Daemoniac

A daemoniac (demoniac) was a person under the direct control or indwelling of one or more evil spirits. The Gospels record numerous accounts of Jesus confronting and expelling demoniacs, including a mute man whose speech was restored (Matthew 9:32–33), the Gadarene demoniacs — one or two men possessed by a legion of demons who drove them to self-destructive behavior among the tombs (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1–20) — and a boy whose seizure-like symptoms were instantly healed (Mark 9:17–27). The New Testament presents demonic possession as a real and distinct condition, separable from (though sometimes accompanied by) physical illness. Jesus's power over demoniacs was cited as evidence of the arrival of the kingdom of God (Matthew 12:28).