male and female, like the word sons-'O virgin, the daughter of Egypt' (Jer xlvi. 11); 'O virgin, daughter of Babylon;' 'O daughter of the Chaldeans' (Is. xlvii. 1, 5); 'O daughter of Tarshish' (Is. xxiii. 10); 'Rejoice, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem' (Zech. ix. 9). 10. The villages or towns in the neighbourhood of, or connected with a city-Heshbon and all its villages' (Heb. daughters; Num. xxi. 25); Beth-shean and her towns' (Heb. daughters; Josh. xvii. 11); or which have been founded by, or peopled from it-O thou oppressed virgin' (Tyre), 'the daughter of Zidon' (Is. xxiii. 12). 11. Worshippers; devoted to the daughter of a strange god' (Mal. ii. 11); 'the daughters of music' (Eccl. xii. 4); daughters of Belial' (1 Sam. i. 16). 12. Followed by a genitive of time it implies a female who has lived during that time'Sarah, a daughter of ninety years' (Gen. xvii. 17). 13. The offspring of animals-the horseleech hath two daughters' (Prov. xxx. 15); 'daughters of the owl' (marg. ostriches; Gesenius, 148, 356; Is. xiii. 21; xxxiv. 13; Micah i. 8). 14. Branches of a tree (Heb. daughters; Gen. xlix. 22). DAVID, the son of Jesse, was born at Bethlehem about B.C. 1085. He was the greatgrandson of Boaz and Ruth the Moabitess, and Boaz was the son of Salman and Rahab the harlot (Ruth iv. 21, 22; Matt. i. 5). In early life he kept his father's sheep; and while yet engaged in this humble occupation he was, by express commission from God, anointed by Samuel as the future king of Israel (1 Sam. xvi. 1-13). When still a young man he slew, in single combat, Goliath of Gath, the champion of the Philistines, a man of gigantic size and strength, who had defied the army of Israel, and whose challenge had filled them with fear and dismay (xvii.) As a reward for this achievement, Saul the king took him to live with him; but the women having come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, and with instruments of music, and answering one another as they played, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,' his jealousy was roused, and he made several attempts on his life (xviii. 2, 6-11, 17-29; xix. 8-17). David therefore fled from the court of Saul, and was for the next few years a fugitive in the land, wandering about from place to place, chiefly in the south of Judah, and concealing | himself in the fastnesses which abound in that part of the country (xix. 18; xx. 1; xxi. 1-27). Saul was at length slain in a battle with the Philistines; and David, who was now thirty years old, having gone to Hebron, the men of Judah came thither and anointed him as their king. In Hebron he reigned seven years and six months over the house of Judah; and in the meanwhile Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, was set up as king over the other tribes in Mahanaim, on the east side of the Jordan; but he having been murdered by two of his servants, the elders of Israel also came and anointed him as their king (2 Sam. ii. 1-4, 8-11; iv. v. 1-5). Up to this time Jerusalem had never been the capital of the Israelitish nation. It was taken, indeed, by the children of Judah so early as the days of Joshua; but they could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants, and they appear to have held joint possession of it. David, however, now conquered them, and henceforth Jerusalem became the capital of his kingdom (Josh. xv. 63; 2 Sam. v. 6-9). His reign was at once prosperous and troublous-prosperous as to external events, troublous as to internal. He was much engaged in war with the neighbouring nations, and was generally successful. He completely defeated the Philistines in the west; the Moabites and the Edomites in the south; the Syrians of Zoba and Damascus in the north; and the Ammonites and their Syrian allies in the east. His conquests appear to have extended to the Euphrates. In some instances he exercised great cruelties on his conquered foes (2 Sam. v. 17-25; viii. 1-8, 14; x. xi. 1; xii. 26-31; xxi. 15-22). Polygamy does not appear to have prevailed among the Israelites before this time, though there were examples of the practice; but David, like other Eastern monarchs, indulged in it to a great extent. Even while in Hebron he had the following wives: Michal, the daughter of Saul, who was childless; Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, the mother of Ammon; Abigail, the widow of Nabal; Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, the mother of Absalom and his sister Tamar; Haggeth, the mother of Adonijah; Abital and Eglah; but it is stated, 'David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem after he was come from Hebron; and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.' The only other wife, however, whose name is ever mentioned is Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah the Hittite; and his son Solomon is the only other of David's children of whom we have anything but the names. By all his wives he appears to have had only nineteen sons and one daughter. How many he had by his concubines, of whom there were at least ten, we are not told; but the likelihood is, they were not proportionally more numerous (2 Sam. iii. 2-5; v. 13-16; vi. 23; xv. 16; 1 Chron. iii. 1-9). So true is it that polygamy is as little favourable to population as it is to domestic peace and comfort. Though David was exceedingly popular when a young man (1 Sam. xviii. 5, 6, 12-16, 30), it may be doubted whether he was popular as a sovereign. After the death of Ishbosheth, though he was already the king of the tribe of Judah, the other tribes allowed upwards of five years to pass before they invited him to be their king (2 Sam. v. 1-3); at least we are led to form this conclusion from ii. 10. From the promises held out by Absalom, one would be led to suspect that David was negligent in the administration of justice; at all events, he appears not to have found it difficult to draw the men of Israel into rebellion against his father; even Ahithophel, one of David's chief counsellors, was among the conspirators; and Shimei, a Benjamite, grossly insulted him as he left Jerusalem, cursing him and casting stones at him. But a small portion of the nation appear to have adhered heartily to David; and after the defeat of Absalom, a quarrel having arisen between the men of Israel and the men of Judah as to who should take part in bringing back the king, the former withdrew and joined in a new rebellion raised by Sheba the son of Bichri; and though it was speedily suppressed, yet the fact of its having taken place at all, and so closely upon the defeat of Absalom, appears to shew that the attachment of the Israelites to him was but slender (2 Sam. xv. 1-13, 31; xvi. 5-8, 23; xvii. 11, 12, 14; xix. 41-43; xx. 1, 2, 14, 15, 22). Into further details of the history of David and his family it is scarcely necessary to enter, as they must be familiar to every reader. Some of them are of a very painful nature. By his conduct in various cases he gave great occasion,' to use the words of Nathan to himself, to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,' and brought down heavy judgments on himself, his family, and his subjects (2 Sam. xii. 7-14). It is not easy to reconcile much of his character with the place which he holds in Holy Writ, nor with the sacred strains in which he pours forth the pious feelings of his soul in many of his Psalms. He is a striking example of the inconsistencies which may be found in the character of man, and of the patience, forbearance, and mercy of God toward his own people. David reigned over all Israel thirty-three years, making the whole length of his reign forty years and six months; and he died B.C. 1015, being 70 years old (1 Chron. iii. 4). DAY. [TIME.] | DEACON duty to take charge of the temporal, or rather the pecuniary, concerns of a church, and particularly to attend to the wants of the poor. It is generally supposed that we have an account of the original institution of the office in Acts vi. 1-8; and it is even customary to speak of Stephen and his brethren as the seven deacons.' But it is a remarkable fact that they are never called deacons, neither in that nor in any other passage of the N. T.; and for anything that appears, their appointment might be merely a local and temporary appointment of the church at Jerusalem, arising out of the circumstances in which its members were then placed, they having all things common,' as many as were possessors of lands or houses selling them,' and distribution being made unto every man according as he had need' (Acts iv. 32, 34, 35). This is a state of things which we find in no other church, and after a time it no doubt ceased in that of Jerusalem, and with its ceasing it is not unlikely the appointment now made also ceased. Stephen, one of the seven, suffered martyrdom shortly after; and Philip, another of them, 'went down to Samaria and preached Christ unto them,' working miracles and baptizing those who believed, and receiving a commission by an angel to go in the direction of Gaza, where he falls in with the Ethiopian eunuch, and after instructing, baptizes him, and then passing through and preaching in all the cities, coming to Cæsarea' (Acts vii. 54-60; viii. 5-13, 26-40). Whether he remained long in Cæsarea at that time does not appear; but there in his own house with his four daughters, and called 'the evangelist which was one of the seven,' as if evangelistic labours were his chief employment (xxi. 8-10). DEA'CON, a word derived from the Greek Bakovos, which has the general signification of servant, and is used in the N. T. in the follow-upwards of twenty years after this we find him ing senses -1. A servant (Matt. xx. 26; Mark ix. 35). Used of servants waiting at table (John ii. 5, 9). Among the Greeks the diakovo were a higher class of servants than the dovλo. Used of the servants or officers of a king (Matt. xxii. 13). 2. A servant, used of civil magistrates in their relation to God (Rom. xiii. 4). 3. A servant of God or of Christ in his church, used of Paul and Apollos. It is the most common appellation that Paul takes to himself (1 Cor. iii. 5; 2 Cor. iii. 6; vi. 4; Ephes. iii. 7; Col. i. 23, 25); and of others in like office (2 Cor. xi. 23), as Tychicus (Ephes. vi. 21), as Epaphras (Col. i. 7), as Timothy (1 Thess. iii. 2; 1 Tim. iv. 6). Used also of false apostles, servants of Satan (2 Cor. xi. 13-15). In reference to the service of God or of Christ in his church we likewise frequently meet with the cognate word diakovia, ministry (Acts i. 17, 25; xx. 24; Rom. xi. 13, etc.) 4. Used of Christ himself (Rom. xv. 8), diakovos яερiтoμns (E. T. a minister of the circumcision-i.e., Judaism, or to the Jews). 5. A particular class of officers in the primitive churches, as at Philippi (Phil. i. 1), who were distinct from the bishops or overseers-i.e., the elders or presbyters of the churches (Acts xx. 17, 28; 1 Tim. iii. 1, 8). Of the qualifications of deacons we have a somewhat detailed statement in 1 Tim. iii. 8-14. These, it will be observed, are chiefly of a moral nature; but of the duties of deacons we have no distinct account in the N. T. From the apostle's statement of the qualifications required for the office, it was plainly one of considerable importance. It is a very common idea that it was their After all, however, the office of deacon may have had some special reference to providing for the wants, not of the poor only, but of the elders or presbyters of the churches (1 Tim. v. 17, 18), and of other servants of Christ, as of the apostles themselves (1 Cor. ix. 1-14; 2 Cor. xi. 7-12). Without officers in churches whose duty this was, it would be very apt to be neglected (Phil. iv. 14-17). The cognate verb diakovew, though employed in the general sense of to serve, is also used to signify to supply the wants of another, as in Matt. iv. 11; xxv. 44; Luke viii. 3; and specially of providing and distributing the alms of the churches or of individuals (Rom. xv. 25; 2 Cor. viii. 19, 20; Heb. vi. 6; 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11); and though in none of these passages is there reference to deacons as the agents, yet from this application of the verb the name may not inaptly have been given to church officers appointed to such special duties. In point of fact, the verb is used of the duties of deacons (comp. 1 Tim. iii. 8, 12, with ver. 10 and 13). Hence we would have little hesitation in assigning such duties to deacons. Though we do not think Acts vi. 1-6 can be held to furnish evidence of the original institution of the office of deacons, yet it may be noted that both the noun diakovia and the verb diakovew (ver. 1 and 2) are used in reference to the offices there spoken of. It is also a prevalent idea that the office of deaconesses was an institution of the apostolic like manner, says, 'The last enemy-deathshall be destroyed.' Then shall be fulfilled the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor. xv. 26, 54-56). If any are disposed to cavil at the entrance of death into our world (while yet they cannot deny the fact), we should like to know what they have to say of this glorious revelation-a revelation far surpassing in sublimity and importance the most magnificent and interesting discoveries of philosophers in either ancient or modern times. Surely they will hail it with wonder and delight! church; but, so far as Scripture authority is concerned, this opinion rests on a solitary passage (Rom. xvi. 1); whereas the apostle mentions Phebe our sister (diakovos) of the church in Cenchrea,' which our translators render simply a servant, and which assuredly furnishes no adequate authority for the opinion commonly founded upon it, as it may refer to service of any kind, and in any way rendered to others. It is worthy of remark that though the word diakovos is found thirty times in the N. T., yet it occurs only three, or at most four times as a special official designation. In all the other cases it is used in the general sense of servant. It is alleged, indeed, that the almost Oriental seclusion in which the Greek women were kept would render necessary, or at least very useful, such an institution as that of deaconess in the churches of Greece, as well as in those of the East (Conybeare, i. 466, 467); but the Scriptures, not human wisdom, are the only safe guide in regard to the officers, and to all important arrangements in the church of Christ. In regard even to this very question it should be recollected that Christianity was designed, not for Greece and the countries of the East only, but for the world, and that for many, perhaps most parts of the world. Such an institution is not required for the reason here alleged. Even if the argument possessed more weight than it does, yet no one can tell what would have been the results of such an institution. The early advocates of ceremonies and other mummeries little foresaw the evils to which they would give rise, as they came to be multi-heaven-might even perhaps be made softer, plied and systematised. It is necessary to be on our guard how we add to or seek to amend the institutions of Christ (Deut. iv. 2; xii. 32; Prov. xxx. 6; Rev. xxii. 16, 18-20). But though we apprehend there is no Scripture authority for deaconesses, the office was early introduced into the church; but it was at length given up in both the Greek and the Roman churches. Though, as regards mankind, death unquestionably entered into the world as the punishment of sin, yet it does not appear to be necessarily penal in its nature. People often puzzle their brain with the question, If man had not sinned, how would there have been room in the earth for the immense multitudes of human beings who, according to the natural order of things, would in the course of ages be born into the world? But if it can be shewn that death is not necessarily penal, we need not trouble ourselves much with this question. In the Scriptures the death of the righteous is often represented under one of the most pleasing imagessleep. It is therefore easy to conceive of it as divested of every symptom of a penal kind. The passage from time to eternity-from earth to more gentle, and even more delightful than sleep itself. The apostle himself says, We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed' (xv. 51, 52). It was long a commonly-received opinion that the death of the lower animals was one of the penal consequences of Adam's transgression; but for this doctrine there is no proper ground. We have seen that death is not necessarily a penal infliction, and we may here add that the lower animals are not proper subjects of a penal infliction. They are not rational and account DEATH, the stoppage or cessation of the functions of life, including, as regards man, the separation of the body and the soul. The death of mankind is plainly the result and fruit of sin. Referring to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Lord said to Adam, 'Inable creatures: a rational and moral constituthe day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die' (Gen. ii. 17). But the result of Adam's transgression was not confined to himself; it extended to the whole of his posterity, not excepting even infants (Rom. v. 12-14). The universality of death is undeniable; even the universal liability of infants to death cannot be questioned. If any shall think there is difficulty in the case, the difficulty is not confined to religion, natural or revealed. It regards a simple matter of undeniable fact. But though death is not to be held as one of the difficulties of religion, we are indebted to religion for a remedy against it. The apostle says, 'Jesus Christ hath abolished (or destroyed) death, and brought life and immortality to light by the gospel' (2 Tim. i. 10). 'I,' says our Lord himself, am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live' (John xi. 25). Paul, in tion are essential to accountability. Many animals, it is evident from their structure, were originally destined to live on grass and other vegetable productions; but it is no less evident from their structure, from their mouth, their teeth, their stomach, that many othersquadrupeds, birds, insects, fishes-were destined to live on animal food-i.e., on one another. Had there not been some provision for removing them, the earth, air, and sea would ere long have been overstocked by them, and at length they would not have been capable of holding them. The death of the lower animals, in some way or other, must therefore have been an original part of the constitution of things whether man continued in his first estate or fell into sin. But what shews that the death of the inferior animals is not the result of Adam's transgression is the great fact which geology has of late years brought to light, that ages before man existed there were successive races of animals | his holy law (Luke vii. 41; Matt. xviii. 24). on the earth, and that many of them preyed Paul was debtor to both Jews and Gentiles, on each other; that they were at once con- wise and unwise; he was bound by office to querors and conquered, devourers and devoured; preach the gospel to them (Rom. i. 14). Love but many also, no doubt, died of age and to one another is a debt we ought never to think disease, of hunger and thirst, of cold and heat, | paid off (Rom. xiii. 8). were drowned in the waters, or perished in numerous other ways. Now, it is plain that the death of these animals was not the result or the fruit of Adam's transgression, seeing the great destroyer was all activity perhaps millions of ages before man was called into being that in fact it must have been part of the original constitution under which they were placed by their great Creator. This having been the established order of things, and that through successive periods of creation and destruction, we are naturally led to the conclusion that the death of animals in the present era does not arise out of any circumstances peculiar to our era, but is just a carrying out the same system which had uniformly prevailed in long and successive periods before man was created on the earth. Death is not a new thing; it is probably millions of years old. DE BIR. 1. A city in the south-east of Canaan. It was also called Kirjath-sepher and Kirjath-sannah (Josh. xv. 15, 49). It appears that in common with Hebron and other places in that part of the country, it was inhabited by the Anakim (xi. 21). However, it is said Joshua fought against it, and took it and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein: he left none remaining' (x. 38, 39). Though the taking of Debir is thus attributed to Joshua, it is perhaps as the leader or chief commander of Israel. It appears he assigned Hebron to Caleb, and after taking that city Caleb went up thence to Debir, and he offered to give his daughter Achsah in marriage to whosoever would take it and smite it; and Othniel, his brother's son, having done so, he accordingly gave him his daughter to wife' (xv. 13-17). It was afterwards given with its suburbs to the priests (xxi. 15). No traces of it are now known. 2. A city in the tribe of Gad, on the east of the Jordan (xiii. 26). 3. A city on the border of Judah and Benjamin (xv. 7). DEBT, what one owes to another. Sin is called a debt it consists in withholding from God his due honour and love; and by suffering must his justice be satisfied for its offence (Matt. vi. 12). A debtor is one who, by promise or equity, owes somewhat to another. The saints are not debtors to the flesh; they owe no service to their sinful lusts, but to God, who hath saved them with a full and everlasting salvation (Rom. viii. 12). Circumcised persons were debtors to fulfil the whole law: by circumcision they solemnly declared their obliga tion and willingness to do so: such as clave to circumcision after the erection of the gospel church renounced Christ's fulfilment of the law, and obliged themselves to a personal fulfilment of the whole broken covenant (Gal. v. 3). Sinners are debtors to God, owe much obedience to the precept, and satisfaction to the penalty of DECAPOLIS, a district of country chiefly on the east of the Jordan (Matt. iv. 25; Mark contained ten cities, of which Pliny gives the v. 20; vii. 31). It was so called because it following list: Scythopolis or Bethshan, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Damascus, and Raphana; but regarding its limits, and even the names of its cities, the authorities are by no means agreed. Some even suppose it was not the name of a district of country, but merely of a collection of cities, ten in number. DE'DAN. 1. The son of Raamah, and grandson of Cush. He had a brother named Sheba (Gen. x. 7). His descendants are supposed to have settled in Arabia Felix, on the west of the Persian Gulf. Bochart and J. D. Michaelis recognise an island in that gulf named Daden, as probably indicating their settlement in that quarter. It is probably the descendants of the Cushite Dedan who are referred to in Ezek. xxvii. 15 as trading with Tyre: The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thy hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony'articles which may have come from India or other parts of the East; and again in ver. 20: Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.' Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish' are also named together in xxxviii. 13. 2. The son of Jokshan, and grandson of Abraham and Keturah. It is rather remarkable his brother was also named Sheba (Gen. XXV. 3). It is probable his descendants were settled in the neighbourhood of Idumæa. In Jer. xlix. 7, 8, we read: 'Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him.' This appears plainly to imply the neighbourhood of Dedan to Edom. In xxv. 23 the prophet also names Dedan along with Tema and Buz, two other tribes of Arabia Petræa or Arabia Deserta. In Ezek. xxv. 13 Dedan is also spoken of along with Edom and Teman. These several passages appear to indicate pretty plainly that the posterity of Dedan were settled not far from Idumæa. DELU'SIONS, errors and influences calcuGod chooses men's lated to deceive men. delusions, and sends them strong delusions, when, in his righteous judgment he permits Satan, their own lusts, and false teachers effectually to seduce them, and gives them up to the errors and abominations which they relish (Is. lxvi. 4; 2 Thes. ii. 11; Rom. i. 20-32). DE'MAS, an early professor of Christianity, perhaps a preacher, who was with Paul when a prisoner at Rome, and whom he names among his fellow-labourers, but who before his death had forsaken him, 'having loved this present world, and departed into Thessalonica' (Col. iv. 14; Phil. 24; 2 Tim. iv. 10). It is said he fell into the heresy of Ebion and Cerinthus, who held Christ to be a mere man. DENA'RIUS, a Roman silver coin of about the value of 74d. It was of the same value as the drachma of the Greeks. On one side of it there was the figure of the goddess of victory, on the reverse a chariot drawn by four horses; but subsequently the reverse had on it the head of Cæsar. Hence the argument of our Lord (Matt. xxii. 15-22). In the common translation the word is very improperly rendered a penny, an English coin totally different from it in kind and in value. The original term ought to have been transferred, not translated: this ought to be done as to coins generally. The word penny is the worst of all the translations of coins in the Scriptures. Such translations of pieces of money convey only vague and indefinite ideas; but the word penny conveys false ideas, not only of the value of the coin itself, but of the value of other things; as of the value of labour as measured by the rate of wages (Matt. xx. 2, 9, 10, 13); of the quantity of articles required (Mark vi. 37); of the value of articles (xiv. 5); of the price of articles (Rev. vi. 6); of the amount of debts (Matt. xviii. 28; Luke vii. 41); of the extent of benevolence (Luke x. 35). DER'BE, a city of Lycaonia, in Asia Minor. Paul and Barnabas betook themselves to this city after the former was stoned at Iconium (Acts xiv. 6, 19, 20). The site of both Derbe and Lystra are now unknown, or at least are extremely uncertain (Hamilton, Res. ii. 319). No coins or inscriptions have been found to decide the question (Bib. Sac. viii. 869). DEUTERONOMY. [PENTATEUCH.] DEVIL. There are three Greek words rendered Devil in our translation-diáßoλos, diabolos; daiuwv, dæmon; and daubviov, dæmonion; and it is necessary to consider them separately. · beings. Our Lord on one occasion said to his accusers' (Titus ii. 3). The application of the 2. Δαίμων and Δαιμόνιον. There does not appear to be any material difference in the application of these two terms, the latter being merely a diminutive of the former. They reference to possessions; but the word didBoλos occur frequently in the Gospels, and always in is never so applied, a circumstance which is worthy of notice. dæmons to whom possessions were ascribed then What the precise idea of the was, it is scarcely possible for us with any certainty to say; but as it is evident that the two words didßoλos and dauóvior are not once confounded, though the first occurs in the N. T. upwards of thirty times, and the second about sixty, they can by no rule of just interpretation be rendered by the same word. Possessions are never attributed to the being called & diáßoλos; nor are his power and authority ever attributed to daquóvia; nay, though various discriminatory appellations of the Devil are occasionally employed, yet daubvior is never given as one. Besides, there is no such being as to dalubrior, (the Dæmon), the appellation datμóvior being common to multitudes, while the other, o diáẞoλos (the Devil), is always represented as a singular being, the only one of his kind. Diseases cured by our Lord are ascribed to the influence of Satan (Luke xiii. 16) and of the Devil (Acts x. 38); but not cases of possession, which appear to have been of a peculiar kind. 1. Atáßolos. This word signifies a calumniator, traducer, slanderer, false accuser. It is employed to designate specially that apostate angel who is represented, particularly in the N. T., as the great adversary of God and man. His character is brought out in many passages under a variety of aspects. He is called the enemy that sowed tares' (Matt. xiii. 39); 'a liar' and a murderer from the beginning' (John viii. 44); the prince of this world' (xii. 31; xiv. 30); the god of this world' (2 Cor. iv. 4); 'him that had the power of death' (Heb. ii. 14); the adversary that goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour' (1 Pet. v. 8); 'that old serpent called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world;' the accuser of the brethren, which accused them before God day and night' (Rev. xii. 9, 10). He is represented as the great tempter to evil. He tempted our Lord himself (Matt. iv.); and having failed in this, he put it into the heart of Judas to betray him (John xiii. 2-27. See also Luke viii. 12; Acts v. 3; 2 Cor. xii. 7; Eph. vi. 11; 1 Thess. ii. 18; 2 Tim. ii. 26; Rev. ii. 10). The word is also sometimes applied to human conveys a bad sense even in the N. T. Though we cannot say with certainty, from all that is said in the Gospels concerning possessions what demons were, it is plain they were conceived to be malignant spirits. They are exhibited as the causes of the most direful calamities to the unhappy persons who were possessed by them. The descriptive titles given of them always denote some ill quality or other. Most frequently they are called unclean spirits, sometimes evil spirits. They are also represented as sensible that they are doomed to misery, though their punishment be for a time suspended: 'Behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?' (Matt. viii. 29). But though this was the character of those demons which were dislodged by our Lord out of the bodies of men and women possessed by them, it does not follow that the word always This |