(c) Safeguards against demons.% — God is the only ultimate protector against demons ; but He sends His angels to counteract their deeds, and to help men to withstand their attacks (cf. Mt IS'", Mk 1'^). At the same time, God has given to man various means whereby to nullify the machinations of demons. First among these is the saying of the Shema {i.e. the Jewish profession of faith contained in Dt G*"'), because the holy name occurs in it ; then, prayer to God (cf. Mk 9=»). There are also special formulas which are effective, either for warding oft' an attack or for throwing oft' the demoniacal influence, e.g. ' The Lord rebuke thee, Satan ' (cf. Zee 3-, Jude '•') ; Ps 91 is recommended for recitation before going to sleep ; a demon may be chased away by repeatedly calling out his iMiM.-. 1,111 uttering one syllable less each time;|l ..1,'Mi.nrr to certain commands is also a safe- i^iiai.l, 1.7. lixing the vii::u:dh,^ and wearing the
* The superstition of the ' evil eye," the possession of which is regarded as being due to the indwelling of an evil spirit, both in animals and in human beings, is still universally prevalent among the pe.asantry of all European countries : the writer has personally met. with some curious instances in the country districts of Lower Austria.
t This is due to Assyro-Bab. influence : Satan is believed to dance between the bull's horns.
t This is due to K-^.tkui (Typhon - woi-sliip) influence; according to P! ;1 .:i.,.|i;.>l .1. h; -...i.- (ha:-
^„«.,)in Et;M. ■'.:.: 1 : ' i, .,;,■ 7s. (( 0«. 30).
Sin theTalit, , i ; . • is true
thatan 'evil n- ' '! ■ ' t-r^.m,
but tlii< ;< r.' ■ !.■.■.,■ ]■
1 striking contrast t
spirit, L- .... .1 ■ ' i . ' i
to lliln -, Up rr li,.',;. !.■■ - hi -I I m generally spfakiiit,'. demoniacal ad who are under its influence. This i Gospel accounts.
II See the use of a 'name' in Stiibe, Jiid.-bab. Xaubertexte, p. 25, and many further details in Blau. Lms altjud. Zaiiher- M««i, pp. OtH., loGfl. ; .f. 1 ' -- 1... : -111 t .1 uions, to whom all sickness was as. r i. ' I't.
H A small glass or met:il ■ > i' .iritten
on parchment, which is Iim i ; : .: ' i t of the
door of the house and of i :i i, i m li i-l i; .:i > lieilience
1 Dt ir-?'.
tiphiUin ;* to eat salt (cf. 'salt of the covenant,' Lv 2'^, see Mk &"'"') at and after meals, and to drink water is also etficacious. Demons love the darkness and hate the light (cf. Lk 22^, Eph 6''-, Col 1'=), hence a lighted torch sends them away, but the light of the moon is most potent in scaring theiu. On Passover night the demons have no power.
4. The Gospels.— Demons are designated by various names in the Gospels, viz. Sai/jonoi' Mt 10* (Sal/j.bii' is sometimes found, it would imply more definite personality), jrvepMa Lk 9^', irveOna d/cd- 8apTov Mt 10' (rb aKiOapTov irvfi'fia Mt 12*^), irvcO/xa TToyTjpdf Lk 7"', Tvevfxa oat/xoctoi' duaSaprov Lk 4^, TTfev/xa aXaXov Mk 9''. In Matthew dain6t'ioi' is almost always used ; in Mark both daifi6piov and TVfu/ia aKaOaprov occur frequently, though the latter jjredominates ; in Luke there is a more varied use; in John the few references to a demon (the plural does not occur) are always in relation to Christ, and the word used is always Sai/xdi'iov. In the vast majority of cases these expressions are used in the plural form.
(a) Origin of demons. — The existence of demons is taken for granted in the Gospels, and nothing is said directly concerning their origin ; however, as is sliown below, Satan, Beelzebub, and the 'prince of the demons' are one and tlie same, and Christ speaks of His having seen Satan falling ' as light- ning from heaven' (Lk 10"). This last passage would seem to imply that Satan was in existence before the world was made, which would agree with the one rational tradition on the subject pre- served in the Talmud. There are, moreover, also one or two indications in other NT books which support this, e.g. 1 Jn 3* ' the devil sinneth from the beginning,' Rev 20- ' the old serpent which is the Devil.'
(i) The nature ofdemo7iS. — That possession often takes the form of a purely physical disorder is clear ; yet from the expressions used to designate demons, given above, they were undoubtedly re- garded as being morally evil. On the one hand, possession is frequently mentioned in the same category as ordinary sickness {e.g. Mt 10'), dumb- ness is said to be due to possession (Mt 9^, Lk 11'''), so too epilepsy (Mt 17'^) and blindness (Mt 12'"); demons are spoken of as taking up their abode in a man without his having, apparently, any choice in the matter (Mk 5'"-) ; it is, moreover, note- worthy, that the wicked {i.e. Pharisees, publicans, and sinners) are never spoken of as being possessed
{e.g. Lk IP""^- 15'), and the possessed are permitted to enter the synagogue (Mk 1=*, Lk 4**), wl Id hardly have been the case had they been
I'hich
regarded as notoriously evil ; another fact which should be taken into consideration in this con- nexion is our Lord's words to the demons (see below). On the other hand, the evidence is still stronger for possession having been regarded as a moral as well as a physical disorder. Demons are directly referred to as evil (Lk 7-' 8-) ; there are degrees of badness among them (Mt 12^^^), some are merely malignant, some do more physical harm than others (Mt 15"^, where ka»iis Soi/jovifcT-ai im- plies some specially virulent form of possession), some are referred to as being morally as well as I'liysically harmful (Lk S- irpevp.a.Tuv iroptipCii', IP") ;t 111 one case a demon is such tliat it can only be ex- pelled by prayer (Mk 9^),t which implies that in