There is a translation issue in the King James Bible that can create confusion for modern readers when we are studying the spiritual realm.
The issue is not that the King James translators were deliberately trying to change biblical doctrine. The issue is that the English word “devil” was used in the KJV for two different Greek words that are distinct in the New Testament.
Those two Greek words are:
διάβολος — diabolos
This word means slanderer, accuser, or false accuser. In the New Testament it is commonly used as a title for Satan.
δαιμόνιον — daimonion
This refers to a demon or evil spiritual being.
There is also the related word δαίμων — daimōn, which likewise refers to a demon or evil supernatural being.
So the basic biblical distinction is:
One Devil — Satan.
Many demons — spiritual beings belonging to the kingdom of darkness.
The King James terminology can sometimes hide that distinction because it frequently translates daimonion and daimōn as “devil” or “devils.”
For example, Matthew 8:31 says:
“So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.”
The Greek word is not diabolos. It is daimonia, the plural of daimonion.
In modern English, we would naturally say:
“So the demons begged Him…”
That is much clearer to the modern reader.
Now compare that with Jesus' statement about Judas:
“Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?”
— John 6:70, KJV
There the Greek word really is diabolos.
That distinction is important.
Jesus was not saying that Judas was literally a demon. He was identifying Judas with the character of the slanderer, accuser, and adversary.
Here are ten particularly clear examples where the KJV's “devils” corresponds to the Greek terminology of demons:
Passage
KJV
Greek
More literal modern sense
Matthew 8:31
“the devils besought him”
daimonia
the demons begged Him
Matthew 9:33
“when the devil was cast out”
daimonion
when the demon was cast out
Matthew 10:8
“cast out devils”
daimonia
cast out demons
Matthew 17:18
“Jesus rebuked the devil”
daimonion
Jesus rebuked the demon
Mark 5:12
“Send us into the swine”
daimonia
the demons asked to enter the pigs
Mark 7:29
“the devil is gone out”
daimonion
the demon has gone out
Mark 9:38
“casting out devils”
daimonia
casting out demons
Mark 16:17
“they shall cast out devils”
daimonia
they will cast out demons
Luke 8:2
“seven devils”
daimonia
seven demons
James 2:19
“the devils also believe”
daimonia
the demons also believe
Matthew 17:18 is especially helpful:
“And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him…”
— Matthew 17:18, KJV
The Greek word is daimonion.
So when we read this in contemporary English, the sense is:
“Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him.”
That is why most modern translations use demon in this passage.
Matthew 10:8 makes the distinction even more obvious:
“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils…”
The Greek is daimonia—plural demons.
The apostles were not being instructed to go around casting Satan out of people.
They were casting demons out of people.
That distinction becomes extremely important when we begin studying spiritual authority.
The Bible does not present the kingdom of darkness as a collection of independent spiritual beings wandering around without organization.
Jesus Himself referred to Satan as the ruler of demons:
“If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?”
— Matthew 12:26
Notice the language Jesus uses:
His kingdom.
Jesus also speaks of:
“the ruler of this world”
— John 12:31
And Paul speaks about:
“the prince of the power of the air”
— Ephesians 2:2
Paul further describes spiritual forces of darkness in terms of differing levels of authority:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
— Ephesians 6:12, NKJV
So Scripture gives us a picture of an organized kingdom of darkness.
It is not a democracy.
Satan is presented as the ruler of that kingdom, while demons operate as spiritual beings within that kingdom.
We should be careful, however, not to invent a detailed organizational chart that Scripture itself does not give us. The Bible tells us enough to establish organization, authority, opposition, and hierarchy, but it does not give us the complete administrative structure of Satan's kingdom.
That distinction will become important when we eventually study principalities and powers.
Now this brings us to one of the most beautiful examples of understanding authority in Scripture.
Matthew 8 tells us about a Roman centurion whose servant was paralyzed and suffering terribly.
Luke 7 gives us additional information about the event. When the accounts are read together, it becomes clear that the centurion communicated with Jesus through intermediaries rather than personally approaching Him.
The centurion eventually sent this message:
“Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.”
— Matthew 8:8, NKJV
The remarkable thing is what the centurion understood.
He understood authority.
He explained:
“For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.”
— Matthew 8:9, NKJV
In other words, he understood delegated authority.
He knew that a person possessing legitimate authority did not have to personally perform every action.
A commanding officer could issue an order.
The person underneath him could carry it out.
The action could therefore be attributed to the person possessing the authority even though another person physically performed the action.
The centurion recognized something about Jesus that many people around Him had not yet understood.
Jesus did not merely possess unusual ability.
Jesus possessed authority.
And Jesus marveled at this man's faith.
“When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!’”
— Matthew 8:10, NKJV
That is something worth remembering when we study spiritual authority.
Faith is not merely believing that God has power.
The centurion understood that authority can operate through a command.
This same principle appears repeatedly throughout Scripture.
God possesses ultimate authority.
Yet God frequently accomplishes His purposes through servants.
Sometimes those servants are human beings.
Sometimes they are angels.
Sometimes God directly intervenes.
The Bible does not require us to believe that God personally performs every physical action described in Scripture without the involvement of created agents.
For example, Genesis describes Jacob's dream:
“And behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”
— Genesis 28:12, NKJV
Daniel gives another example.
Daniel had prayed, and an angel came to him and explained:
“From the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.”
— Daniel 10:12, NKJV
The angel had been sent.
That is delegated assignment.
Acts 27 gives us another example.
Paul was facing a violent storm and impending shipwreck when an angel appeared to him:
“For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve…”
— Acts 27:23, NKJV
The angel delivered God's message to Paul.
Paul then delivered that message to the sailors.
God's purpose moved through a chain of communication:
God → angel → Paul → people.
Yet nobody would say that Paul received his authority from the angel instead of God.
The angel was God's servant.
The angel carried God's message.
The authority remained God's.
That is the biblical concept of delegated authority.
Now we come to one of the most unusual statements Paul ever made.
Paul wrote concerning a man involved in serious sin in Corinth:
“Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
— 1 Corinthians 5:5, NKJV
Paul says something similar concerning Hymenaeus and Alexander:
“whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
— 1 Timothy 1:20, NKJV
The Greek text explicitly uses Satanas — Satan.
So we should not change Paul's words.
Paul says Satan.
But we also need to be careful about claiming more than Scripture tells us.
The text does not explain exactly what the mechanics of this handing-over involved.
Paul does not say:
“I personally transported these men into Satan's physical presence.”
Nor does Scripture tell us that Paul summoned Satan personally into the room.
The phrase describes an act of apostolic judgment in which Paul removed the person from the protection and fellowship of the Christian community and placed him into the sphere of Satan's influence and opposition, with a corrective purpose.
The stated purpose is particularly important:
“that his spirit may be saved…”
and
“that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
The objective was correction, not revenge.
So we should preserve both truths:
Paul really did use the language of delivering someone to Satan.
But Scripture does not give us the complete mechanics of how Satan's kingdom carried out that judgment.
That is where our doctrine needs to remain biblical rather than speculative.
This brings us back to the larger biblical picture.
God is sovereign.
God possesses ultimate authority.
Yet God routinely accomplishes His purposes through agents.
Angels are described as:
“ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation”
— Hebrews 1:14, NKJV
Human beings are likewise used by God.
Prophets delivered God's words.
Apostles preached God's gospel.
Elders shepherded God's people.
Angels carried God's messages.
And demons operate within the kingdom of darkness under Satan's rule.
The important point is this:
The existence of delegated authority does not diminish the authority of the one who delegates it.
When a police officer acts under lawful authority, the officer is not replacing the government.
When an ambassador speaks for a king, the ambassador does not become the king.
When an angel carries God's message, the angel does not become God.
When an apostle exercises authority given by Christ, the apostle does not become Christ.
Authority flows from the source.
This gives us a fascinating biblical pattern.
Those who belong to a kingdom can act under the authority of that kingdom.
The demons belong to the kingdom of darkness.
The angels belong to God's service.
And believers belong to Christ.
Jesus told His disciples:
“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons…”
— Mark 16:17, NKJV
Notice the expression:
“In My name.”
The authority is not originating in the disciple.
The authority belongs to Jesus.
The disciple acts under His authority.
This is exactly why the apostles could command demons in the name of Jesus.
They were not personally stronger than the demons.
They were not greater than Satan.
Their authority came from the One who is greater.
And this ultimately points us toward the central truth of the entire subject:
Jesus Christ possesses authority over the kingdom of darkness.
Satan is not God's equal.
Satan is not the opposite side of an eternal cosmic balance where God represents good and Satan represents evil.
There are not two equal kingdoms fighting for supremacy.
God is Creator.
Satan is a creature.
God is sovereign.
Satan is subordinate.
Jesus demonstrated that authority repeatedly during His earthly ministry by commanding demons, and after His resurrection He declared:
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
— Matthew 28:18, NKJV
That is the foundation of Christian authority.
Not our personality.
Not our spiritual rank.
Not our ability.
Not our knowledge of demons.
Not our ability to identify different categories of evil spirits.
Jesus.
We act because He has authority.
When we put all of this together, we begin to see a consistent biblical pattern:
God possesses ultimate authority.
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God delegates authority according to His purpose.
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Angels serve God and minister according to His command.
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Human servants are commissioned to carry God's message and exercise authority He gives them.
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Satan rules over an organized kingdom of darkness.
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Demons operate within that kingdom.
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Christ possesses authority over the entire kingdom of darkness.
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Believers exercise authority only insofar as it has been entrusted to them by Christ.
And this is why the translation distinction between Devil and demons matters.
If we call every demon “the Devil,” we can accidentally collapse the biblical distinction between Satan himself and the spiritual beings who operate under his rule.
The Bible presents one Satan and many demons.
The demons are not independent gods.
They are not equal to Satan.
And Satan himself is not equal to God.
There is authority.
There is organization.
There is delegation.
There is obedience.
There is rebellion.
And above all of it stands the authority of God and, ultimately, the exalted Lord Jesus Christ.
This gives us the foundation for the next question:
When Scripture speaks about “principalities,” “powers,” “rulers of the darkness of this age,” and “spiritual hosts of wickedness,” what exactly are we being told about the levels of spiritual opposition that believers encounter?