Mark 5:11-13

[11] Now there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. [12] And besought him, saying, Send into the swine, that we may enter into them. [13] And them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

What is the context of Mark 5:11-13?

Demons Driven Out by the Master (Mark 5:1-20 true)
Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon (Mark 5:1-20 true)
Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man .( A .) .( B .) (Mark 5:1-20 true)
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man (Mark 5:1-20 true)
The Gerasene Demoniac (Mark 5:1-20 true)
A Demon-possessed Gerasene Healed (Mark 5:1-20 true)
A Demon-Possessed Man Healed (Mark 5:1-20 true)

What does Mark 5:11-13 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Evidently the demons requested permission to enter the swine so they could destroy them. Jesus" permission resulted in everyone seeing the great destructive power and number of the demons, and that the man had experienced an amazing deliverance. Only Mark recorded the number of swine.

"Few animals are so individually stubborn as swine, yet the rush was simultaneous." ^[1]

"The story of the deliverance of a man becomes the story of the deliverance of a land." ^[2]

Some interpreters believe the owners of the swine were Jews who disregarded the Mosaic prohibition against eating pork ( Leviticus 11:7). Jesus would then have been punishing them by allowing their pigs to perish. However this explanation is unlikely because of the population composition of the Decapolis region of which this area was a part (cf. Matthew 8:31).