SATAN
This article is about the figure in the Abrahamic religions. For personifications of evil in various cultures, see Devil. For other uses, see Satan (disambiguation).
"The Devil" redirects here. For other uses, see Devil (disambiguation).
Historical development
Hebrew Bible
Balaam and the Angel (1836) by Gustav Jäger.
The angel in this incident is referred to as a "satan".[6]
The Hebrew term śāṭān (Hebrew: שָׂטָן) is a generic noun meaning "accuser" or "adversary",[7][8] and is derived from a verb meaning primarily "to obstruct, oppose".[9]
In the earlier biblical books, e.g. 1 Samuel 29:4, it refers to human adversaries, but in the later books, especially Job 1–2 and Zechariah 3, to a supernatural entity.[8]
When used without the definite article (simply satan), it can refer to any accuser,[10] but when it is used with the definite article (ha-satan), it usually refers specifically to the heavenly accuser, literally, the satan.[10]
The word with the definite article Ha-Satan (Hebrew: הַשָּׂטָן hasSāṭān) occurs 17 times in the Masoretic Text, in two books of the Hebrew Bible:
Job ch. 1–2 (14×) and
Zechariah 3:1–2 (3×).[11][12]
It is translated in English bibles mostly as 'Satan'.
The word without the definite article is used in ten instances,[citation ^needed] of which two are translated diabolos in the Septuagint. It is generally translated in English Bibles as 'an accuser' (1x) or 'an adversary' (9x as in Book of Numbers, 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 Kings). In some cases, it is translated as 'Satan':
- 1 Chronicles 21:1, "Satan stood up against Israel" (KJV) or "And there standeth up an adversary against Israel" (Young's Literal Translation)[13]
- Psalm 109:6b "and let Satan stand at his right hand" (KJV)[14] or "let an accuser stand at his right hand." (ESV, etc.)
The word does not occur in the Book of Genesis, which mentions only a talking serpent and does not identify the serpent with any supernatural entity.[15]
The first occurrence of the word "satan" in the Hebrew Bible in reference to a supernatural figure comes from Numbers 22:22[16],[7] which describes the Angel of Yahweh confronting Balaam on his donkey:[6]
"Balaam's departure aroused the wrath of Elohim, and the Angel of Yahweh stood in the road as a satan against him."[7] In 2 Samuel 24,[17] Yahweh sends the "Angel of Yahweh" to inflict a plague against Israel for three days, killing 70,000 people as punishment for David having taken a census without his approval.[18] 1 Chronicles 21:1[19] repeats this story,[18] but replaces the "Angel of Yahweh" with an entity referred to as "a satan".[18]
Some passages clearly refer to the satan, without using the word itself.[20] 1 Samuel 2:12[21] describes the sons of Eli as "sons of Belial";[22] the later usage of this word makes it clearly a synonym for "satan".[22] In 1 Samuel 16:14–2,[23] Yahweh sends a "troubling spirit" to torment King Saul as a mechanism to ingratiate David with the king.[24] In 1 Kings 22:19–25,[25] the prophet Micaiah describes to King Ahab a vision of Yahweh sitting on his throne surrounded by the Host of Heaven.[22] Yahweh asks the Host which of them will lead Ahab astray.[22] A "spirit", whose name is not specified, but who is analogous to the satan, volunteers to be "a Lying Spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets".[22]
Book of Job
The Examination of Job (c. 1821) by William Blake
The satan appears in the Book of Job, a poetic dialogue set within a prose framework,[26] which may have been written around the time of the Babylonian captivity.[26] In the text, Job is a righteous man favored by Yahweh.[26] Job 1:6–8[27] describes the "sons of God" (bənê hāʼĕlōhîm) presenting themselves before Yahweh.[26] Yahweh asks one of them, "the satan", where he has been, to which he replies that he has been roaming around the earth.[26] Yahweh asks, "Have you considered My servant Job?"[26] The satan replies by urging Yahweh to let him torture Job, promising that Job will abandon his faith at the first tribulation.[28] Yahweh consents: the satan destroys Job's servants and flocks, yet Job refuses to condemn Yahweh.[28] The first scene repeats itself, with the satan presenting himself to Yahweh alongside the other "sons of God".[29] Yahweh points out Job's continued faithfulness, to which the satan insists that more testing is necessary;[29] Yahweh once again gives him permission to test Job.[29] In the end, Job remains faithful and righteous, and it is implied that the satan is shamed in his defeat.[30]
Book of Zechariah
Zechariah 3:1–7[31] contains a description of a vision dated to the middle of February of 519 BC,[32] in which an angel shows Zechariah a scene of Joshua the High Priest dressed in filthy rags, representing the nation of Judah and its sins,[33] on trial with Yahweh as the judge and the satan standing as the prosecutor.[33] Yahweh rebukes the satan[33] and orders for Joshua to be given clean clothes, representing Yahweh's forgiveness of Judah's sins.[33]