What Does Mark 5:2 Mean in the King James?

And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

Mark 5:2 · 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

What the KJV calls an unclean spirit is ⁨πνεῦμα⁩ (pneuma, breath), the same word that can also mean wind and spirit.

THE MEANING

You meet the man at the threshold between the ship and the tombs: alive, among places marked for the dead, accompanied by what the verse calls an unclean spirit. Jesus meets him there, before the verse describes any change in him. The encounter begins in the very place that seems defined by death and uncleanness.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the belief that someone surrounded by death and marked by uncleanness lies beyond encounter.

THE ROOT

πνεῦμα

pneuma

GROWS FROM

πνέω

pneō

to breathe or blow

The KJV’s spirit is ⁨πνεῦμα⁩ (pneuma, breath), from ⁨πνέω⁩ (pneō, to breathe or blow). The Greek word holds breath, wind, and spirit together, so the phrase reaches into what animates life rather than naming only a separate invisible presence.

ALSO GROWS

pnoē: breath, a blowing

πνοή

This related word makes the breath-current audible in the same word family.

pneumatikos: of the breath or spirit; spiritual

πνευματικός

This branch shows how the same root names what is shaped by or belongs to pneuma.

ἀκάθαρτος

akathartos

GROWS FROM

καθαρ-

kathar-

clean, pure

The word for unclean adds a negating prefix to ⁨καθαρός⁩ (katharos, clean). The language keeps uncleanness and cleanness on one axis, exposing the condition through the very word that names its opposite.

ALSO GROWS

katharos: clean, pure

καθαρός

This is the positive form hidden inside the word translated unclean.

katharizō: to cleanse, make clean

καθαρίζω

The related verb shows the same word family also names the movement from uncleanness toward cleanness.

μνημεῖον

mnēmeion

GROWS FROM

μνήμη

mnēmē

memory, remembrance

“tombs” in this verse is mnēmeion. The Greek word for tomb is a memorial word, linked to ⁨μνήμη⁩ (mnēmē, memory). The man is met where the dead are remembered, sharpening the contrast between a living person and the place that bears death in its name.

ALSO GROWS

mnēmē: memory, remembrance

μνήμη

This related word makes the memorial sense inside tomb visible.

mimnēskomai: to remember, call to mind

μιμνῄσκομαι

This branch connects the tomb’s name to the act of holding someone in memory.

THE PATTERN

A place or condition marked by death does not put a person beyond the reach of life-giving presence.

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

Psalm 139:8 · KJVEven the depths associated with death do not place the speaker outside God’s presence.

Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

Ezekiel 37:5 · KJVThe dead and dry are met by breath that brings life.

And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

Mark 5:15 · KJVThe man first met among the tombs is later seen seated, clothed, and restored.

THE THREAD

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

John 3:8 · KJV

John 3:8 uses ⁨πνεῦμα⁩ (pneuma, breath) for both wind and Spirit, while Mark 5:2 uses the same word in unclean spirit. That shared word reunites what English separates: breath, wind, and spirit belong to one Greek word.

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