John 8:48

8:48 The Judeans ¹  replied, ²  “Aren’t we correct in saying ³  that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” ⁴ 

John 8:52

8:52 Then ⁵  the Judeans ⁶  responded, ⁷  “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! ⁸  Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet ⁹  you say, ‘If anyone obeys ¹⁰  my teaching, ¹¹  he will never experience ¹²  death.’ ¹³ 

John 10:20

10:20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind! ¹⁴  Why do you listen to him?”

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!

Matthew 11:18-19

11:18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ ¹⁵  11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him, ¹⁶  a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors ¹⁷  and sinners!’ ¹⁸  But wisdom is vindicated ¹⁹  by her deeds.” ²⁰ 

Matthew 12:24

12:24 But when the Pharisees ²¹  heard this they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, ²²  the ruler ²³  of demons!”

Mark 3:21-22

3:21 When his family ²⁴  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 3:22 The experts in the law ²⁵  who came down from Jerusalem ²⁶  said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” ²⁷  and, “By the ruler ²⁸  of demons he casts out demons.”

Mark 3:30

3:30 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit” ²⁹ ).

Acts 26:24

26:24 As Paul ³⁰  was saying these things in his defense, Festus ³¹  exclaimed loudly, “You have lost your mind, ³²  Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!”

[8:48]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[8:48]  ³ tn Grk “Do we not say rightly.”

[8:48]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Grk “said to him.”

[8:52]  ⁸ tn Grk “you have a demon.”

[8:52]  ⁹ tn “Yet” has been supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.

[8:52]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”

[8:52]  ¹¹ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:52]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Grk “he will never taste of death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.

[10:20]  ¹⁴ tn Or “is insane.” To translate simply “he is mad” (so KJV, ASV, RSV; “raving mad” NIV) could give the impression that Jesus was angry, while the actual charge was madness or insanity.

[11:18]  ¹⁵ sn John the Baptist was too separatist and ascetic for some, and so he was accused of not being directed by God, but by a demon.

[11:19]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Behold a man.”

[11:19]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[11:19]  ¹⁸ sn Neither were they happy with Jesus (the Son of Man), even though he was the opposite of John and associated freely with people like tax collectors and sinners. Either way, God’s messengers were subject to complaint.

[11:19]  ¹⁹ tn Or “shown to be right.”

[11:19]  ²⁰ tc Most witnesses (B² C D L Θ Ë¹ 33 Ï lat) have “children” (τέκνων, teknwn) here instead of “deeds” (ἔργων, ergwn), but since “children” is the reading of the parallel in Luke 7:35, scribes would be motivated to convert the less colorful “deeds” into more animate offspring of wisdom. Further, ἔργων enjoys support from א B* W (˹³) as well as early versional and patristic support.

[12:24]  ²¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:24]  ²² tn Grk “except by Beelzebul.”

[12:24]  ²³ tn Or “prince.”

[3:21]  ²⁴ 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.

[3:22]  ²⁵ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[3:22]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:22]  ²⁷ tn Grk “He has Beelzebul.”

[3:22]  ²⁸ tn Or “prince.”

[3:30]  ²⁹ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[26:24]  ³⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:24]  ³¹ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:24]  ³² 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.”