Satan Is Not The

Devils Name

By Christian Anarchist

Already I can tell by this title alone,

I will be receiving plenty of critique
from those in the Christian camp over
this research. Satan is a figure we
normally here about in church stories
as well as others where we hear about
this figure named "Satan" who goes
around trying to deceive people and
cause destruction. However, in my
latest research, I found out that this
"Satan" name is not actually the name
of the devil. Rather, it is simply a
Hebrew word that has been
misapplied to the devil due to a
misunderstanding of the word via
translation and that this has carried
on throughout tradition. However, the
part about its current form staying in
most translations is only speculation
and new research could change my
view here. However, we must examine
this word Satan in much more detail
as well as focusing on its application.
The Hebrew is known as H7854
which is satan. So what does this
word mean in English? The English
translation that is usually provided by
Brown-Driver-Briggs and Strongs
Exhaustive Concordance is
Adversary. So we know that this
simple means that there is an accuser,
disputer or person of conflict in
interest whenever this word is used.
Lets examine some verses that use
the word to help establish our thesis
in this paper that Satan is not the
name of the devil.
The word satan is used 28 times
in the Old Testament. The famous
usage of it in Job is used 14 times,
cutting the numbers in half already. In
the examining of these verses, we
should note that there is another
Hebrew word that follows satan
here. That is the Hebrew has. has
is the Hebrew definite article that
means the. Hebrew/OT Scholar,
Michael Heiser, makes the following
comment in regards to this phrase
with the combination: In biblical
Hebrew, the definite article (the word
the) is a single letter (heh). Hebrew
prefixes (attaches) the definite article
to a noun (or participle to make it a
substantive) so that, like all languages
that have definite articles, the noun is
made specific. Biblical Hebrew does
not, however, put the definite
article (the word the) on proper
personal nouns (personal names).
In this respect, Hebrew is like
English. I dont call myself the Mike.
No one puts the word the in
front of their first name. Hebrew
simply does not do this at all (1).
Even Paul Juon and Takamitsu
Muraoka, Hebrew scholars, note this
by saying: No proper noun of person
takes the article, not even when it has
the form of an adjective or a participle
(2). So the question then arises, who
is this figure in Job?
Good scholarly research has led us
to believe that this is actually a
member of the divine council that was
mentioned in Psalms 82? Job 1:6
starts off mentioning the sons of
God which are basically the other
angelic beings. And the scene is then
treated like a court room with satan
coming in making an accusation.
Heiser notes: Basically, the satan in
Job is an officer of the divine council
(sort of like a prosecutor). His job is to
run to and fro throughout the earth
to see who is and who is not obeying
Yahweh. When he finds someone who
isnt and is therefore under Yahwehs
wrath, he accuses that person. This
is what we see in Job and it actually
has a distinct New Testament flavor
(3). So that is what we see when we
examine the text. We also make note
that the same Hebrew is used in
Zechariah 3 (in which the Hebrew
word is used three times). This is the
same figure since we see similar
behavior compared to how he was in
Job. So 17 times of the 28 uses are in
application to The Adversary who is
a member of the divine council. What
about the other eleven usages?
Psalms 109:6 is one of the verses
that uses this word without the has
satan combo. However, most modern
translations translate this as accuser
compared to the KJV translation which
is Satan. I will show why seeing this
as Satan would provide a problem for
the theology of prayer. In verse 4,
David uses the same word to describe
his enemies who accused him
falsely: For my love they are my
adversaries (ESV: In return for my
love they accuse me). It is here that
we see David was betrayed by his
enemies who accused him. As a
result, David prays for justice in verse
6 by saying Set thou a wicked man
over him: and let Satan (an accuser)
stand at his right hand. The NIV
Study Bible provides an interesting
footnote from John H. Stek, an Old
Testament scholar and professor, on
this verse by stating this verse means:
The psalmists enemy falsely
accused him in order to bring him
down; now let the enemy be
confronted by an accuser (4). So
David was wanting the classic eye for
an eye treatment and prayed to God
for this accuser. However, if he prayed
and was expecting Satan, does this
mean it is alright for us to pray for
God to use the power of Satan to
destroy our enemies? I hope my critics
do not hold this view for it would
violate the holiness of God.
 Most of the other times that the
word is used, we see it refers to
human beings as the satan or
adversary (1 Samuel 29:4, 2 Samuel
19:22, 1 Kings 5:4 and three times in
1 Kings 11 as well as a few other
verses.) However, I want to focus on
the final few: Two instances in
Numbers 22 and the one usage in 1
Chronicles 21. Numbers 22 uses the
word without the has definite
article. What we are seeing here is the
Hebrew word satan is actually
describing the Angel of the Lord. In
other words, not just any angel, but an
angel who in a sense would represent
a member of the Old Testament
formula of the Trinity. John Gill
comments on Numbers 22:22 and
notes that this angel was not a
created angel, one of the ministering
spirits, but the eternal one, the
angel of Jehovah's presence (5).
So with that in mind, who is God an
adversary against? The context
indicates that it is Balaam, a person
who was considered a prophet based
on what read in the verse 5 of this
chapter. So what about 1 Chronicles
21? Does this final verse in our study
also indicate the Angel of Lord is in
mind when we use the word satan?
The answer is yes when we examine
the text which is in 1 Chronicles 21:1.
The verse says And Satan (an
adversary) stood up against Israel,
and provoked David to number
Israel. Where in the context does it
indicate this is God? Well if you read 2
Samuel 24, we see a parallel account
of what happens, but instead of Satan,
we read the anger of the LORD
instead. So is there a contradiction
here? No, it is still God who is being
mentioned in 1 Chronicles 21:1 and
the author is making any new
information new. He just uses the
same word used to describe the Angel
of the Lord in Numbers 22. Paul Evans,
an Old Testament studies specialist,
wrote the following in his article on
this topic: In 2 Samuel 24 the first
mention of the angel reads the angel
stretched forth his hand toward
Jerusalem to destroy it (v. 16), while
the parallel in 1 Chronicles 2l reads
And God sent the angel to Jerusalem
to destroy it (v. 15). The change is
subtle, but profound. Ch alters his
Vorlage in order to clarify that the
angel is distinct from God. A good
parallel to this concern can be seen in
2 Chr 32, 21 and its parallel, 2 Kgs 19,
35 (6). So as you can see from the
biblical and scholarly evidence
regarding this particular Hebrew word,
it cannot apply to the devil or the
serpant that we are familiar with in
the usual traditional stories.
Some of you may be wondering
how this word became associated with
the devil or how I am confident in my
conclusion on this thesis. Evans notes
the following in his same article:
Some suggested this evolution was
influenced by Persian dualism and
that was now seen as the archenemy
of God the Devil (7). While this is
again, merely a plausible theory
within the examination of the culture
and surrounding historical context of
the ancient Israelites, it is still
something worth considering in light
of the Hebrew grammatical and
biblical evidence in light of this
research. I hope to delve further into
this topic by researching the use of
the Greek word that is the equivalent,
satanas. However, until I reach that
goal, I hope this article be open a
world of curiosity and enlightenment
into your bible studies in the future.

Sources & Citations

 1). Michael S. Heiser, The
Absence of Satan in the Old
Testament. http://drmsh.com/the-
absence-of-satan-in-the-old-
testament/#fn-6841-1

2.) Paul Jouon and Takamitsu

Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical
Hebrew (Editrice Pontificio Istituto
Biblico, 2003; 2005), vol. 2:505; Par
137.b.

3.) Heiser, Ibd.

4.) Barker, Kenneth L., John H.

Stek, Walter W. Wessel, and Ronald
F. Youngblood. NIV Study Bible.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub.
House, 2011.

5.) John Gills Exposition of the

Bible

6.) Evans, Paul S. "Divine

Intermediaries in 1 Chronicles 21:
An Overlooked Aspect of the
Chroniclers Theology." (2004).
https://www.bsw.org/. Web.

7.) Ibd.