What Does Mark 5:1 Mean in the King James?

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

Mark 5:1 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

“The other side” names the beyond: this verse makes arrival the completion of a crossing.

THE MEANING

You are beyond a familiar boundary, standing on ground you have not yet made familiar. The crossing and the arrival belong together: what was across the water is now where you are.

THE ROOT

πέραν

peran

GROWS FROM

περα-

pera-

Beyond, across; the Greek word family also carries the sense of crossing through.

English “other side” can sound like a location only, but ⁨πέραν⁩ (peran, beyond/across) names the destination as the beyond. Its related verb ⁨περάω⁩ (peráō, to cross or pass through) links that destination with the movement that reaches it: the beyond becomes the ground where you stand.

ALSO GROWS

péra: Beyond; on the far side.

πέρα

It shares the sense of what lies across a boundary, giving “the other side” its depth as the beyond.

peráō: To cross; to pass through.

περάω

It makes explicit the movement carried by this word family: reaching beyond involves crossing.

THE PATTERN

Passage through a boundary brings the traveler into a new relation with what lies beyond.

And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

Exodus 14:22 · KJVThe sea becomes a threshold the people pass through to reach the ground beyond it.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Isaiah 43:2 · KJVPassing through danger places the reader in a changed relation to the waters and fire encountered along the way.

And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

Mark 4:35 · KJVThe crossing is named before it begins, with the far side as its destination.

THE THREAD

And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

Mark 4:35 · KJV

The same Greek word, ⁨πέραν⁩ (peran, beyond/across), appears in both verses. Mark 4:35 names the beyond as the destination; Mark 5:1 places the travelers there.

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