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Mental Illness in the Bible Hebrew/Greek word study of "insanity" and "madness" |
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Introduction:
1. The Bible clearly says that God will strike sinners with madness as a curse.
a. Exactly how God accomplishes this is unknown.
b. Paranoia, panic and horror was a key factor in why armies would turn on themselves.
c. Whereas Nebuchadnezzar was directly and miraculously stricken by God with insanity, Saul on the other hand, gradually became more psychotic with paranoia and delusion out of jealously, anger towards David and rebellion to God.
2. When God defeated the armies who attacked Israel, he did so by striking them with madness so that they began to kill each other in a psychotic panic of confusion and delusion. Originally madness simply means: “one who has sudden, unpredictable, wild outbursts of uncontrollable anger for no apparent reason accompanied with delusion and paranoia”.
3. "For this reason God will send upon them a deluding [planē, 4106] influence [energeia, 1753] so that they will believe what is false" 2 Thessalonians 2:11
4. Hebrew words for insanity/madness:
a. “shaga”, 7696 “to be mad”
b. “shiggaon”, 7697 “madness”
c. “Timmahown”, 8541 “confusion, mental illness”
d. “mehumah”, 4103 “confusion, panic”
e. “taam”, 2940 “discretion, discernment and good judgment [lack of]”
f. "halal", 1984 “shining, boastful, madness”
g. "hamam", 2000 “confuse, discomfort, vex, trouble, destroy, discomfort”
5. Greek words:
a. “existemi”, 1839 “he lost his senses”
b. “mainomai”, 3105 “maniac, manic”
c. "planē, 4106 + energeia, 1753 "delusion influence/behaviour"
d. "Paraphronia", 3913, "madness (from para, contrary to, and phrēn, the mind)"
A. Interchangeability of words for madness used within a single text:
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shaga, 7696 “to be mad” |
Timmahown, 8541 “confusion, mental illness” |
taam, 2940 “lack of discretion, discernment and good judgment” |
halal, 1984 “shining, boastful, madness” |
mehumah, 4103 |
existemi, 1839 “lost senses” |
mainomai, 3105 “maniac, manic” |
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Deut 28:20,27-28,34 |
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Zechariah 12:4 |
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1 Samuel 21:12-15 |
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Acts 12:16 |
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B. Parallel passages of words for madness:
Parallel passages: that use mad [shiggaon, 7697] and bewildermet [“timmahown”, 8541] interchangeably:
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Deut 28:27-29 |
The Lord will smite you with |
Madness (men) |
bewilderment (men) |
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Zech 12:4 |
will strike you with |
Madness (horses) |
bewilderment (men) |
C. Definition of Hebrew “shaga”, 7696 “to be mad”:
1. “be mad, like a maniac, i.e., to think irrationally and not be in a right state of mind ... carry on like a madman” (Swanson, J, 1997, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domain)
2. “Etymologically the root has been connected with Arabic “the (ceaseless) cooing of pigeons,” or Assyrian “to howl, rage.” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, p 905, 7696)
3. “You shall be driven mad [shaga, 7696] by the sight of what you see. " Deuteronomy 28:34
4. "David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. So he disguised his sanity [taam, 2940] before them, and acted insanely [halal, 1984] in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman [shaga, 7696]. Why do you bring him to me? “Do I lack madmen [shaga, 7696], that you have brought this one to act the madman [shaga, 7696] in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”" 1 Samuel 21:12-15
5. “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer in the house of the Lord over every madman [shaga, 7696] who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar, " Jeremiah 29:26
6. "Now Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad [shaga, 7696] fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know very well the man and his talk.” " 2 Kings 9:11
7. "The days of punishment have come, The days of retribution have come; Let Israel know this! The prophet is a fool, The inspired man is mad [shaga, 7696], Because of the grossness of your iniquity, And because your hostility is so great. " Hosea 9:7
D. Definition of Hebrew “shiggaon”, 7697 “madness”:
1. “Etymologically the root has been connected with Arabic “the (ceaseless) cooing of pigeons,” or Assyrian “to howl, rage.” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, p 905, 7697)
2. “madness, i.e., an irrational state of not having a right mind, and so capable of erratic behavior similar to panic” (Swanson, J, 1997, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domain, 7697)
3. "The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. “The Lord will smite you with madness [shiggaon, 7697] and with blindness and with bewilderment [“timmahown”, 8541] of heart; and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you. " Deuteronomy 28:27-29
4. “In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment [“timmahown”, 8541] and his rider with madness [shiggaon, 2328]. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. " Zechariah 12:4
5. "The watchman reported, “He came even to them, and he did not return; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives like a mad man. [shiggaon, 2328].” 2 Kings 9:20
E. Definition of Hebrew “Timmahown”, 8541 “confusion, mental illness”
1. “(timahown lebab) mental illness, formally, confusion of the heart, i.e., a physical condition of weakness of the mind, and so a person is in a confused condition and unable to respond normally and naturally to his daily condition. (Dt 28:28)” (Swanson, J, 1997, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domain, 8541)
2. The root meaning is “be astounded, dumbfounded, bewildered,” with an element of fear, whether because of an amazing or fearful sight (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament)
3. "The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. “The Lord will smite you with madness [shiggaon, 7697] and with blindness and with bewilderment [“timmahown”, 8541] of heart; and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you. " Deuteronomy 28:27-29
4. “In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment [“timmahown”, 8541] and his rider with madness [shiggaon, 2328]. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. " Zechariah 12:4
F. Definition of Hebrew “mehumah”, 4103 “confusion, panic”
1. “confusion, i.e., a state of discomfiture (uncomfortableness) and consternation because one is not understanding a situation, and so implying turmoil and panic.” (Swanson, J, 1997, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domain)
2. “destruction, discomfiture, trouble, tumult, vexed, vexation.” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament)
3. "But the Lord your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion [mehumah, 4103] until they are destroyed. " Deuteronomy 7:23
4. "The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion [mehumah, 4103], and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. " Deuteronomy 28:20
5. "After they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city with very great confusion [mehumah, 4103]; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. " 1 Samuel 5:9
6. "They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly confusion [mehumah, 4103] throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. " 1 Samuel 5:11
7. "Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion [mehumah, 4103]. " 1 Samuel 14:20
8. "For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic, subjugation and confusion [mehumah, 4103] In the valley of vision, A breaking down of walls And a crying to the mountain. " Isaiah 22:5
9. "‘Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is near—tumult [mehumah, 4103] rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. " Ezekiel 7:7
10. "It will come about in that day that a great panic [mehumah, 4103] from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. " Zechariah 14:13
G. Definition of Hebrew “taam”, 2940 “discretion, discernment and good judgment [lack of] ”
1. “Taste, discretion, discernment, i.e., good judgment as a facet of wisdom and capacity for understanding” (Swanson, J, 1997, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domain)
2. “So David disguised his sanity [taam, 2940] and acted insanely [shaga, 7696] 1 Samuel 21:12
3. "seven men who can give a discreet [taam, 2940] answer." Proverbs 26:16
4. “the discernment [taam, 2940] of the elders." Job 12:20
H. Definition of Hebrew: "halal", 1984 “shining, boastful, madness”
1. The Hebrew word “halal” is a common primitive root meaning shining or praise, but when used in a special “Hebrew intensive” (ie. voice, tense, mood) is a called, “Hithpoel”, it means madness. Amazingly the word “halal” (common form, not the Hebrew intensive “Hithpoel”) is used to describe the king of Babylon, who thought of himself as God in Isaiah 14:12 (morning star/lucifer KJV). Surely when a man thinks he is God he is mentally ill!
2. “to be boastful, to praise” (NASB Hebrew and Greek dictionary, halal, 1984)
3. “1a to shine. 1b to flash forth light. 2 to praise, boast, be boastful. ... 2F (Hithpoel: A Hebrew intensive reflexive stem, caused by the lengthening of the final vowel in the second syllable of the triliteral, 3-letter root.) to act madly, act like a madman.” (strongs enhanced lexicon, halal, 1984)
4. (hitpoel) mad, insane, i.e., to think in an irrational manner and so behave in kind” (Swanson, J, 1997, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domain)
5. "David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. So he disguised his sanity [taam, 2940] before them, and acted insanely [halal, 1984,Hithpoel] in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman [shaga, 7696]. Why do you bring him to me? “Do I lack madmen [shaga, 7696], that you have brought this one to act the madman [shaga, 7696] in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”" 1 Samuel 21:12-15
6. "For oppression makes a wise man mad [halal, 1984, Hithpoel], And a bribe corrupts the heart." Ecclesiastes 7:7
7. "I said of laughter, “It is madness [halal, 1984, Hithpoel],” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” " Ecclesiastes 2:2
8. “They will drink and stagger and go mad [halal, 1984, Hithpoel] because of the sword that I will send among them.” Jeremiah 25:16
9. "Go up, you horses, and drive madly [halal, 1984, Hithpoel], you chariots, That the mighty men may march forward: Ethiopia and Put, that handle the shield, And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. " Jeremiah 46:9
10. "A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of idols, And they are mad [halal, 1984, Hithpoel] over fearsome idols. " Jeremiah 50:38
11. "Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, Intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going mad [halal, 1984, Hithpoel]." Jeremiah 51:7
12. "The chariots race madly [halal, 1984, Hithpoel] in the streets, They rush wildly in the squares, Their appearance is like torches, They dash to and fro like lightning flashes. " Nahum 2:4
13. “How you have fallen from heaven, O star [halal, 1984, Lucifer, KJV, The devil is mad!] of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! " Isaiah 14:12
I. Definition of Hebrew: "hamam", 2000 “confuse, discomfort, vex, trouble, destroy, discomfort”
- “At the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion [hamam, 2000]. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”” (Exodus 14:24–25)
- “I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion [hamam, 2000] all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. “I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.” (Exodus 23:27–28)
- “Moreover the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy [hamam, 2000] them from within the camp until they all perished.” (Deuteronomy 2:15)
- “And the Lord confounded [hamam, 2000] them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.” (Joshua 10:10)
- “And He sent out arrows, and scattered them, Lightning, and routed [hamam, 2000] them.” (2 Samuel 22:15)
- “Flash forth lightning and scatter them; Send out Your arrows and confuse [hamam, 2000] them.” (Psalm 144:6)
J. Definition of Greek: “existemi”, 1839 “he lost his senses”
1. “existemi” literally means, “out of mind” or crazy, “To remove out of a place or state. In the NT applied only to the mind, meaning to be out of one’s mind, beside oneself ... to be transported beyond oneself with astonishment, to be amazed, astounded” (Zodhiates, Complete word study dictionary, 1839)
2. It is exclusively a psychological term in NT that applied exclusively to a state of mind. It is clear that existemi is the primary word that people used to describe mental illness directly corresponding to our English word “crazy” or “nuts”.
3. Most of the time in the NT the word existemi is used in a metaphoric sense for astonishment, amazement. We commonly use “crazy” in a metaphoric way: “When I saw that my dad bought me a brand new Ford Mustang for my 16th birthday I went crazy!” Likewise the first century church commonly used the word existemi metaphorically: "Then Jesus got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished [existemi, 1839]" Mark 6:51
4. [existemi, 1839] with reference to the mind, of that alteration of the normal condition by which the person is thrown into a state of surprise or fear, or both; or again, in which a person is so transported out of his natural state that he falls into a trance” (W.E. Vine)
5. to throw out of position, displace. 1a to amaze, to astonish, throw into wonderment. 1b to be amazed, astounded. 1c to be out of one’s mind, besides one’s self, insane (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, 1839)
6. "When His (Jesus’) own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses. [existemi, 1839] The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons." Mark 3:21-22
7. "For if we are mad [existemi, 1839], it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. " 2 Corinthians 5:13
8. "Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded [existemi, 1839]." Mark 5:42
9. "They were amazed [existemi, 1839] and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?" Acts 2:7
K. Definition of Greek: “mainomai”, 3105 “maniac, manic”
1. Origin of English word, “maniac”, “Manic - depression”
2. Mania: An excessively intense enthusiasm, interest, or desire (The American Heritage)
3. To be mad, to rave, is said of one who so speaks that he appears to be out of his mind (Vine)
4. Continually warning every fellow guests at a party that aliens are coming will get you labeled insane just the same as if you warned Jesus Christ is coming.
5. "While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind [mainomai, 3105]! Your great learning is driving you mad [mainomai, 3105].” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind [mainomai, 3105], most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth. " Acts 26:24-25
6. "They said to Rhonda, “You are out of your mind [mainomai, 3105]!” But Rhonda kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is Peter’s angel.” Acts 12:15 (Note: "But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and went crazy [existemi, 1839]. " Acts 12:16
7. "Many of them were saying, “He (Jesus) has a demon and is insane [mainomai, 3105]. Why do you listen to Him?” " John 10:20
8. "Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad [mainomai, 3105]?" 1 Corinthians 14:23
L. Definition of Greek: "plane", 4106 + "energeia", 1753 "delusion influence/behaviour"
1. “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception [planē, 4106] will be worse than the first.” (Matthew 27:64)
2. “and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error [planē, 4106].” (Romans 1:27)
3. “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful [planē, 4106] scheming” (Ephesians 4:14)
4. “For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit;” (1 Thessalonians 2:3)
5. “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding [planē, 4106] influence [energeia, 1753] so that they will believe what is false,” (2 Thessalonians 2:11)
6. “let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error [planē, 4106] of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:20)
7. “For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error [planē, 4106]” (2 Peter 2:18)
8. “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error [planē, 4106] of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,” (2 Peter 3:17)
9. “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error [planē, 4106].” (1 John 4:6)
10. “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error [planē, 4106] of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.” (Jude 11)
M. Definition of Greek: "Paraphronia", 3913, "madness (from para, contrary to, and phrēn, the mind)"
1. “forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness [paraphronia, 3913] of the prophet.” (2 Peter 2:15-16)
Conclusion:
1. There are specific words that correspond to our modern words for madness, insanity and schizophrenia (paranoia and delusion).
2. All the Greek words indicate behaviour that is on the edges of the bell curve of human behaviour.
3. Mental illness, schizophrenia and insanity are all behaviour choices and not diseases that are cured by repentance not drugs and shocks.
By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.
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