Mark 1:34

And He healed many who were ill with various diseases and drove out many demons. But He would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus acts while a whole town gathers at His door, immediately before He withdraws to a solitary place to pray in the dark. The narrative records His physical ministry to the sick and His restraint toward demonic forces.

The words — The Greek ἐθεράπευσεν (etherapeusen) literally means He healed, paired with πολλοὺς (pollous), many, to mark the scale of His physical ministry. The text notes He healed many sick with various diseases (ποικίλαις νόσοις, poikilais nosois) before commanding the demons to remain silent.

The thread — This pattern of healing many while silencing demonic testimony appears in Luke 4:41 and Mark 3:12, where Jesus similarly restrains spirits from revealing His identity. Matthew 4:23 parallels the widespread healing of every disease throughout Galilee.

Why it lands — The text records that Jesus healed many and expelled demons, then explicitly states He forbade the spirits from speaking because they knew His identity. It asks the reader to observe that His authority is exercised through deliberate restraint rather than public confirmation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

Cross-references

Luke 4:41 Demons also came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked the demons and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ.
Mark 3:12 But He warned them sternly not to make Him known.
Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Acts 16:16 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.
Mark 1:25 But Jesus rebuked the spirit. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!”