Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MADNESS

The ancients depicted the supernatural origin, moral nature, and behaviors that characterized madness rather than its psychological makeup. In the OT madness is viewed as a punishment God sends on disobedient Israelites or the derangement with which he will inflict people on the Day of the Lord (Heb. šiggāʿôn; Deut. 28:28; Zech. 12:4). The writer of Ecclesiastes contemplates the differences between what is wise, foolish, and mad (hôlēlâ, meaning impetuous excitement, raving and foolish actions; Eccl. 1:17; 2:12; 7:25; 9:3; 10:13). In Dan. 4 Nebuchadnezzar relates his bizarre, disturbing, and grandiose dreams to Daniel, who interprets them and then sees them come true. For a time Nebuchadnezzar grazes like an animal, detached from human community. The most extensive depiction of madness in the OT is Saul’s decline. Plagued by paranoid jealousy of David, Saul becomes so violent that he has the priests and citizens of Nob murdered (1 Sam. 22:6-19), visits a medium by night at Endor, and finally commits suicide (1 Sam. 28, 31). While God is not blamed for these madnesses as acts of evil, the Hebrews saw God as the final and efficient cause of all things, so they believed that an evil spirit from God tormented Saul (1 Sam. 16:14) and a lying spirit from God brought about Ahab’s death (1 Kgs. 22:19-23; cf. Luke 11:24-26 on the insanity demons cause). Madness could be imitated: David once pretended to be insane, to save his life, by drooling, marking the door, and behaving oddly (1 Sam. 21:13-15).

In the Greek world, madness (Gk. átē) was personified blind foolishness which came upon people and rendered them incapable of knowing right from wrong.

In the NT madness is thought to come from demon possession (Luke 8:2-3, 30; 11:14). People who have such disorders may strip themselves, live in tombs, and behave violently (Mark 5:2-13; Matt. 8:28-33). Other kinds of “madness” are the foolish ignorance of wicked teachers and religious leaders (Gk. ánoia; 2 Tim. 3:9; Luke 6:11), unreasonably evil and selfish foolhardiness (paraphronía; 2 Pet. 2:16), and delirious frenzy or eccentricity (manía; Festus tells Paul that too much learning has made the apostle insane, Acts 26:24).

Richard A. Spencer

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MADNESS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)