Mark 5:13 records the moment Jesus gives the demons permission to leave a man and enter a herd of pigs, and the herd then runs into the sea and drowns. The verse shows Jesus’ authority over evil spirits and the destructive power the spirits had over the man’s life. It is spoken by Jesus, in response to the demons’ own request, and it is witnessed by the people who tended the pigs and the crowd that later gathers.
At once Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea.
Mark 5:13 (WEB)
What Mark 5:13 Means
The verse opens with “At once Jesus gave them permission.” The word “permission” matters here. The demons do not act on their own terms. They ask Jesus for something, and he decides. Mark presents the exchange as Jesus holding the final word over the spiritual forces, even when they are the ones speaking and making demands.
Next, “the unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs.” The spirits leave the man, and the pigs become their new place. Mark is careful to describe the spirits’ departure as real and visible. The verse is not a poetic image of inner struggle but a concrete account of a deliverance. Pigs were unclean animals under Jewish law, so their involvement underlines how far the spirits had been driven from the realm of holiness.
The verse ends with the herd “rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned.” This is the most startling part, and it is easy to read it as a moral lesson about the pigs or the spirits. The verse itself does not explain the drowning. It reports what happened. What it does promise is that the man is freed and that Jesus has power over destructive forces. It does not offer a general rule about how God treats animals, property, or the people who suffer loss in the story.
The Context of Mark 5:13
The Gospel of Mark is traditionally attributed to John Mark, a companion of Peter, and was written for a largely Gentile audience in the Roman world. Mark moves quickly from one scene to the next, and he shows Jesus confronting disease, nature and spiritual powers with direct, sometimes stark action. The story of the Gerasene demoniac sits within a sequence of miracles that reveal who Jesus is, and Mark’s readers would have seen this as one more sign of divine authority.
The verses just before and after Mark 5:13 fill in the picture. In verses 10 to 12, the demons plead with Jesus not to send them out of the region and then ask to enter the pigs. In verses 14 to 16, the herdsmen flee and spread the news, and the townspeople come to find the man sitting, clothed and in his right mind. That final scene shows the purpose of the drowning in the story. The verse is part of a larger account of restoration, and the man’s healing is the center of it, not the fate of the animals.
Key Phrases in Mark 5:13
Mark 5:15
They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid.
(WEB)
This verse describes the man sitting, clothed and in his right mind, which is the human result of Jesus’ authority in Mark 5:13. Reading the two together shows that the drowning serves the restoration of the man.
Luke 8:33
The demons came out of the man, and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned.
(WEB)
Luke records the same event and reports the herd rushing into the lake and drowning, which confirms the account in Mark 5:13. The parallel helps you see the core facts of the story across two Gospels.
A Short Prayer From Mark 5:13
Lord Jesus, you hold authority over every power that tries to bind or destroy people. I bring to you the things in my life that feel stronger than I am, the fears, habits and hurts that keep me from living freely. Give me the same trust the people in this story were learning to place in you, and help me rest in your power when I do not understand what you are doing. Restore what has been broken in me and bring me to a place of peace and clarity. Amen.
