Luke 9:39

39 Often a spirit seizes him; suddenly he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth;^[a] wounding^[b] him, it hardly ever leaves him.

Luke 9:39 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 9:39

And, lo, a spirit taketh him
An evil spirit, the devil, as in ( Luke 9:42 ) seizes and possesses him at once,

and he suddenly crieth out;
in a most terrible manner, giving dreadful shrieks, as soon as he perceives that he is seized by the demon:

and it teareth him, that he foameth again;
throws him into convulsions, so that he foams at the mouth: and so we read ^F20 of a son of a certain Jew, that

``a certain spirit passed before him and hurt him, convulsed his mouth, and his eyes, and his hands were convulsed, and he could not speak.''

And bruising him;
by dashing him against the wall, or throwing him to the ground:

hardly departeth from him;
is very loath to leave him, even after he has distressed, convulsed, and bruised him in this dreadful manner, such was his cruelty and malice; (See Gill on Matthew 17:15) (See Gill on Mark 9:18)

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Zohar in Lev. fol. 21. 4.

Luke 9:39 In-Context

37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.

38 Just then a man from the crowd cried out, "Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he's my only [child].

39 Often a spirit seizes him; suddenly he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; wounding him, it hardly ever leaves him.

40 I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't."

41 Jesus replied, "You unbelieving and rebellious generation! How long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit convulsions with foam
• [b]. Or bruising, or mauling