δαιμόνιον

From the study of 1 Corinthians 10:20

Range of meaning

In ordinary Greek, a daimonion or daimōn was a divine being or power below the great gods, or simply 'the divine'. It could be good, neutral or harmful. Socrates spoke of his guiding daimonion, and Plutarch discusses daimones as go-betweens between gods and humans, some good, some wicked. In Jewish Greek, beginning with the Septuagint, the word became the standard label for the beings behind foreign worship. They were real but subordinate spirits, hostile to God, and in no sense God.

Against the English

KJV 'devils' blurs daimonia with the single figure of the Devil (diabolos, Satan), a different word Paul does not use here. Modern 'demons' calls up horror-film possession. Paul means something more specific: the spiritual powers that actually receive and stand behind pagan worship.

How it drifted

English 'devil' had long been used for any evil spirit, so the KJV used it for daimonion. Later popular culture narrowed 'demon' to possession and the occult. Neither picture centres on what the word does here, which is to name the beings that receive worship.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 32:17 LXX: 'they sacrificed to demons (daimoniois) and not to God'. Ps 95(96):5 LXX: 'all the gods of the nations are daimonia'. Ps 105(106):37 LXX: Israelites sacrificed their children 'to demons'. Baruch 4:7: 'sacrificing to demons and not to God'. 1 Enoch 19:1 says fallen angels' spirits led humans 'to sacrifice to demons as to gods'. Jubilees 1:11 and 22:17 say the same kind of thing. The Hebrew behind Deut 32:17 is shedim, related to the Akkadian šēdu, a kind of protective spirit.

From the study of James 2:19

Range of meaning

In ordinary Greek: a divine power, a lesser god, or a person's guiding spirit (as in Socrates' daimonion). Acts 17:18 uses it of 'foreign divinities'. In Jewish and Christian Greek: an evil or unclean spirit. The Greek Old Testament uses it for pagan gods, which it treats as demons (Deut 32:17; Ps 96:5 [Greek 95:5]).

Against the English

The KJV's 'devils' blurs it with diabolos, 'the devil', a different word that the New Testament uses almost only in the singular for Satan. 'Demons' is the accurate rendering.

How it drifted

Older English used 'devil' for any evil spirit, and the KJV followed that habit. Modern readers hear 'devils' as the Devil himself or as hell's officials.

Used elsewhere in the period

It occurs often in the Gospel exorcisms (Mark 1:34; Luke 4:33–35; 8:27–33). In Tobit 3:8 and 6:7 (Greek), the demon Asmodeus. In 1 Enoch 15–16 and 19, evil spirits are the offspring of the Watchers and are doomed to judgment.

From the study of John 10:20

Range of meaning

In classical Greek daimonion could mean 'the divine' or a neutral or even good guiding spirit. Socrates spoke of his daimonion, an inner divine sign. In Jewish Greek, starting with the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), it came to mean a hostile, unclean spirit or a pagan god that was really a demon. In the New Testament it is always an evil spirit that troubles people.

Against the English

KJV renders it 'devil', which today suggests Satan himself. Greek keeps the two apart: diabolos is 'the devil', the accuser, and daimonion is one of many lesser spirits. BSB's 'demon-possessed' turns the idiom 'he has a demon' into a modern-sounding category. That is accurate in substance, but the Greek is plainer: 'he has a demon.'

How it drifted

Older English used 'devil' for any evil spirit, so 'he hath a devil' meant 'he has a demon'. Modern English has narrowed 'the devil' to Satan, which makes the KJV wording mislead.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Deut 32:17 and Ps 95(96):5 ('all the gods of the nations are daimonia'). Tobit 3:8 (the demon Asmodeus). Josephus describes demons as spirits of wicked men that enter the living (War 7.185). Plato (Apology 31d) uses the older positive sense.