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ABSTRACTS
Summary
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
CHAPTER EIGHT - JEWISH EXORCISTS
Scholarly literature often gives the impression that Jewish exorcists were extremely common at the time of Jesus. This chapter examines the evidence and finds that there is less than commonly appears to be supposed, although there is sufficient to show that other Jewish exorcists existed. The New Testament (in the accounts of the Beelzebul Controversy, the Strange Exorcist, and the Sons of Sceva) acknowledges the existence of Jewish exorcists but represents them as magicians rather than miracle-workers. This impression is borne out by Josephus in his descriptions of Eleazar, the Baaras root, and David and Saul, since although for Josephus a miracle is an act of God, he does not mention God as the source of power for these feats. Moreover, Josephus' account of Eleazar does not necessarily imply that such feats were common. There is little evidence for exorcism in the Qumran material, but there is a small amount in the rabbinic literature, and this also appears to view exorcism as magical. A brief survey of later non-Jewish evidence suggests that Jewish exorcists may have become more common, or at least more talked about, in the second century. It remains possible that demon-possession and exorcism were far more prevalent amongst rural folk than the literary remains of urban elites might suggest.
