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wrongly, translated “devil”; it should always be translated “demon,” as in the
RV
margin.
There is one “Devil,” there are many demons. Being the malignant enemy of God and
man, he accuses man to God, Job 1:6-11; 2:1-5; Rev. 12:9, 10, and God to man, Gen. 3.
He afflicts men with physical sufferings, Acts 10:38. Being himself sinful, 1 John 3:8, he
instigated man to sin, Gen. 3, and tempts man to do evil, Eph. 4:27; 6:11, encouraging
him thereto by deception, Eph. 2:2. Death having been brought into the world by sin, the
“Devil” had the power of death, but Christ through His own death, has triumphed over
him, and will bring him to nought, Heb. 2:14; his power over death is intimated in his
struggle with Michael over the body of Moses, Jude 9. Judas, who gave himself over to
the “Devil,” was so identified with him, that the Lord described him as such, John 6:70
(see 13:2). As the “Devil” raised himself in pride against God and fell under
condemnation, so believers are warned against similar sin, 1 Tim. 3:6; for them he lays
snares, v. 7, seeking to devour them as a roaring lion, 1 Pet. 5:8; those who fall into his
snare may be recovered therefrom unto the will of God, 2 Tim. 2:26, “having been taken
captive by him (i.e., by the ‘Devil’)”; “by the Lord’s servant” is an alternative, which
some regard as confirmed by the use of
(“to catch alive”) in Luke 5:10; but the
general use is that of taking captive in the usual way. If believers resist he will flee from
them, Jas. 4:7. His fury and malignity will be especially exercised at the end of the
present age, Rev. 12:12. His doom is the lake of fire, Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10. The noun
is applied to slanderers, false accusers, 1 Tim. 3:11; 2 Tim. 3:3; Titus 2:3.
Note:
For devilish, Jas. 3:17, see
DEMON
, C.
DEVISED (cunningly)
(
&
, 4679), from
, “wise” (connected etymologically with
,
“tasty”), in the active voice signifies “to make wise,” 2 Tim. 3:15 (so in the Sept. of Ps.
19:7, e.g., “making babes wise”; in 119:98, “Thou hast made me wiser than mine
enemies”). In the middle voice it means (a) “to become wise”; it is not used thus in the
NT, but is so found in the Sept., e.g., in Eccles. 2:15, 19; 7:17; (b) “to play the sophist, to
devise cleverly”, it is used with this meaning in the passive voice in 2 Pet. 1:16,
“cunningly devised fables.” See
WISE
.¶
Note:
Cf.
, “to deal subtly.” See
DEAL
WITH,
Note
(2).
DEVOTION
Note:
For this word, in Acts 17:23,
KJV
, which translates
, “devotions,”
marg., “gods that ye worship,”
RV
, “objects of your worship,” in 2 Thess. 2:4, “that is
worshiped,” see
WORSHIP
.¶ Cf. Acts 14:15, where, in translating
, the
KJV
has
“vanities,” the abstract for the concrete (
RV
, “vain things”).
DEVOUR
1.
(
# &
, 2068) is a strengthened form of an old verb
, from the root
I
,
whence Lat.,
, Eng., “eat.” The form
, used as the 2nd aorist tense of this
verb, is from the root
/
, “to eat up.” It is translated “devour” in Heb. 10:27;
elsewhere, by the verb “to eat.” See
EAT
.
2.
and
(
&
, 2719),
, “down,” intensive, and No. 1,
signifies (a) “to consume by eating, to devour,” said of birds, Matt. 13:4; Mark 4:4; Luke