And one of the multitude answered, and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son - “mine only child” (Luk 9:38).
which hath a dumb spirit - a spirit whose operation had the effect of rendering his victim speechless, and deaf also (Mar 9:25). In Matthew’s report of the speech (Mat 17:15), the father says “he is lunatic”; this being another and most distressing effect of the possession.