It is a common opinion that Jesus and his disciples cast out “devils.” Such a statement is very frequently recorded in the Common Version of the New Testament; and, yet it is a fact, astounding in relation to a translated work (the very words of which translation are regarded with a peculiar reverence) that, not once, in the original Greek Scriptures, is Christ said, or are his disciples said, to have cast out either “a devil” or “devils.”
It was noticed that the words “devil” or “devils” occur over one hundred times in the Common Version of the Scriptures, and that in 77 of the number where these so occur, the word is not diabolos at all, but a word altogether distinct therefrom in its meaning.
What, then, is the word which is mistranslated “devil” or “devils” in these passages? What is the word that the Divine Mind used as conveying a meaning distinct from diabolos, and which the translators have dared, in the Common Version, to translate by the same word as that which they have used to translate diabolos; thereby practically insinuating that the Divine Mind did not know the use of language; thereby virtually asserting, that though the Divine Instructor uses two words to express his instruction, the English people shall be content with one?
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Author: John Epps
Keywords: mute spirit, demon, demons, devils, foul spirit, dumb spirit, evil spirit, deaf spirit, baalzebub, baalzebul, unclean spirit, Casting out, Casting out devils, Casting out demons, Demon possession, Madness, Epileptic seizure, Devil possessed, Possessed by demons, moonstruck, moon struck, possession, possessed by the devil, Mental illness, Demonology, Wicked spirits, Demoniac, Epilepsy, Epileptic
Bible reference(s): Leviticus 17:7, Deuteronomy 32:17, 2 Kings 1:2, 2 Kings 1:3, 2 Kings 1:6, 2 Kings 1:16, 2 Chronicles 11:15, Psalms 106:37, Zechariah 13:2, Matthew 4:24, Matthew 7:22, Matthew 8:31, Matthew 9:33, Matthew 9:34, Matthew 10:1, Matthew 10:8, Matthew 11:18, Matthew 12:24, Matthew 12:27, Matthew 12:28, Matthew 12:43, Matthew 17:15, Matthew 17:18, Mark 1:23, Mark 1:26, Mark 1:27, Mark 1:34, Mark 1:39, Mark 3:11, Mark 3:15, Mark 3:22, Mark 3:30, Mark 5:2, Mark 5:8, Mark 5:12, Mark 5:13, Mark 6:7, Mark 6:13, Mark 7:25, Mark 7:26, Mark 7:29, Mark 7:30, Mark 9:17, Mark 9:25, Mark 9:38, Mark 16:9, Mark 16:17, Luke 4:33, Luke 4:35, Luke 4:36, Luke 4:41, Luke 6:18, Luke 7:21, Luke 7:33, Luke 8:2, Luke 8:27, Luke 8:29, Luke 8:30, Luke 8:33, Luke 8:35, Luke 8:38, Luke 9:1, Luke 9:42, Luke 9:49, Luke 10:17, Luke 11:14, Luke 11:15, Luke 11:18, Luke 11:19, Luke 11:20, Luke 11:24, Luke 13:32, John 7:20, John 8:48, John 8:49, John 8:52, John 10:20, John 10:21, Acts 5:16, Acts 8:7, Acts 19:12, Acts 19:13, Acts 19:15, Acts 19:16, 1 Corinthians 10:20, 1 Corinthians 10:21, 1 Timothy 4:1, James 2:19, Revelation 9:20, Revelation 16:13, Revelation 16:14, Revelation 18:2
Source: A Biblical Exposition of the Truth Concerning “That Old Serpent, the Devil and Satan” (London: Sherwood & Co., 1842)
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