Mark 5:9

‘And he says to him, “My name is legion, for we are many”.

Knowing, in the face of His authority, that they were forced to speak, they replied evasively and probably with the aim of intimidating Jesus into leaving them alone. They were aware that His exertions of power were exhausting to His human frame (Mark 5:30; Luke 6:19), and they wanted Him to realise that this particular exorcism would require much power. Godly men who have engaged in exorcism have testified to the fact that it was very exhausting, and they had never had to face anything like this. But the spirits were underestimating Jesus.

‘My name is legion.’ Was the man giving Legion as a name because he was in a state of confusion, aware of the forces possessing him, or was he simply indicating the multiplicity of names of the evil spirits (Mark 5:15), hinting that they could not give them all for they were so many, and at the same time indicating how long it would take to deal with them. For we must recognise that the evil spirits were not omniscient, and probably thought that they could somehow forestall Jesus. Possibly they could see He was still exhausted. The word ‘legion’ was the name given to a Roman regiment of between four thousand and six thousand men. Strictly it indicated six thousand, but it was unusual for a legion to have its full complement. Thus the indication here is of possession by a great number of evil spirits.