Bible Dictionary
Daemoniac
A daemoniac was a person under the oppressive influence of an evil spirit. The Gospels distinguish this condition from ordinary illness and describe spirits causing afflictions such as muteness, blindness, epilepsy, and severe mental disturbance.
Definition
A daemoniac was a person possessed by an evil spirit. The influence could affect body, speech, mind, and conduct, producing dumbness, blindness, epilepsy, insanity, and other afflictions.
Biblical Usage
The Gospels distinguish daemoniacs from those suffering ordinary bodily diseases. The spirits speak through the afflicted persons, and their influence is distinguished from ordinary temptation and moral corruption.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
One “possessed with a devil.” In the days of our Lord and his apostles, evil spirits, “daemons,” were mysteriously permitted by God to exercise an influence both over the souls and bodies of men, inflicting dumbness (Matt. 9:32), blindness (12:22), epilepsy (Mark 9:17-27), insanity (Matt. 8:28; Mark 5:1-5). Daemoniacs are frequently distinguished from those who are afflicted with ordinary bodily maladies (Mark 1:32; 16:17, 18; Luke 6:17, 18). The daemons speak in their own persons (Matt. 8:29; Mark 1:23, 24; 5:7). This influence is clearly distinguished from the ordinary power of corruption and of temptation over men. In the daemoniac his personality seems to be destroyed, and his actions, words, and even thoughts to be overborne by the evil spirit (Mark, l.c.; Acts 19:15).