Mark 5:14 describes the reaction of the herdsmen who had been tending the pigs when Jesus sent a legion of demons into them. They fled and spread the news to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, so that people came out to see what had happened. The verse is narrated by Mark, the Gospel writer, and it reports what those who witnessed the event did next, which set the stage for the townspeople’s response to Jesus.
Those who fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the country. The people came to see what it was that had happened.
Mark 5:14 (WEB)
What Mark 5:14 Means
The verse begins with “those who fed them,” meaning the men who looked after the herd. Their job was to keep the animals safe and fed, so when the pigs ran into the sea, they had lost both their livelihood and their sense of control. Their immediate response was to run, and then to talk. Mark is showing that the event was public enough that the story traveled quickly from the lakeside into the nearby city and out to the farms.
The phrase “the people came to see what it was that had happened” shows curiosity mixed with unease. Crowds gathered not because they had heard a message of faith, but because something startling had occurred and they wanted to understand it. The verse does not promise that every crowd will respond well. It simply records that news of Jesus’s power moved people to come and look.
What the verse does not do is explain the theology of the event or tell us how the townspeople ought to feel about it. Those questions are taken up in the verses that follow, where the people see the healed man and become afraid. Mark 5:14 is best read as a hinge: it moves the story from the wilderness of the tombs into the public life of the region.
The Context of Mark 5:14
The Gospel of Mark is traditionally attributed to John Mark, a companion of Peter, and it was likely written for a Gentile or mixed audience in the Roman world. Its style is brisk and immediate, with many “at once” transitions and vivid scenes. The healing of the Gerasene demoniac belongs to a cluster of stories in chapters 4 and 5 that show Jesus’s authority over wind, sea, illness, and death. The setting across the Sea of Galilee is Gentile territory, which is why a herd of pigs, unclean to Jewish law, is present.
Just before this verse, the demons beg Jesus to send them into the swine, and he grants permission. Just after it, the people come to Jesus, find the former demoniac sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, and then ask Jesus to leave their region. Read in that sequence, verse 14 is the moment when the witnesses turn from an event they experienced into a report they carry to others. Its place in the narrative explains why the reaction of the community, rather than the miracle alone, becomes the focus of the chapter.
Key Phrases in Mark 5:14
Mark 5:19
He didn’t allow him, but said to him, “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.”
(WEB)
In the same chapter, Jesus tells the healed man to go home and report how much the Lord has done for him. This connects with verse 14 by showing that telling what has happened is a central part of the story, and that the testimony of a changed life carries weight in its own right.
Luke 8:39
“Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
(WEB)
Luke records a parallel account of the same event and the same instruction to return home and declare what God has done. Reading the two accounts together helps you see how the Gospel writers each emphasize the spreading of the good news through ordinary testimony.
A Short Prayer From Mark 5:14
Lord, you know the stories I carry and the moments that have left me unsure what to say. Help me to speak honestly about what you have done, without needing to dress it up. Give me the courage to go toward people who are hurting, not just to watch from a safe distance. Let my words and my presence point others to you, and let fear give way to trust in the power of your love. Amen.
