John 7:20

7:20 The crowd ¹  answered, “You’re possessed by a demon! ²  Who is trying to kill you?” ³ 

John 8:48

8:48 The Judeans ⁴  replied, ⁵  “Aren’t we correct in saying ⁶  that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” ⁷ 

John 8:52

8:52 Then ⁸  the Judeans ⁹  responded, ¹⁰  “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! ¹¹  Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet ¹²  you say, ‘If anyone obeys ¹³  my teaching, ¹⁴  he will never experience ¹⁵  death.’ ¹⁶ 

Matthew 9:34

9:34 But the Pharisees ¹⁷  said, “By the ruler ¹⁸  of demons he casts out demons.” ¹⁹ 

Matthew 10:25

10:25 It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they defame the members of his household!

Mark 3:21

3:21 When his family ²⁰  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Acts 26:24

26:24 As Paul ²¹  was saying these things in his defense, Festus ²²  exclaimed loudly, “You have lost your mind, ²³  Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!”

[7:20]  ¹ tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities mentioned in 7:15).

[7:20]  ² tn Grk “You have a demon!”

[7:20]  ³ tn Grk “Who is seeking to kill you?”

[8:48]  ⁴ tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31). They had become increasingly hostile as Jesus continued to teach. Now they were ready to say that Jesus was demon-possessed.

[8:48]  ⁵ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[8:48]  ⁶ tn Grk “Do we not say rightly.”

[8:48]  ⁷ tn Grk “and have a demon.” It is not clear what is meant by the charge Σαμαρίτης εἶ σὺ καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις (Samarith" ei su kai daimonion ecei"). The meaning could be “you are a heretic and are possessed by a demon.” Note that the dual charge gets one reply (John 8:49). Perhaps the phrases were interchangeable: Simon Magus (Acts 8:14-24) and in later traditions Dositheus, the two Samaritans who claimed to be sons of God, were regarded as mad, that is, possessed by demons.

[8:52]  ⁸ tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (Ì⁶⁶ א B C W Θ 579 it) lack the conjunction here, while other witnesses read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì⁷⁵ D L Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the most important Johannine papyrus (Ì⁷⁵) has the conjunction, the combination of Ì⁶⁶ א B for the omission is even stronger. Further, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 41). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA²⁷ has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:52]  ⁹ tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here, as in vv. 31 and 48, the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31).

[8:52]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “said to him.”

[8:52]  ¹¹ tn Grk “you have a demon.”

[8:52]  ¹² tn “Yet” has been supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.

[8:52]  ¹³ tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”

[8:52]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:52]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “will never taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[8:52]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he will never taste of death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.

[9:34]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[9:34]  ¹⁸ tn Or “prince.”

[9:34]  ¹⁹ tc Although codex Cantabrigiensis (D), along with a few other Western versional and patristic witnesses, lacks this verse, virtually all other witnesses have it. The Western text’s reputation for free alterations as well as the heightened climax if v. 33 concludes this pericope explains why these witnesses omitted the verse.

[3:21]  ²⁰ tc Western witnesses D W it, instead of reading οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ aujtou, here translated “family”), have περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ λοιποί (peri autou Joi grammatei" kai Joi loipoi, “[when] the scribes and others [heard] about him”). But this reading is obviously motivated, for it removes the embarrassing statement about Jesus’ family’s opinion of him as “out of his mind” and transfers this view to the Lord’s opponents. The fact that virtually all other witnesses have οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ here, coupled with the strong internal evidence for the shorter reading, shows this Western reading to be secondary.

[26:24]  ²¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:24]  ²² sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:24]  ²³ tn On the term translated “lost your mind” see BDAG 610 s.v. μαίνομαι, which has “you’re out of your mind, you’re raving, said to one whose enthusiasm seems to have outrun better judgment 26:24.”