David, since you are interested in devil/demons, here is data I have.
First part comes from an old Bible dictionary, Eastons.
Second post comes from Holman's dictionary, but I had to reduce it.
Devil
(Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man's spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Rev.
2:10; Zech. 3:1). He is called also "the accuser of the brethren" (Rev. 12:10).
In Lev. 17:7 the word "devil" is the translation of the Hebrew sair, meaning a "goat"
or "satyr" (Isa. 13:21; 34:14), alluding to the wood-daemons, the objects of idolatrous
worship among the heathen.
In Deut. 32:17 and Ps. 106:37 it is the translation of Hebrew shed, meaning lord, and
idol, regarded by the Jews as a "demon," as the word is rendered in the Revised Version.
In the narratives of the Gospels regarding the "casting out of devils" a different Greek
word (daimon) is used. In the time of our Lord there were frequent cases of demoniacal
possession (Matt. 12:25-30; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 4:35; 10:18, etc.).
Daemoniac
One "possessed with a devil." In the days of our Lord and his apostles evil spirits,
"daemons," were mysteriously permitted by God to exercise an influence both over the
souls and bodies of men, inflicting dumbness (Matt. 9:32), blindness (Matt. 12:22),
epilepsy (Mark 9:17-27), insanity (Matt. 8:28; Mark 5:1-5). Daemoniacs are frequently
distinguished from those who are afflicted with ordinary bodily maladies (Mark 1:32;
16:17, 18; Luke 6:17, 18). The daemons speak in their own persons (Matt. 8:29; Mark
1:23, 24; 5:7). This influence is clearly distinguished from the ordinary power of
corruption and of temptation over men. In the daemoniac his personality seems to be
destroyed, and his actions, words, and even thoughts to be overborne by the evil spirit
(Mark, l.c.; Acts 19:15).
Daemon
The Greek form, rendered "devil" in the Authorized Version of the New Testament.
Daemons are spoken of as spiritual beings (Matt. 8:16; 10:1; 12:43-45) at enmity with
God, and as having a certain power over man (James 2:19; Rev. 16:14). They recognize
our Lord as the Son of God (Matt. 8:20; Luke 4:41). They belong to the number of those
angels that "kept not their first estate, "unclean spirits," "fallen angels," the angels of the
devil (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:7-9). They are the "principalities and powers" against which
we must "wrestle" (Eph. 6:12).
My personal belief is that they exist.
R. |
