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Satan (Hebrew: השָׂטָן ha-Satan ('the accuser'); Arabic: الشيطان al-Shaitan ('the adversary') - both from the Semitic root: Ś-Ṭ-N) is an embodiment of antagonism that originates from the Abrahamic religions, being traditionally considered an angel in Judeo-Christian belief, and a Jinn in Islamic belief. Originally, the term was used as a title for various entities that challenged the religious faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible. Since then, the Abrahamic religions have used the name 'Satan' as a name for the Devil.

Etymology

The word 'Satan', may derive from a Northwest Semitic root Ś-Ṭ-N, meaning "to be hostile", "to accuse".[1] An alternative explanation is provided by the Hebrew in Job 1:7. When God asks him whence he has come, Satan answers: "From wandering (mi'ŝuṭ) the earth and walking on it" (מִשּׁוּט בָּאָרֶץ, וּמֵהִתְהַלֵּךְ בָּה). The root ŝuṭ signifies wandering on foot or sailing. 'Satan' would thus be "the Wanderer".

Satan in Semitic languages

Standard Hebrew: שָׂטָן Satan; Tiberian Hebrew: שָׂטָן Śāṭān; Aramaic: סטנא Sāṭānā Arabic: شيطان Shaitan; Ge'ez: ሳይጣን Sāyṭān.

Satan in non-Semitic languages, using Semitic alphabets

Persian: شيطان Šeytân; Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu): शैतान/شيطان Shāitān.

Satan in non-Semitic languages

Koine Greek: Σατανάς Satanás; Latin: Satanas, Turkish: Şeytan.

In Judaism

In the Hebrew Bible

In the book of Job (Iyov), ha-satan is the title of an angel submitted to God; he is the divine court's chief prosecutor. In Judaism ha-satan does not make evil, rather points out to God the evil inclinations and actions of humankind. In essence ha-satan has no power unless humans do evil things. After God points out Job's piety, ha-satan asks for permission to test the faith of Job. The righteous man is afflicted with loss of family, property, and later, health, but he still stays faithful to God. At the conclusion of this book God appears as a whirlwind, explaining to all that divine justice is inscrutable. In the epilogue Job's possessions are restored and he has a second family to replace the one that died.

In the Torah, satan is mentioned only twice, both times in the Balaam's ass story which is in Numbers 22. The Angel of the LORD is identified as an adversary or a physical block to Balaam's journey in Numbers 22:22. Later in Numbers 22:23 the Angel of the LORD specifically identifies himself by claiming to be like an adversary, again using the term satan.

In the book of 1 Chronicles 21:1, satan incites David to an unlawful census.

In fact, the Book of Isaiah, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Deuteronomy all have passages in which God is credited for exercising sovereign control over both good and evil.

In the Hebrew Apocrypha

The Apocrypha are religious writings which are not generally accepted as scripture by Judaism and many modern-day Protestant sects of Christianity. These works usually bore the names of ancient Hebrew worthies in order to establish their validity among the true writers' contemporaries. To reconcile the late appearance of the texts with their claims to primitive antiquity, alleged authors are represented as "shutting up and sealing" (Dan. XII. 4:9) the works until the time of their fulfillment had arrived; as the texts were not meant for their own generations but for far-distant ages (also cited in Assumption of Moses I. 16:17). In the Book of Wisdom, the devil is represented as the being who brought death into the world.[2]

The 2nd Book of Enoch, also called the Slavonic Book of Enoch, contains references to a Watcher Grigori called Satanael.[3] It is a pseudepigraphic text of an uncertain date and unknown authorship. The text describes Satanael as being the prince of the Grigori who was cast out of heaven[4] and an evil spirit who knew the difference between what was "righteous" and "sinful".[5] A similar story is found in the book of 1 Enoch; however, in that book, the leader of the Grigori is called Semjâzâ.

In the apocryphal literature, Satan rules over a host of angels.[6] Mastema, who induced God to test Abraham through the sacrifice of Isaac, is identical with Satan in both name and nature.[7]

For the Chasidic Jews of the eighteenth century, Ha-satan was Baal Davar.[8] The Book of Enoch contains references to Satariel, thought also to be Sataniel and Satan'el (etymology dating back to Babylonian origins). The similar spellings mirror that of his angelic brethren Michael, Raphael, Uriel and Gabriel, previous to his expulsion from Heaven.

In the Talmud and other Rabbinic sources

The Talmud mentions the Satan in many places. In all of these places, the Satan is merely an agent of God, and has no independent existence. Sometimes the Satan is conflated with various demons, such as Asmodai. At times there is even some sympathy for him. Commenting on the Book of Job, the rabbis express sympathy that his job was to "break the barrel but not spill any wine."

In Kabbalistic literature and its derivative, Hasidic literature, the Satan is seen as an agent of God whose job is to tempt one into sin, and then turn around and accuse the sinner on high. An additional understanding of Satan is from a parable to a prostitute who is hired by the King (God) to tempt his son (a Jew). The prostitute has to do the best she can to tempt the son; but deep down she hopes the son will pass the test. Similarly, Kabbalistic/Hasidic thought sees the Satan in the same situation. His job is to tempt us as best he can; turn around and accuse us; but deep down his wish is that we would resist his blandishments.

In Christianity

Main article: Christian teaching about the Devil
See also: War in Heaven

In Christianity, terms that are synonymous with 'Satan' include:

  • The most common English synonym for 'Satan' is 'Devil', which descends from Middle English devel, from Old English dēofol, that in turn represents an early Germanic borrowing of Latin diabolus (also the source of 'diabolical'). This in turn was borrowed from Greek diabolos "slanderer," from diaballein "to slander": dia- "across, through" + ballein "to hurl."[9] In the New Testament, 'Satan' occurs more than thirty times in passages alongside Diabolos (Greek for "the devil"), referring to the same person or thing as Satan.[10]
  • Lucifer is sometimes used in Christian theology to refer to Satan, as a result of identifying the fallen "son of the dawn" of Isaiah 14:12 with the "accuser" of other passages in the Old Testament.
  • Beelzebub is originally the name of a Philistine god (more specifically a certain type of Baal, from Ba‘al Zebûb, lit. "Lord of Flies") but is also used in the New Testament as a synonym for Satan. A corrupted version, "Belzeboub," appears in The Divine Comedy.
  • Satan is identified as the serpent who convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; thus, Satan has often been depicted as a serpent. This interpretation goes back at least as far as the time of the writing of the book of Revelation, which specifically identifies Satan as being the serpent (Rev. 20:2) "Hail Satan".
  • "The dragon" and "the old serpent" in the Book of Revelation 12:9, 20:2 have also been identified with Satan, as have "the prince of this world" in the Book of John 12:31, 14:30; "the prince of the power of the air" also called Meririm, and "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" in the Book of Ephesians 2:2; and "the god of this world" in 2 Corinthians 4:4.[11]
  • Leviathan is described as "that crooked serpent," which is also used to describe Satan in Revelation 12:9. 'Sar ha Olam,' a possible name for Metatron, is described as Satan by Michael, Jehoel and St. Paul.
Satan as depicted in the Ninth Circle of Hell in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, illustrated by Gustave Doré.

In mainstream Christianity's understanding of the holy Hebrew scriptures, the Torah, Satan is a synonym for the Devil. For most Christians, he is believed to be an angel who rebelled against God— and also the one who spoke through the serpent and seduced Eve into disobeying God's command. His ultimate goal is to lead people away from the love of God — to lead them to fallacies which God opposes. Satan is also identified as the accuser of Job, the tempter in the Gospels, the secret power of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, and the dragon in the Book of Revelation. Before his insurrection, Satan was among the highest of all angels and the "brightest in the sky." His pride is considered a reason why he would not bow to God as all other angels did, but sought to rule heaven himself. The popularly held beliefs that Satan was once a prideful angel who eventually rebels against God, however, are barely portrayed explicitly in the Bible and are mostly based on inference. Moreover, in mainstream Christianity he is called "the ruler of the demons" (Matt. 12:24), "the ruler of the world" and even "the god of this world." (2 Cor. 4:4). The Book of Revelation describes how Satan will be cast out of Heaven, down to the earth, having "great anger" and waging war against "those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus". Ultimately, Satan is thrown into the "lake of fire" (Revelation 20:10), not as ruler, but as one among many, being tormented day and night for all eternity.

In other, non-mainstream, Christian beliefs (e.g. the beliefs of the Christadelphians) the word "satan" in the Bible is not regarded as referring to a supernatural, personal being but to any 'adversary' and figuratively refers to human sin and temptation.[12]

In Islam

Main article: Islamic teaching about the Devil

Shaitan (شيطان) is the equivalent of Satan in Islam.

While Shaitan (شيطان, from the root šṭn شطن) is an adjective (meaning "astray" or "distant", sometimes translated as "devil") that can be applied to both man ("al-ins", الإنس) and Jinn, Iblis (Arabic pronunciation: [ˈibliːs]) is the personal name of the Devil who is mentioned in the Qur'anic account of Genesis.[13]

Whenever the Qur'an refers to the creature who refused to prostrate before Adam at the time of the latter's creation, it refers to him as Iblis. The Islamic view of Iblis has both similarities and differences with Christian and Jewish views. The character of Satan is generally similar to the one presented in Judeo-Christian thought. However, according to Islamic belief, Satan is not considered to be a 'fallen' angel, but a jinn who was among the ranks of angels due to his wisdom and piety; in Islamic belief, angels always follow God's commands, but jinns (like humans) have free will, which explains why Satan was able to rebel against God's command of bowing to Adam[14].

In other religions

Yazidism

An alternate name for the main deity in the tentatively Indo-European pantheon of the Yazidi, Malek Taus, is Shaitan.[15] Rather than Satanic, however, Yazidism is better understood as a remnant of a pre-Islamic Middle Eastern Indo-European religion, and/or a ghulat Sufi movement founded by Shaykh Adi. The connection with Satan, originally made by Muslim outsiders, attracted the interest of 19th-century European travelers and esoteric writers.

Bahá'í Faith

In the Bahá'í Faith, 'Satan' is not regarded as an independent evil power as he is in some faiths, but signifies the "base nature" of humans. `Abdu'l-Bahá explains: "This lower nature in man is symbolized as Satan -- the evil ego within us, not an evil personality outside."[16]

Satanism

Main article: Satanism

Avowedly Satanic groups have various opinions about Satan, ranging from the conviction that he exists and ought to be worshipped (theistic Satanism), to Anton Szandor LaVey's symbolic interpretation which emphasizes individual will and pleasure-seeking.

Much "Satanic" lore does not originate from actual Satanists, but from Christians. Best-known would be the medieval folklore and theology surrounding demons and witches. A more recent example is the so-called Satanic ritual abuse scare of the 1980s – beginning with the memoir Michelle Remembers – which depicts Satanism as a vast (and unsubstantiated) conspiracy of elites with a predilection for child abuse and human sacrifice. This genre regularly describes Satan as actually appearing in person in order to receive worship.

See also

Archangel Michael fighting Satan on the Coat of Arms of Arkhangelsk, Russia.

Notes

  1. ^ "American Heritage Dictionary: Semitic roots: sn". Retrieved 2006-05-31.
  2. ^ "But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world" - Book of Wisdom II. 24
  3. ^ 2 Enoch 18:3
  4. ^ "And I threw him out from the height with his angels, and he was flying in the air continuously above the bottomless" - 2 Enoch 29:4
  5. ^ "The devil is the evil spirit of the lower places, as a fugitive he made Sotona from the heavens as his name was Satanail, thus he became different from the angels, but his nature did not change his intelligence as far as his understanding of righteous and sinful things" - 2 Enoch 31:4
  6. ^ Martyrdom of Isaiah, 2:2; Vita Adæ et Evæ, 16)
  7. ^ Book of Jubilees, xvii. 18
  8. ^ The Dictionary of Angels" by Gustav Davidson, © 1967
  9. ^ "American Heritage Dictionary: Devil". Retrieved 2006-05-31.
  10. ^ Revelation 12:9
  11. ^ 2 Corinthians 2:2
  12. ^ "Do you Believe in a Devil? He is a saint". Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  13. ^ Iblis
  14. ^ [Quran 17:61]; [Quran 2:34]
  15. ^ Drower, E.S. The Peacock Angel. Being Some Account of Votaries of a Secret Cult and their Sanctuaries. London: John Murray, 1941. [1]
  16. ^ From The Promulgation of Universal Peace p. 470

References

Look up satan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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