He appears as a snake in Genesis not as Satan. All the way to Job no Satan is mentioned. Satan and Devil mean "resister" and can be apllied to other people. Job was written like a shakespear play and is a very odd book. Only in the new testament is he often mentioned. How did this evolve??
Notice that Satan in the bible never existed in the old testament
by Witness 007 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Crazyguy
Satan can mean Adversary,. You'll also find that demons also are hardly mentioned before the New Testament. In the New Testament one can see influences from the Persian religion where Demons and an actual Satan type deity is found. Also cherubim and animals like theses are also in this old religion. In the end most of what is in the bible is stories and ideas as well as beliefs from countries around Israel. The whole idea in the new testament about living a good life, dying, being judged based on your heart condition and then going to heaven or a paradise is all from Egypt and can be confirmed by reading the book of the dead.
Many of the stories in the bible were taken from another story and then reworked a bit to suit the writer. Noah's flood story is a retelling of the epic of Gilgamesh. the story about the tower of babel was originally about a god Enki confusing the language of a city. The Moses exodus story seems to be a retelling of the Hyksos expulsion with different stories from Egypt thrown in to add flavor to the story. Even a myth about Sargon of Akkad being put in to a basket sealed with pitch then floated down the Euphrates river was thrown in for good measure.
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dropoffyourkeylee
The Jews (according to the commonly accepted theories) picked up the idea of Satan while they were in exile in Persia, where the Zoarastrian religion had the two opposing deities. -
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DATA-DOG
Just replace "Satan" with "adversary" and see how much of the OT stops supporting the agenda of the WTBTS.
DD
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Finkelstein
Rabbinical Judaism
In Judaism, Satan is a term used since its earliest biblical contexts to refer to a human opponent.[26] Occasionally, the term has been used to suggest evil influence opposing human beings, as in the Jewish exegesis of the Yetzer hara ("evil inclination" Genesis 6:5). Micaiah's "lying spirit" in 1 Kings 22:22 is sometimes related. Thus, Satan is personified as a character in three different places of the Tenakh, serving as an accuser (Zechariah 3:1–2), a seducer (1 Chronicles 21:1), or as a heavenly persecutor who is "among the sons of God" (Job 2:1). In any case, Satan is always subordinate to the power of God, having a role in the divine plan. Satan is rarely mentioned in Tannaitic literature, but is found in Babylonian aggadah.[20]
In medieval Judaism, the Rabbis rejected these Enochic literary works into the Biblical canon, making every attempt to root them out.[19] Traditionalists and philosophers in medieval Judaism adhered to rational theology, rejecting any belief in rebel or fallen angels, and viewing evil as abstract.[27] The Yetzer hara ("evil inclination" Genesis 6:5) is a more common motif for evil in rabbinical texts. Rabbinical scholarship on the Book of Job generally follows the Talmud and Maimonides as identifying the "Adversary" in the prologue of Job as a metaphor.[28]
In Hasidic Judaism, the Kabbalah presents Satan as an agent of God whose function is to tempt one into sin, then turn around and accuse the sinner on high.[vague] The Chasidic Jews of the 18th century associated ha-Satan with Baal Davar.[29]
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Beth Sarim
A roaring lion is like Satan. But you cant see him. -
Vidiot
I liked how the Accountant described him in Drive Angry...
"Satan is simply the warden of a very large prison. Quiet man actually, thoughtful and he's well read."
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Witness 007
The book of Job stands out. But else where evil people were responsible for their own sins. Funny how the serpent in eden was just that a serpent who could talk. -
cofty
The early chapters of Job are not original.
Satan was borrowed from the Zoroastrian religion during the exile.