Mk 5:9a ... And he questioned him, ... "What is your name? ..."

Verse 9 has five phrases containing 6 narrator and 9 dialog words. The first two phrases contain these 3 narrator and 3 dialog words ... Kai epērōta auton, Ti onoma soi (And he questioned him, "What is a name of you")?

The 6 words are top down. According to the ancients, knowing the real name of a person or Spirit gave you power over it. This part of the text is a quick flashback to the previous verse. The text uses the imperfect epērōta (was asking), meaning Jesus was not done interrogating him or the Spirits. After Jesus killed the first Unclean Spirit by casting it out to the sides of the earth, Jesus asked for "onoma soi" (a name of you), meaning the (singular) name of the possessed man. Unfortunately, a huge number of Unclean Spirits from the tombs have now infected this one man, whom the residents have named "the demoniac."

5:08 < Verse > 5:09b