DABERATH pasture, a Levitical town of Issachar (Joshua 19:12; 21:28),
near the border of Zebulum. It is the modern small village of Deburich, at
the base of Mount Tabor. Tradition has incorrectly made it the scene of
the miracle of the cure of the lunatic child (Matthew 17:14).
DAEMON the Greek form, rendered “devil” in the Authorized Version of
the New Testament. Daemons are spoken of as spiritual beings (Matthew
8:16; 10:1; 12:43-45) at enmity with God, and as having a certain power
over man (James 2:19; Revelation 16:14). They recognize our Lord as the
Son of God (Matthew 8:20; Luke 4:41). They belong to the number of
those angels that “kept not their first estate,” “unclean spirits,” “fallen
angels,” the angels of the devil (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:7-9). They
are the “principalities and powers” against which we must “wrestle”
(Ephesians 6:12).
DAEMONIAC 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 (Matthew 9:32), blindness (12:22), epilepsy (Mark 9:17-27),
insanity (Matthew 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 (Matthew 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).
DAGON little fish; diminutive from dag = a fish, the fish-God; the national
God of the Philistines (Judges 16:23). This idol had the body of a fish with
the head and hands of a man. It was an Assyrio-Babylonian deity, the
worship of which was introduced among the Philistines through Chaldea.
The most famous of the temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges 16:23-30)
and Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:1-7). (See FISH.)
