To be exercised by a dæmon
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Daimonizomai describes a person under demonic oppression or possession in the Gospel narratives. The word is not a general label for ordinary illness, suffering, mental distress, sin patterns, or social difficulty.
Reader summary
Full entry for δαιμονίζομαι (G1139) · Open the biblical lexicon
Daimonizomai describes a person under demonic oppression or possession in the Gospel narratives. The word is not a general label for ordinary illness, suffering, mental distress, sin patterns, or social difficulty.
The BSB source-word alignment has 13 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include demon-possessed [men] (2), demon-possessed man (2), [the] demon-possessed (1), a demon-possessed (1), a demon-possessed man (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (7), Mark (4), John (1), Luke (1).
Daimonizomai describes a person under demonic oppression or possession in the Gospel narratives. The word is not a general label for ordinary illness, suffering, mental distress, sin patterns, or social difficulty. The New Testament distinguishes demonized persons from those with other diseases even when the same compassionate Lord heals and delivers them. Matthew shows demonized people brought to Jesus among many kinds of afflicted people.
The violent men in the region of the Gadarenes, the blind and mute man in Matthew 12, the Canaanite woman's daughter, and the restored man in Mark 5 all show the same larger truth: demonic oppression is real, but it is not sovereign. Jesus speaks, heals, delivers, and restores people to right mind, mercy, and witness.
Daimonizomai is concentrated in the Gospels, where demonized people are brought before Jesus and His authority is displayed. The term appears in scenes of violence, physical impairment, family pleading, public accusation, and restored humanity. John 10 uses the accusation against Jesus to show that His words and works do not fit the charge of demon possession.
News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.
Matthew lists the demon-possessed alongside the sick, the suffering, those with seizures, and the paralyzed. The verse distinguishes categories while showing Jesus' mercy over all affliction.
When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, He was met by two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
The Gadarenes scene shows demonized men as violent and isolated. Jesus' authority enters a place others cannot safely pass and exposes demonic power as subordinate.
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed the man so that he could speak and see.
The demon-possessed man is blind and mute, and Jesus heals him so that he speaks and sees. The miracle leads into controversy over the source of Jesus' power.
And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”
The Canaanite woman pleads for mercy for her demon-oppressed daughter. The passage sets deliverance in the frame of persistent faith and Jesus' mercy beyond Israel's borders.
When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
The formerly demonized man is seated, clothed, and in his right mind. Mark emphasizes restoration, not spectacle, as the visible fruit of Jesus' deliverance.
But others replied, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Some reject the accusation that Jesus has a demon because His words and works do not fit it. John uses the charge to expose divided responses to Jesus.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Passive suffering under demonic control, not voluntary action; emphasizes the victim's helplessness.
Passive suffering under demonic control, not voluntary action; emphasizes the victim's helplessness.
(in cl. also δαιμονάω; δαίμων), [in Aq.: Ps 90(91):6 * ;] to be under the power of a δαίμων (δαιμόνιον, which see), to be possessed: Mat.15:22; elsewhere always ptcp., -ιζόμενος, -ισθείς: Mat.4:24; 8:16, 28, 33 9:32 12:22, Mrk.1:32 15 16 18, Luk.8:36, Jhn.10:21 (Cremer, 171).
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
13 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseI am demon-possessed
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 13 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
δαιμονίζομαι is built from this root:
Daimonizomai should make readers more serious about spiritual evil and more confident in the authority of Christ. The word does not give the church permission to diagnose every suffering person as demonized. Matthew 4 already distinguishes demonized persons from those with diseases, pain, seizures, and paralysis. At the same time, the Gospel writers do not treat demonic oppression as metaphor only.
They bring real people, with real bondage, to the real authority of Jesus. The pastoral center is therefore not fascination with demons, but the mercy and command of Christ. He restores speech, sight, sanity, family hope, and faithful witness.
Mark.5.15
Daimonizomai is a passive or middle-form verb describing the person as acted upon by demonic agency. That grammar supports caution: the word names a condition of oppression or possession, not the person's identity or worth.
The Old Testament warns against idolatry, occult practice, and false spiritual powers, while the Gospels bring the conflict into direct encounter with the incarnate Son. In the New Testament, demonic oppression is neither ignored nor centered. It is placed beneath Jesus' authority, then the apostolic witness calls the church to faith, sobriety, prayer, and resistance without fear-driven fixation.