Exegesis:

to pneuma ‘the (Holy) Spirit,’ ‘the Spirit (of God).’

ekballei ‘drives out’: the historic present is characteristic of Mark’s style. In Mark ekballō ‘drive out’ always denotes strong and, at times, violent action being used mainly of the expulsion of demons (1.34, 39; 3.15, 22, 23; 6.13; 7.26; 9.18, 28, 38; 16.9, 17); where people are involved force is always indicated (1.43; 5.40; 11.15; 12.8), while once it is used of the removal of an eye (9.47). In the present passage, the parallels in Matthew (anagesthai ‘be led’) and Luke (agesthai ‘be led’) may argue in favor of force for the Marcan ekballei ‘drives out.’ Cf. Jerome expellit and in English “drive” (King James Version, American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, Berkeley); Zürcher Bibel treiben.

Force is certainly involved. There is no need, however, of inferring resistance or unwillingness on the part of Jesus.

tēn erēmon (cf. v. 4) ‘uninhabited places,’ traditionally the haunt of evil powers.

Translation:

In this context it is quite important that one make sure that a word used for ‘Spirit’ carries the proper connotation, for ‘driving one out into an uninhabited region’ is precisely what demons are usually credited with doing. Hence, in many translations ‘Spirit of God’ or ‘Holy Spirit’ should be used here (Balinese, Kpelle, South Bolivian Quechua, Shipibo-Conibo).

There is no doubt about the fact that the Greek word ekballō implies a strong action, but it is possible to translate this word in such a way as to give quite a wrong impression. In one language in West Africa the term used meant literally ‘to chase him away’ and in one Eskimo dialect the word was one generally used of ‘driving dogs.’ The force of this Greek verb applies primarily to the psychological compulsion, not any physical violence, and hence to use an expression which emphasizes the physical aspects may ultimately result in a distortion of the meaning. Accordingly, many translations simply use a causative form, ‘the Holy Spirit made him go’ or ‘caused him to go.’ In Balinese the expression is ‘by the might of the Holy Spirit, Jesus went,’ meaning that the Holy Spirit was the force which caused Jesus to go.

For a discussion of “wilderness” see 1.3.

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 .