After a man possessed by demons recognized Jesus as the son of the Divine.
Mark 5:8 Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
Mark 5:8 Come out of this man, you impure spirit
Get out! This spirit is the dirty one. Out of this man!
Dirty things can get out very quickly.
The verb translated as "come" means "come out" or "go out." It is not the simple "come." There are two "outs" here: the verb's prefix and the preposition in the phrase at the end of the verse. This makes this a command likely followed by a statement. However, the verb could be a statement ("It got out.) except that the Gospel writer didn't introduce it that way. However, it could also be Jesus subtly referring to his identify getting out.
The "unclean spirit" is may not be addressed to the spirit itself. Why? From the definite articles before the two words, "unclean" and "spirit." There are no articles used in addressing someone (vocative) in ancient or modern Greek. However, the New Testament has as many as sixty cases where the nominative form of words is assumed to be used as the vocative, that is, to address someone. This could be an artifact of what Biblical translators want since it isn't normally a feature of ancient Greek or other koine. However, the phrase reads "the spirit, the one unclean." Since they both could be in the form of a subject, we can equate them. "This spirit is the unclean one." It is followed by the preposition phrase "out of this man." This seems like a repeat of the command.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "come" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "you" should be something more like "the/this."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "unclean" is not shown in the English translation.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "spirit" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "come" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "you" should be something more like "the/this."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "unclean" is not shown in the English translation.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "spirit" is not shown in the English translation.
Come - (CW) The word translated as "come" means literally "to go or come out," but it has a secondary meaning of "making something come true." This word already contains the term "out" in its prefix. The form could be a command, but it could also be a simple statement, "it comes out."
out - The Greek preposition translated as "of" means "out of" or "from." In Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases with usually use with "of." This is added for clarification, since it comes at the end of the versed.
of - This comes from the form of the following noun.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
man, - The Greek word for "man" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
thou - (WW) "You" is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.
unclean - "Unclean" is an adjective that means "foul", "uncleansed," and "morally unclean." It was the term used to refer to a woman's menses.
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.
spirit. The word translated as "spirit" primarily means "breath", "wind," a "non-material being", and "blast." Like "spirit" in English, it can also mean "attitude" or "motivation.' It also means the "breath of life," from which we get to "spirit" and "spiritual." Its meaning as "the breath of life" is brought out by the idea of creating life. Its meaning as "spiritual" is brought out by the contrast with "physical". Read more about this word in this article on the holy spirit.
Come - (CW) The word translated as "come" means literally "to go or come out," but it has a secondary meaning of "making something come true." This word already contains the term "out" in its prefix. The form could be a command, but it could also be a simple statement, "it comes out."
out - The Greek preposition translated as "of" means "out of" or "from." In Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases with usually use with "of." This is added for clarification, since it comes at the end of the versed.
of - This comes from the form of the following noun.
this -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
man, - The Greek word for "man" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
you - (WW) "You" is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more. Definate articles are not used to address someone in ancient Greek.
impure - "Impure" is an adjective that means "foul", "uncleansed," and "morally unclean." It was the term used to refer to a woman's menses.
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.
spirit. The word translated as "spirit" primarily means "breath", "wind," a "non-material being", and "blast." Like "spirit" in English, it can also mean "attitude" or "motivation.' It also means the "breath of life," from which we get to "spirit" and "spiritual." Its meaning as "the breath of life" is brought out by the idea of creating life. Its meaning as "spiritual" is brought out by the contrast with "physical". Read more about this word in this article on the holy spirit.
Ἔξελθε [54 verses]( verb 2nd sg aor imperat ac OR verb 3rd sg aor ind act ) "Come" is exerchomai, which means "to come or go out of " "to march forth", "go out on", "to stand forth", "to exceed all bounds", "to come to an end", "to go out of office," and [of dreams or prophecies] "to come true." --
τὸ [821 verses]( article sg neut nom./acc) "Thou" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." --
πνεῦμα [40 verses] ( noun sg neut voc/nom./acc) "Spirit" is pneuma, which means "blast", "wind", "breath", "the breath of life", "divine inspiration", "a spiritual or immaterial being," and "the spirit" of a man. --
τὸ [821 verses]( article sg neut nom./acc) Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." --
ἀκάθαρτον [3 verses]( noun sg neut voc/nom./acc)"Unclean" is akathartos, which means "foul", "uncleansed", "unpruned", "containing impurities" and "morally unclean." It was the term used to refer to a woman's menses. The sense here is that some things must be cleanse of their impurities. This is their state when they have not or cannot be cleaned of them.
ἐκ [121 verses] (prep) "From" is ek, which means 1) [of motion] "out of", "from", "by", "away from;" 2) [of place] "beyond", "outside of", "beyond;" 3) [of succession] "after", "from;" 4) [of rest] "on", "in," 5) [of time] "since", "from", "at", "in;" 5) [of materials] "out of", "made from." --
τοῦ [821 verses] ( article sg masc gen) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." --
ἀνθρώπου. [209 verses] ( noun sg masc gen ) "Man" is anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate. --