Insanity

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerningProverbs 26:18
• Feigned by David1 Samuel 21:13–15
• Sent as a judgment from GodDeuteronomy 28:28Zechariah 12:4
• NebuchadnezzarsDaniel 4:32–34
• Jesus accused ofMark 3:21John 10:20
• Paul's allegedActs 26:24Acts 26:25
• Cured by JesusMatthew 4:24Matthew 17:15
• Demoniacal
• Saul1 Samuel 16:141 Samuel 18:10
• See Demons, Possession by

The passages, in Bible order (13)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 13 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Deuteronomy 28:28

   The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 28:281 voice

   “The Lord shall smite thee with madness,.... At the calamities befallen them, and through the force of diseases on them: and blindness; not of body, but of mind; with judicial blindness and hardness of heart: and astonishment of heart; at the miserable condition they and their families should be in.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 28:28→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. 1 Samuel 16:14

   After the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him.

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 16:141 voice

   “Therefore, when a person falls from the Spirit for any wickedness, if he repents after his fall, the grace remains irrevocably to the one who is willing; otherwise he who has fallen is no longer in God (because that Holy Spirit and Paraclete which is in God has deserted him), but this sinner shall be in him to whom he has subjected himself, as took place in Saul's instance; for the Spirit of God departed from him and an evil spirit was afflicting him.

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 16:14→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. 1 Samuel 18:10

   The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear,

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 18:101 voice

   “Saul was holding a spear, etc. The people of the Jews held the power of the kingdom and exercised it against the Lord Savior; thinking that they could extinguish His faith and glory by persecuting Him, in the manner of other mortals whose praise and …

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 18:10→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. 1 Samuel 21:13–15

   So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 21:13–152 voices

   “And he collapsed in their hands, etc. The hands of the Gethites, the works of the Jews; the doors of the gate reveal the beginnings of heavenly grace; saliva signifies infirmity; the beard signifies virtue. David collapsed in the hands of the Gethites; the Lord …

   “Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, "My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked." [Deuteronomy 32:15] Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years.

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 21:13–15→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Proverbs 26:18

   Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 26:181 voice

   “As a mad man, who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death. Or the instruments of death, as Aben Ezra; or the sharp arrows of death, as the Targum and Syriac version; who casts firebrands into the houses and barns of his neighbours, to consume them; or arrows at their persons and cattle, to destroy them; or any other instruments of death, which none but a mad man, or one wickedly mad, would do.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 26:18→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Daniel 4:32–34

   You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

   ›Commentary on Daniel 4:32–342 voices

   “And on account of this Scripture says, "He shall lie outside in the grass and in the dew of heaven and with the beasts and his portion shall be in the grass of the earth.

   “Verses 31, 32. "While the saying was yet in the king's mouth, a voice from heaven assailed him: 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, thy kingdom shall pass away (variant reading: is passing away) from thee and they shall cast thee forth from among mankind.'" His arrogant boasting is immediately punished by the Lord. For this reason the execution of the sentence is not delayed, lest mercy towards the poor seem to have profited him not at all.

   Everything gathered on Daniel 4:32–34→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Zechariah 12:4

   On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations.

   ›Commentary on Zechariah 12:41 voice

   “(Vers. 4.) On that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with dismay, and its rider with madness; but upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes, and all the horses of the peoples I will strike with blindness. LXX: On that day, says the Lord Almighty, I will strike every horse with astonishment, and its rider with madness; but upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes, and all the horses of the peoples I will strike with blindness.

   Everything gathered on Zechariah 12:4→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Matthew 4:24

   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.

   ›Commentary on Matthew 4:241 voice

   “(Verse 24) And he healed the lunatics and the paralytics. And many crowds followed him from Galilee and Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Not truly lunatics, but those who were thought to be lunatics due to the deceit of demons, who, by observing the phases of the moon, desired to defame creation so as to overflow with blasphemies against the Creator.

   Everything gathered on Matthew 4:24→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Matthew 17:15

   “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.

   ›Commentary on Matthew 17:152 voices

   “If every disease and weakness which our Savior cured at that time among the people represents different symptoms in the soul, it stands to reason that by the paralytics are symbolized the palsied in soul, who keep it lying paralyzed in the body. By those who are blind are symbolized those who are blind in respect of things seen by the soul alone, and these are really blind. And by the deaf are symbolized those who are deaf in regard to the reception of the word of salvation.

   “(Vers. 14, 15.) Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers greatly: for he often falls into fire and frequently into water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him. This is why the devil, observing the course of the moon, seizes upon men and strives to defame the Creator through His creatures, as we have said above.

   Everything gathered on Matthew 17:15→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Mark 3:21

    When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.”

    ›Commentary on Mark 3:211 voice

    In the gospel we read that even his kinsfolk desired to bind him as one of weak mind. His opponents also reviled him saying, "You are a Samaritan and have a devil."

    Everything gathered on Mark 3:21→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. John 10:20

    Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”

    ›Commentary on John 10:202 voices

    "And many of them said: He has a devil and is mad": whence they thought that he was mad. These were of those concerning whom First Corinthians chapter two says: "The sensual man does not perceive the things that are of God; for it is …

    “And many of them said, he hath a devil, and is mad,....

    Everything gathered on John 10:20→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Acts 26:24

    At this stage of Paul’s defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You are insane, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!”

    ›Commentary on Acts 26:241 voice

    “Festus said in a loud voice: You are insane, Paul. He deemed it insanity that a man in chains, instead of just defending himself from external accusations, made a speech about the conscience by which he gloried inside and reviewed all the miracles of the …

    Everything gathered on Acts 26:24→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Acts 26:25

    But Paul answered, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus; I am speaking words of truth and sobriety.

    ›Commentary on Acts 26:252 voices

    “But Paul explains the reason for which he turned his speech to the king. Then, showing that this doctrine had become everywhere in the inhabited world, he added: "this has not been done in a corner," speaking about the cross and the resurrection of Christ.

    “But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus,....

    Everything gathered on Acts 26:25→

    Verse page →Original language →