Been teaching a very fun introductory course on the Gospels, which in turn has provoked some excellent questions from the class. This one came up the other day – after an examination of Jesus’ ministry of casting out demons – and I thought I’d share.
And I would like to begin my answer by thanking the questioner for offering my inner geek the opportunity to fully express himself!
So here’s the deal: The word Matthew uses (as does Luke) in the temptation narrative is: diabolos (from which you can easily discern the Latin, Spanish, etc.). The noun diabolos is derived from the verb diaballo, which itself is a compound word from the preposition dia (= through) and ballo (= to throw). Pretty exciting, eh????
Diabollo (verb) literally means “to throw across” or “to divide, separate from,” but used in the sense of “to oppose” or “to accuse.” Can also be used in the context of deception (e.g., “to misrepresent”).
The reason one cares that the noun is derived from the verb is that it’s a pretty good indication that the noun is meant to objectify the qualities of the verb. That is to say, there isn’t a “thing” that gets named by the noun. Rather, there is a quality of being that – when expressed – is denoted by the noun. In short: there is no “thing” out there called a “devil” that you can put in the zoo. Rather, there is a thing that has the qualities of“Define “Devil””Continue reading
