A continuation of a further look at Mark 5:19 on the man who was exercised of a legion of demons and had them cast into a heard of pigs (swine). Did Jesus tell the healed man to return and give witness of Jesus Christ to his family, friends, or to his own people?
Mark 5:19 says: “But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, “Go back home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind he has been to you.” (Good News)
NLT, Amplified, Douay-Rheims: uses “family”
NIV, ESV/RSV/NRSV, N/KJV: uses “friends”
CEB, CSB, NJB, NET: uses “your [own] people”
Which is correct? One biblical commentary states: “Jesus refused the man permission to accompany him, but instructed him to return to the circle of family [Mark’s phrase τοὺς σούς may well include a circle wider than the man’s family, but there can be no doubt that the family was at the center of that circle.” (William L. Lane, NICNT).
Another states: “To your people” (πρὸς τοὺς σούς), unique to the NT, has been taken narrowly by some to mean “your family” … But most take this to refer more broadly to “the people of your area” (R.A. Guelich, Word/ WBC).
In terms of biblical theology, either interpretation would not have any implications; but it would in terms of evangelism. Do we go and bring our witness of Christ to our family first, or friends first, or our own ethnic people? Obviously, we should evangelize everyone, but if I were this man healed of demon possession, I would want to tell my family first, then everyone else.
New Epistles 