 | Devil | |
(Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man's spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Revelation 2:10; Zechariah 3:1). He is called also "the accuser of the brethen" (Revelation 12:10).
In Leviticus 17:7 the word "devil" is the translation of the Hebrew sair, meaning a "goat" or "satyr" (Isaiah 13:21; 34:14), alluding to the wood-daemons, the objects of idolatrous worship among the heathen.
In Deuteronomy 32:17 and Psalm 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 (Matthew 12:25-30; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 4:35; 10:18, etc.).
