Mark 1:26 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Had torn him— Had thrown him into convulsions. That this is a proper translation, though circuitous, appears from St. Luke, who informs us, that the spirit did not hurt him. It is remarkable, that in all the cures of this sort which our Lord performed, the person to be cured was agitated by the demon who possessed him in the most violent manner, at the time of the cure, and raised to perfect health by the expulsion of the demon in an instant. The reason was, that thus the reality and greatness, both of the possession and the cure, were fully proved, to the conviction of every beholder; and therefore the demon was probably in some sense compelled to exert himself.