Who Is Satan? – The many forms of the devil in the Bible
By John Drummond in BAS, June 07, 2025. Extracts Below:
In the Hebrew Bible, YHWH’s greatest enemies are not fallen angels commanding armies of demons, nor even the gods of other nations, but, rather, human beings. It isn’t the devil that spreads evil across the face of creation—it is mankind. Other than human beings, YHWH has no nemesis, nor are there malevolent spiritual forces not under his authority. YHWH is ultimately a god of justice. He is behind the good and the bad, behind the blessings and the curses. It is within this divine court of justice and retribution that Satan has his origins.
The Hebrew word śāṭān, meaning “accuser” or “adversary,” occurs several times throughout the Hebrew Bible and refers to enemies both human and celestial alike. When referring to the celestial adversary, the word is typically accompanied by the definite article. He is ha-satan—the Accuser—and it is a job description rather than a proper name. From the Accuser’s appearances in the Books of Job and Zechariah, it seems that the job entails calling attention to the unworthiness of mankind. The Accuser is essentially the prosecuting attorney of the divine court of YHWH, and part of his job includes collecting evidence to prove his cases. With this bit of knowledge in mind, it isn’t difficult to envision the various “outcries against sin,” such as that against Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20–21), as the voice of the Accuser.
It is difficult to determine at which point in Israel’s history the Accuser began to take on a much more sinister role in the Israelite/Jewish belief structure, or how heaven’s great prosecutor became the prince of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). It is certainly easy to make the connection between Israel’s time in exile and the likely influence of the cosmic dualism of Persian religion.1 However, even within books written well after the return from foreign lands, the Accuser is still a self-righteous lawyer. Though if 1 Chronicles 21:1 is any indication,2 they began to believe the Accuser wasn’t above getting his hands dirty.
It is perfectly clear, however, that by the first century C.E., Judaism developed a belief in the divine forces of darkness doing battle against the forces of light. This can be seen within the New Testament and other extra-Biblical writings such as those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are likely several factors that inspired these developments, including the influence of Persian, as well as Hellenistic, religions.
If someone were searching for a name that personified evil in the Hebrew Bible, it would be Belial, not Satan. Interesting enough, the name only occurs once in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:15), as Paul’s stark contrast to Christ.
Ask Now: Who the Devil Is Satan?
This BAS Library Special Collection delivers intriguing ideas and details from Satan’s literary and theological evolution by the Biblical Archaeology Society Staff, April 03, 2021.
That is the first article at that link. Scroll down for:
Exploring the many faces and names of Satan – Extracts below:
If Satan as we understand him today doesn’t appear in the Bible, how did he become such a central figure in Christianity? Certainly, as Prof. Propp points out, demonism is a comfortable way to explain why bad things happen to people both good and bad.
But the Jews rarely bothered with this philosophy, relying largely on their concept of a covenant with God to explain and control fortune. And, as already noted, Satan himself was actually a New Testament “heavenly official” who just “loved his work” torturing the innocent.
Still, anyone who has ever recited the Apostle’s Creed, including the line “He descended into Hell,” must wonder where to find the Satan who Jesus is thought to have successfully battled when he arrived in Hell, just before ascending to Heaven on the third day after the Crucifixion.
As it turns out, we must turn to later writers and theologians to find that Satan. Professor Heidi J. Hornik and Professor Mikeal C. Parsons explain that it was post-Biblical writers who created the apocryphal tale of Jesus descending into Hell, starting with an early church father, Ignatius (c. 50–107 C.E.), who describes the Old Testament prophets as disciples of Jesus, who came to them—apparently in Hell—and raised them from the dead.
Scroll further down for:
And about those other demons and devils …
Below that short piece are the following links:
- “From Seraph to Satan”
Shape-shifting in the Garden of Eden by Mary Joan Winn Leith - “Fallen Star: The Evolution of Lucifer”
By Ronald F. Youngblood - “Who the Devil is Beelzebul?”
By Bradley L. Stein - “Exorcising Demons”
By William H.C. Propp - “The Harrowing of Hell”
By Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons
