<p>8:7 <i>For from many of those that had unclean spirits, the unclean spirits came out, crying with a loud voice<em>- </em></i>The Eastern (Aramaic) text reads: &ldquo;Many who were mentally afflicted cried out&rdquo;. This is because, according to George Lamsa, &ldquo;&ldquo;Unclean spirits&rdquo; is an Aramaic term used to describe lunatics&rdquo;. It should be noted that Lamsa was a native Aramaic speaker with a fine understanding of Aramaic terms. He grew up in a remote part of Kurdistan which had maintained the Aramaic language almost unchanged since the time of Jesus. It&rsquo;s significant that Lamsa&rsquo;s extensive writings indicate that he failed to see in the teachings of Jesus and Paul any support for the popular conception of the Devil and demons&ndash; he insisted that the Semitic and Aramaic terms used by them have been misunderstood by Western readers and misused in order to lend support for their conceptions of a personal Devil and demons. We need to ask <em>who</em> cried with a loud voice. The 'spirits', or the sick person? The person, surely. But the record says the 'spirits' cried. We are intended therefore to read 'spirits' as referring to the sick persons; just as John's invitation to 'test the spirits' (1 Jn. 4:1) means 'test what these teachers are teaching', rather than asking us to grab hold of 'spirits' out of the ether and test them.</p><p><em>And many that were paralyzed or lame were healed</em>- This balances the first part of the verse, which speaks of 'unclean spirits' departing. The idea seems to be that there was major healing, of both mental and physical illness. The healing of such persons is described in the very language used of the Lord's healings of the same categories (Mt. 15:30; 21:14). As Luke begins Acts by saying, He began such work, and His representatives continued it; as we do in essence to this day.</p>