Demons

How Nave’s arranged it

• Worship ofLeviticus 17:7Deuteronomy 32:172 Chronicles 11:15Psalms 106:37Matthew 4:9Luke 4:71 Corinthians 10:201 Corinthians 10:211 Timothy 4:1Revelation 13:4
• Worship of, forbiddenLeviticus 17:7Zechariah 13:2Revelation 9:20
• Possession by, instances of
• Saul1 Samuel 16:14–231 Samuel 18:101 Samuel 18:111 Samuel 19:91 Samuel 19:10
• Two men of the Gergesenes (Gadarenes, Gerasenes)Matthew 8:28–34Mark 5:2–20
• The deaf manMatthew 9:32Matthew 9:33
• The deaf and blind manMatthew 12:22Luke 11:14
• The daughter of the Syrophoenician womanMatthew 15:22–29Mark 7:25–30
• The epileptic boyMatthew 17:14–18Mark 9:17–27Luke 9:37–42
• The man in the synagogueMark 1:23–26Luke 4:33–35
• Mary MagdaleneMark 16:9Luke 8:2Luke 8:3
• The herd of swineMatthew 8:30–32

The passages, in Bible order (68)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Leviticus 17:7

   They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 17:71 voice

   “They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils - They shall not sacrifice לשעירים lasseirim, to the hairy ones, to goats. The famous heathen god, Pan, was represented as having the posteriors, horns, and ears of a goat; and the Mendesians, a people of Egypt, had a deity which they worshipped under this form. Herodotus says that all goats were worshipped in Egypt, but the he-goat particularly.

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 17:7→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Deuteronomy 32:17

   They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:171 voice

   “They sacrificed unto devils - The original word שדים shedim has been variously understood. The Syriac, Chaldee, Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan, and the Samaritan, retain the original word: the Vulgate, Septuagint, Arabic, Persic, Coptic, and Anglo-Saxon, have devils or demons. The Septuagint has εθυσαν δαιμονιοις, they sacrificed to demons: the Vulgate copies the Septuagint: the Arabic has sheeateen, the plural of Sheetan, Satan, by which the rebellious angels appear to be intended, as the word comes from the root shatana, he was obstinate, proud, refractory, went far away.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 32:17→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Judges 9:23

   God sent a spirit of animosity between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem and caused them to treat Abimelech deceitfully,

   ›Commentary on Judges 9:232 voices

   “God sent an evil spirit - He permitted jealousies to take place which produced factions; and these factions produced insurrections, civil contentions, and slaughter.

   “Their own lusts were evil spirits; they are devils in men's own hearts; from them come wars and fightings. These God gave them up to, and so might be said to send the evil spirits between them. When men's sin is made their punishment, though God is not the author of the sin, yet the punishment is from him.

   Everything gathered on Judges 9:23→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. 1 Samuel 16:14–23

   After the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him.

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 16:14–232 voices

   “Therefore, when a person falls from the Spirit for any wickedness, if he repents after his fall, the grace remains irrevocably to the one who is willing; otherwise he who has fallen is no longer in God (because that Holy Spirit and Paraclete which is in God has deserted him), but this sinner shall be in him to whom he has subjected himself, as took place in Saul's instance; for the Spirit of God departed from him and an evil spirit was afflicting him.

   “The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul - He was thrown into such a state of mind by the judgments of God, as to be deprived of any regal qualities which he before possessed. God seems to have taken what gifts he had, and given them to David; and then the evil spirit came upon Saul; for what God fills not, the devil will. An evil spirit from the Lord - The evil spirit was either immediately sent from the Lord, or permitted to come.

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 16:14–23→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. 1 Samuel 18:10

   The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear,

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 18:101 voice

   “The evil spirit from God - See on 1Sa 16:14 (note), etc. He prophesied in the midst of the house - He was beside himself; made prayers, supplications, and incoherent imprecations: “God preserve my life,” “Destroy my enemies,” or such like prayers, might frequently escape from him in his agitated state. The Arabic intimates that he was actually possessed by an evil spirit, and that through it he uttered a sort of demoniacal predictions.

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 18:10→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. 1 Samuel 18:11

   and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 18:111 voice

   “Saul cast the javelin - The javelin or spear was the emblem of regal authority; kings always had it at hand, and in ancient monuments they are always represented with it. In ancient times, says Justin, kings used a spear instead of a diadem: Per ea tempora reges hastas pro diademate habebant, Hist. lib. xliii. And as spears were the emblems of supreme power, hence they were reputed as attributes of the Divinity, and were worshipped as representatives of the gods.

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 18:11→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. 1 Samuel 19:9

   But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp,

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 19:91 voice

   “And the evil spirit from the Lord - His envy and jealousy again returned, producing distraction of mind, which was exacerbated by diabolic influence. See on 1Sa 16:14 (note).

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 19:9→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. 1 Samuel 19:10

   Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night.

   Verse page →Original language →

9. 1 Kings 22:21–23

   Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 22:21–232 voices

   “I think every evil and deceitful spirit is a lie, and whenever anyone of these speaks, it speaks from its own resources and by no means from the resources of God. And the father of these [spirits] is the liar, the devil. We will now present what moved us to say that every inferior spirit is false.

   A spirit - “The spirit “ - which some explain as “the evil spirit” - i. e. Satan; others as simply “the spirit” who should “persuade.”

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 22:21–23→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. 2 Chronicles 11:15

    And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.

    ›Commentary on 2 Chronicles 11:151 voice

    “The high places - i. e., the two sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel. For the devils - literally, “for the goats:” probably the word is used (as in Lev 17:7) for objects of idolatrous worship generally.

    Everything gathered on 2 Chronicles 11:15→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Psalms 106:37

    They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 106:371 voice

    “Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils. Who have their name here given them from a word that signifies to waste and destroy, they being the destroyers of mankind. So the Targum renders it by מזיקיא, which signifies spirits noxious and hurtful; but R. Elias Levita, in his Tishbi, p. 233, says it is a mistake to derive it from the root which signifies to waste and destroy; for then he says the "daleth" should have a "dagesh"; but does not tell us from whence it is derived.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 106:37→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Zechariah 13:2

    And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.

    ›Commentary on Zechariah 13:21 voice

    “I will cut off the names of the idols - There shall not only be no idolatry, but the very names of the idols shall be forgotten, or be held in such abhorrence that no person shall mention them. This prophecy seems to be ancient, and to have been delivered while idolatry had prevalence in Israel and Judah. I will cause the prophets - All false teachers. And the unclean spirit - That which leads to impurity, the spirit of divination; the lust of the flesh, and of the eye, and the pride of life.

    Everything gathered on Zechariah 13:2→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Matthew 4:9

    “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”

    ›Commentary on Matthew 4:92 voices

    “(Verse 9) I will give you all these things if you fall down and worship me. Even in this boasting, the arrogant and proud one speaks: not because he has power over the whole world or can give all the kingdoms, since we know that many holy men have been made kings by God. If you fall down, he says, and worship me. Therefore, whoever is going to worship the devil, falls before him.

    “All these things ... - All these kingdoms. All these dominions Satan claimed a right to bestow on whom he pleased, and with considerable justice. They were excessively wicked; and with no small degree of propriety, therefore, he asserted his claim to give them away. This temptation had much plausibility. Satan regarded Jesus as the king of the Jews. As the Messiah he supposed he had come to take possession of all that country. He was poor, and unarmed, and without followers or armies.

    Everything gathered on Matthew 4:9→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Matthew 4:24

    News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed—and He healed them.

    ›Commentary on Matthew 4:242 voices

    “(Verse 24) And he healed the lunatics and the paralytics. And many crowds followed him from Galilee and Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Not truly lunatics, but those who were thought to be lunatics due to the deceit of demons, who, by observing the phases of the moon, desired to defame creation so as to overflow with blasphemies against the Creator.

    “And his fame went throughout all Syria,.... For his ministry and miracles, especially the latter; wherefore they brought to him, that is, out of Syria, the sick. Syria was in some respects reckoned as the land of Israel, though in others not.

    Everything gathered on Matthew 4:24→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Matthew 8:16

    When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.

    ›Commentary on Matthew 8:161 voice

    “When the even was come - The Jews kept their sabbath from evening to evening, according to the law, Lev 23:32, From evening to evening shall ye celebrate your sabbath. And the rabbins say, The sabbath doth not enter but when the sun is set. Hence it was that the sick were not brought out to our Lord till after sun-set, because then the sabbath was ended. Many that were possessed with devils - Dr. Lightfoot gives two sound reasons why Judea, in our Lord’s time, abounded with demoniacs.

    Everything gathered on Matthew 8:16→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Matthew 8:28–34

    When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, He was met by two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

    ›Commentary on Matthew 8:28–342 voices

    “The divine nature of the only begotten Son was already scorching the demons in unspeakable flames. Christ was shutting up the fiercest demons in blocked roads. He was undoing the devil's tyranny. "You have come before the time," they cried out. For they knew from the Scriptures that Christ was going to come and would judge them. Treating the incarnation as if it had happened at the wrong time, they pled that he had come in an untimely way. This misrepresentation is not surprising. In their deceptiveness, they did not hesitate to say even this.

    “Hence the country between them took its name, sometimes from the one, sometimes from the other. There met him two demoniacs - St. Mark and St. Luke mention only one, who was probably the fiercer of the two, and the person who spoke to our Lord first. But this is no way inconsistent with the account which St. Matthew gives.

    Everything gathered on Matthew 8:28–34→

    Verse page →Original language →