Exegesis:
elegen gar autō ‘for he was saying to him’ (so Goodspeed, Montgomery, Williams); ‘for he said’ (American Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament); ‘for he had said’ (Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, Berkeley); ‘for he had been saying’ (Taylor). The imperfect indicates either (1) that Jesus was in the act of exorcising the unclean spirit when interrupted by the demoniac; or (2) Jesus was repeating his command (cf. Goodspeed and others). Manson‘s “Jesus was already saying to him”, favors the first interpretation. The meaning of the verb legō ‘say’ here is ‘command,’ ‘order.’
autō ‘to him’: refers to the unclean spirit, to whom the command to come out is addressed. The confusion between the man and the unclean spirit (or spirits) who possessed him is seen throughout.
to pneuma to akatharton ‘you unclean spirit’: though the form is nominative, this is the vocative use, the case of address.
kai epērōta auton ‘and he (Jesus) asked him (the man)’: the masculine pronoun auton ‘him’ shows that the man is being addressed. Again, in such cases, it is impossible to separate the man from the spirit.
eperōtaō (some 25 times in Mark; cf. erōtaō in 4.10) ‘ask a question.’
legiōn (5.15) ‘Legion’: a Latin loan-word. In the time of Augustus a legion of soldiers comprised 6000 men.
hoti polloi esmen ‘because we are many’: the masculine polloi ‘many’ does not agree in gender with ta pneumata ta akatharta ‘the unclean spirits’ (v. 13). It must be understood in a general sense (cf. the masculine participle legontes ‘saying’ in v. 12; cf. 9.26 where masculine participles modify the neuter ‘spirit’), as applying to the spirits themselves (although it is possible that the masculine is influenced by legiōn which is masculine – cf. v. 15).
Translation:
In order that the sequence of actual events between verses 7 and 8 may be made clear, it is necessary to indicate explicitly that the statement made by the demon-possessed man is in response to what Jesus had already said, e.g. ‘For Jesus had already said to the man, ….’ (or ‘was already saying’).
Despite the apparent confusion between words addressed to the man and the responses of the demon (or demons), it is important in so far as possible to preserve this confusion, as being an essential element in the psychological situation. In the beginning of verse 8, it is vital that one have as the object of the verb ‘said’ a pronominal element (or noun) which will identify the demon, since the following words are specifically addressed to the unclean spirit. However, in the beginning of verse 9, asked him is probably better interpreted as being addressed to the man, even though the demons reply.
What is your name is rendered in a number of different ways in various languages, e.g. ‘how do you call yourself,’ ‘what name has been given to you,’ ‘what do people speak in calling you,’ and ‘what are you named.’
Legion has been treated in several different ways: (1) by transliteration, but this is usually quite meaningless, (2) by some reference to a number of soldiers, e.g. ‘many soldiers’ (Central Mazahua), ‘an army’ (Chicahuaxtla Triqui), ‘thousands of soldiers’ (Kekchi), and (3) by some word or phrase indicating a large crowd or group, e.g. ‘a multitude’ (Southern Bobo Madaré), ‘ten thousand’ (Batak Toba), ‘a crowd’ (Amganad Ifugao, Southern Subanen, South Bolivian Quechua), and ‘many’ (Guerrero Amuzgo). Either of these latter types of alternatives seems to be quite adequate.
For we are many may be ‘for there are many of us’ or ‘for our number is great.’
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .