When the Bible mentions Satan do you believe it's speaking of a paticular indivuial or is the term Satan used for multiple people? To be more specific, do believe the Satan that tempted Eve, told David to take a census, tested Job, and tempted Jesus are the same person or 4 different people?
A Question About Satan (For Those Who Believe In The Bible)
by Philadelphia Ponos 19 Replies latest watchtower bible
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strymeckirules
the "Book of Enoch" clears that up completely, even giving you the names of the fallen angels.
but it's not been included in the bible because it has too much information.
and that is the best answer i can give you.
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N.drew
I don't believe anything about Satan.
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Band on the Run
Judaism does not have the same concept of Satan as we do. He is viewed as an advocate for humans against Jehovah. Tempt he might but he is not the pitchfork personification of all evil. The pitchfork dude is a Christian construct. I've read in academic books that persecution was never systemic and widespread. It was often tied to economic upheaval. It did happen sometimes. The devil or Satan became a way to explain the persecution. I also believe that Christians evolved a duality of God vs. Satan, which does not hold up. Under better theology, Satan has always been a lost cause b/c he is a creation, not the Creator. Christ's victory is assured. Satan's role is debated throughout Christian theology and over the ages. There is no simple answer.
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N.drew
Satan is the name for the knowledge that a man will do anything to attain his goal, even if it means destroying what it is he wants.
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Doug Mason
The book that discusses the subject rationally and intelligently is:
Satan: A Biography, by Henry Ansgar Kelly (320 pages, published by Cambridge University Press).
Doug
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Ding
In reply to the original question, one Satan, not four.
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cantleave
Awww I feel excluded. But I am going to answer anyway.
Satan is really cool. He challenged god's despotic attitude and he invented talking snakes.
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factfinder
Actually Judaism teaches that satan acts as a district attorny for God and that his actions force humans to become the best they can be. Satan is not seen as God's ENEMY in Judaism.
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Philadelphia Ponos
Looks like I'm in the minority. I agree with the view given on wikipedia:
Hebrew Bible
The original Hebrew term, satan, is a noun from a verb meaning primarily to, “obstruct, oppose,” as it is found in Numbers 22:22, 1 Samuel 29:4, Psalms 109:6. [ 4 ] Ha-Satan is traditionally translated as “the accuser,” or “the adversary.” The definite article “ha-”, English “the”, is used to show that this is a title bestowed on a being, versus the name of a being. Thus this being would be referred to as “the Satan.” [ 5 ]
Ha-Satan with the definite article occurs 13 times in the Masoretic Text, in two books of the Hebrew Bible:
Satan without the definite article is used in 10 instances, of which two are translated diabolos in the Septuagint and "Satan" in the King James Version:
- 1 Chronicles 21:1, "Satan stood up against Israel" (KJV) or "And there standeth up an adversary against Israel" (Young's Literal Translation) [ 8 ]
- Psalm 109:6b "and let Satan stand at his right hand" (KJV) [ 9 ] or "let an accuser stand at his right hand." (ESV, etc.)
The other eight instances of satan without the definite article are traditionally translated (in Greek, Latin and English) as "an adversary", etc., and taken to be humans or obedient angels:
- Numbers 22:22,23 "and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him."
- 23 "behold, I went out to withstand thee,"
- 1 Samuel 29:4 The Philistines say: "lest he [David] be an adversary against us"
- 2 Samuel 19:22 David says: "[you sons of Zeruaiah] should this day be adversaries (plural) unto me?"
- 1 Kings 5:4 Solomon writes to Hiram: "there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.
- 1 Kings 11:14 "And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite" [ 10 ]
- 1 Kings 11:23 "And God stirred him up an adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah"
- 25 "And he [Rezon] was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon"
Job's Satan
In the Book of Job, ha-Satan is a member of the divine council, "the sons of God" who are subservient to God. Ha-Satan, in this capacity, is many times translated as "the prosecutor", and is charged by God to tempt humans and to report back to God all who go against His decrees. At the beginning of the book, Job is a good person "who feared God and turned away from evil" (Job 1:1), and has therefore been rewarded by God. When the divine council meets, God informs ha-Satan about Job's blameless, morally upright character. Between Job 1:9–10 and 2:4–5, ha-Satan merely points out that God has given Job everything that a man could want, so of course Job would be loyal to God; if all Job has been given, even his health, were to be taken away from him, however, his faith would collapse. God therefore grants ha-Satan the chance to test Job. [ 11 ] Due to this, it has been interpreted that ha-Satan is under God's control and cannot act without God's permission. This is further shown in the epilogue of Job in which God is speaking to Job, ha-Satan is absent from these dialogues. "For Job, for [Job's] friends, and for the narrator, it is ultimately Yahweh himself who is responsible for Job's suffering; as Yahweh says to the 'satan', 'You have incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.'" (Job 2:3) [ 7 ]