Jesus Casts Out an Evil Spirit

Mark 1:21-28

Then they went to Capernaum. When the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.
The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, unlike the religious teachers of the law.
While Jesus was in the synagogue, a man was there who had an evil spirit inside him. The man shouted,
“Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God!” [Note]
But Jesus rebuked him: “Silence! Come out of him!”
At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.
They were all amazed so that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
So the news about him spread quickly throughout all the region around Galilee.

Luke 4:31-37

So he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he began to teach the people.
They were amazed at his teaching, because he spoke with authority.
Now in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are — God’s Holy One!
But Jesus rebuked him: “Silence! Come out of him!” At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.
They were all amazed and began to say to one another, “What’s happening here? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”
The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region.

“What to us and to you?” This is an idiom meaning, “We have nothing to do with one another,” or “Why bother us!” The phrase τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί (ti hēmin kai soi) is Semitic in origin, though it made its way into colloquial Greek (BDAG 275 s.ἐγώ). The equivalent Hebrew expression in the OT had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Jdg 11:12; 2Ch 35:21; 1Ki 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his own, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2Ki 3:13; Hos 14:8). Option (1) implies hostility, while option (2) merely implies disengagement. BDAG suggests the following as glosses for this expression: What have I to do with you? What have we in common? Leave me alone! Never mind! Hostility between Jesus and the demons is certainly to be understood in this context, hence the translation: “Leave me alone….” For a very similar expression see Luk 8:28 and (in a different context) Joh 2:4. [←Back]