The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 9
The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 9 – July 20th, 2012
1 Then calling together the twelve He gave to them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of Yahweh and to heal those with illnesses.
There are two words in the New Testament which are nearly always translated as devil in the King James Version. They are διάβολος (Strong's # 1228) and δαίμων (1142) or its diminutive form δαιμόνιον (1140). A διάβολος is literally an accuser, and by implication a false accuser. It is the root of our English word diabolical. The word is translated as slanderer in 1 Timothy 3:11, but is it elsewhere devil. A δαίμων or δαιμόνιον is the Greek word from which we get the English demon. The diminutive form δαιμόνιον was also used by secular Greek writers, and I will conjecture that one’s interpretation of it is dependent upon one’s perspective – whether one is Christian or pagan - to denote “the divine Power, deity, divinity...” but also “a spirit, a being inferior to God...”, both according to Joseph Thayer's Greek-English lexicon and also in secular Greek writers cited by Liddell & Scott is it defined as “...an inferior divine being, a demon”. A δαίμων (found in the N.T. only at Matt. 8:31) is according to Thayer “a god, goddess; an inferior deity...” in the common Greek language. In the New Testament, these words describe evil spirits.













