Bible Dictionaries
Madness

　　MADNESS.—It is somewhat remarkable that the OT ideas about madness should differ so much from those of the Gospels. In the OT madness is due to the influence of a spirit from God (1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Samuel 18:10), in the Gospels to a demon; in the OT it is conceived of as being closely connected with the ‘spirit of prophecy’ (which likewise came from God); this is clear from such passages as 1 Samuel 10:6; 1 Samuel 10:10-13; 1 Samuel 19:23-24, Hosea 9:7, 2 Kings 9:11, Jeremiah 29:26; there is no sign of this in the Gospels.* [Note: This is still the case in the East.] in the Gospels the reverse of this seems to be the case, if one regards the demoniac described in Luke 8:26-39 as a madman [see Demon].

　　There are very few references to madness in the Gospels; in Luke 6:11 the word σεληνιάζεσθαι ‘to be lunatic,’ or ‘moonstruck,’*μαἰνεσθαι, John 10:20) which seems to correspond with what would be understood by madness nowadays, viz. to be bereft of reason; in the passage in question it is certainly used in this sense; at the same time it must be remembered that [Note: See Trench, Synonyms of the NT11, pp. 21, 22, cf. Acts 16:16-18ἀλήθεια and παραφρονῶνταραφρονιαἐξέστη). Commentators are for the most part agreed that in this passage μαίνομαι is applied to St. Paul in a less offensive way ( consistently changes into, ‘Thou art mad,’ to correspond with ‘I am not mad (