to be finished.

Today's Light

A verse each morning with its meaning, how it lands today, something to sit with, and a prayer to close it.

Understand every verse.

Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.

Download on the App Store

Free on iPhone & iPad