Mark 1 · Verse 24

Mark 1:24

Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
Mark 1:24, King James Version

Mark 1:24 in other translations

BSB“What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
WEBsaying, “Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!”
ASVsaying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Nazarene? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
YLTsaying, ‘Away! what--to us and to thee, Jesus the Nazarene? thou didst come to destroy us; I have known thee who thou art--the Holy One of God.'
DARBYsaying, Eh! what have we to do with thee, Jesus, Nazarene? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God.
BBESaying, What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to put an end to us? I see well who you are, the Holy One of God.
WebsterSaying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

What does Mark 1:24 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
24. Saying, Let us alone--or rather, perhaps, "ah!" expressive of mingled astonishment and terror. what have we to do with thee--an expression of frequent occurrence in the Old Testament (1Ki 17:18; 2Ki 3:13; 2Ch 35:21, &c.). It denotes entire separation of interests:--that is, "Thou and we have nothing in common; we want not Thee; what wouldst Thou with us?" For the analogous application of it by our Lord to His mother, see on Joh 2:4. thou Jesus of Nazareth--"Jesus, Nazarene!" an epithet originally given to express contempt, but soon adopted as the current designation by those who held our Lord in honor (Lu 18:37; Mr 16:6; Ac 2:22). art thou come to destroy us?--In the case of the Gadarene demoniac the question was, "Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?" (Mt 8:29). Themselves tormentors and destroyers of their victims, they discern in Jesus their own destined tormentor and destroyer, anticipating and dreading what they know and feel to be awaiting them! Conscious, too, that their power was but permitted and temporary, and perceiving in Him, perhaps, the woman's Seed that was to bruise the head and destroy the works of the devil, they regard His approach to them on this occasion as a signal to let go their grasp of this miserable victim. I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God--This and other even more glorious testimonies to our Lord were given, as we know, with no good will, but in hope that, by the acceptance of them, He might appear to the people to be in league with evil spirits--a calumny which His enemies were ready enough to throw out against Him. But a Wiser than either was here, who invariably rejected and silenced the testimonies that came to Him from beneath, and thus was able to rebut the imputations of His enemies against Him (Mt 12:24-30). The expression, "Holy One of God," seems evidently taken from that Messianic Psalm (Psa 16:10), in which He is styled "Thine Holy One."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 24. Let us alone. Though but one impure spirit is mentioned as possessing this man, yet that spirit speaks also in the name of others. They were leagued together in the work of evil, and this one knew that if he was punished, others would also share the same fate.

What have we to do with thee? This seems to mean, "Have we injured thee?" or, We have done nothing to injure thee. See "1Ki 17:18". By this the spirit meant to say, that if Jesus cast him out, he would use an improper interference. But this was untrue. The possession of the man was a direct assault on God and his works. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and he had a right, therefore, to liberate the captive, and to punish him who had possessed him. So Satan still considers it an infringement of his rights, when God frees a sinner from bondage, and destroys his influence over the soul. So he still pleads to be let alone, and to be suffered to lead men captive at his will.

Art thou come to destroy us? Implying that this could not be the intention of the benevolent Messiah; that to be cast out of that man would, in fact, be his destruction, and that therefore he might be suffered still to remain. Or implying, as in Mt 8:29, that the time of their destruction had not come, and that he ought not to destroy them before that.

I know thee, etc. Evil spirits seem to have been acquainted at once with the Messiah. Besides, they had learned from his miracles that he was the Messiah, and had power over them.

The Holy One of God. The Messiah. See Dan 9:24. He is called the Holy One of God, because,

1st, he was eminently pure;

2nd, because he was the only begotten Son of God--equal with the Father; and,

3rd, because he was anointed, or set apart to the work of the Messiah, the Mediator between God and man.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 What have we to do with thee - Or, What is it to us and to thee? or, What business hast thou with us? That this is the meaning of the original, τι ἡμιν και σοι, Kypke has sufficiently shown. There is a phrase exactly like it in 2Sam 16:10. What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? מה לי ולכם בני צרויה ma li v'lacem beney Tseruiah, What business have ye with me, or, Why do ye trouble me, ye sons of Tseruiah? The Septuagint translate the Hebrew just as the evangelist does here, τι εμοι και ὑμιν; it is the same idiom in both places, as there can be no doubt that the demoniac spoke in Hebrew, or in the Chaldeo-Syriac dialect of that language, which was then common in Judea. See on Mat 8:29 (note). Art thou come to destroy us? - We may suppose this spirit to have felt and spoken thus: "Is this the time of which it hath been predicted, that in it the Messiah should destroy all that power which we have usurped and exercised over the bodies and souls of men? Alas! it is so. I now plainly see who thou art - the Holy One of God, who art come to destroy unholiness, in which we have our residence, and through which we have our reign in the souls of men." An unholy spirit is the only place where Satan can have his full operation, and show forth the plenitude of his destroying power.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Mark 1:23-28

The devil is an unclean spirit, because he has lost all the purity of his nature, because he acts in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit of God, and by his suggestions defiles the spirits of men. There are many in our assemblies who quietly attend under merely formal teachers; but if the Lord come with faithful ministers and holy doctrine, and by his convincing Spirit, they are ready to say, like this man, What…

Read the full comment on Mark 1:23-28 →

Mark 1:24 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

λέγων·legōnsaying;G3004
ἔαeahaG1436
τίtiWhatG5101
ἡμῖνhēminto usG3165
καὶkaiandG2532
σοί,soito You,G4771
ἸησοῦIēsouJesusG2424
Ναζαρηνέ;Nazarēneof Nazareth?G3479
ἦλθεςēlthesDid You comeG2064
ἀπολέσαιapolesaito destroyG622
ἡμᾶς;hēmasus?G3165
οἶδάoidaI know
σεseYouG4771
τίςtiswhoG5101
εἶ,eiare,G1510
ὁhotheG3588
ἅγιοςhagiosHoly [One]G40
τοῦtou<the>G3588
θεοῦ.theouof God!G2316

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Mark 1:24

  • James 2:19

    Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

  • Matthew 8:29

    And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

  • Luke 4:34

    Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

  • Acts 3:14

    But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

  • Revelation 3:7

    And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

  • Acts 2:27

    Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

  • Mark 5:7

    And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

  • Luke 8:28

    When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.

  • Psalms 16:10

    For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

  • Psalms 89:18-19

    For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

  • John 6:69

    And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

  • Luke 1:35

    And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Let.
5:7; Ex 14:12; Mt 8:29; Lu 8:28,37; Jas 2:19
the Holy One.
Ps 16:10; 89:18,19; Da 9:24; Lu 4:34; Ac 2:27; 3:14; 4:27; Re 3:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Mark 1:23

    And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

  • Mark 1:24

    Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

  • Mark 1:25

    And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

Read all of Mark 1

Mark 1:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Diciendo: ¡Ah! ¿qué tienes con nosotros, Jesús Nazareno? ¿Has venido á destruirnos? Sé quién eres, el Santo de Dios.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		disant: Ha! qu’y a-t-il entre nous et toi, Jésus Nazarénien? Es-tu venu pour nous détruire? Je te connais, qui tu es: le Saint de Dieu.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und sprach: Laß ab! Was haben wir mit dir zu schaffen, Jesu, Nazarener? Bist du gekommen, uns zu verderben? Ich kenne dich, wer du bist: der Heilige Gottes.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		dicens: Quid nobis et tibi, Jesu Nazarene? venisti perdere nos? scio qui sis, Sanctus Dei.