New Testament · Gospel

Mark 5:18

Legion and the Little Girl

As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demons begged to go with Him. Mark 5:18 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Mark 5:18, in plain English

As Jesus gets back in the boat, the healed man begs to go with him. After what he's been through, who could blame him? He wants to stay close to the one who saved him.

Why it's here

Everyone else is pushing Jesus away, but this man is clinging to him. He knows exactly what his life was like before Jesus, and he never wants to go back.

Who's speaking

The formerly possessed man pleads with Jesus to let him come along.

Where it sits in the story

This moment is deeply touching. The man the whole town feared and chained is now the one person who truly understands who Jesus is — and he doesn't want to be separated from him.

A Closer Look

The scholar's commentary

The healed man's plea (parekalei) to accompany Jesus contrasts sharply with the townspeople's plea for Jesus to leave. His desire for continued proximity to his liberator demonstrates the natural response of genuine deliverance.

Language and setting

The verb parakaleo appears for the third time in this passage — demons beg (v.10), townspeople beg (v.17), and now the healed man begs — each with radically different motivations.

Voice

The healed man appeals directly to Jesus as he prepares to depart.

Significance

As Jesus boards the boat, the restored man begs to come along. While the town wants Jesus gone, this man — who knows firsthand what Jesus can do — never wants to leave his side.

In context

Mark 5:16–20

16Those who had seen it described what had happened to the demon-possessed man and also to the pigs.

17And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region.

18As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demons begged to go with Him.

19But Jesus would not allow him. “Go home to your own people,” He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.”

20So the man went away and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

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