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Dean 1

Satan in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Scripture

Satan has a prominent role in the three monotheistic scriptures – the Hebrew Bible,

New Testament, and the Qur’an. However, that role is multifaceted, and changes not only

within each scripture, but also with each interpretation of those scriptures. These three

scriptures are considered to be static and unchanging. Their stories and teachings have

been canonized, and they are recognized as the official, collected teachings of the their

respective religions. However, within all three of these scriptures there resides a character

who, since the creations of the religions themselves, has been shrouded in mystery and

misunderstanding – Satan. When someone references Satan in the present age, the very

name, to most lay individuals, evokes horrific images of a horned beast residing in a land of

fire beneath the Earth. This beast’s sole mission is to tempt humans and turn them from the

grace of God. His very existence is the root of all evil. But is this description accurate?

Unlike the scriptures from which his story is derived and interpreted, Satan has

changed and evolved. Louis Rabinowitz, writing in the Encyclopaedia Judaica, tells us that

the Hebrew term “satan” simply means, “an adversary who opposes and obstructs” (72).

Within the Hebrew Bible, this idea of satan as a common adversary, and not the endorser of

all things evil, is initially applied to humans, rather than to some celestial member of the

Heavenly host. Indeed, the “evil Satan” that has become so engrained in the societal

consciousness appears nowhere in the Hebrew Bible. Rabinowitz states:

‘The Satan’ as the standing appellation of a particular angel first appears

around 520 B.C.E…. in Job 1–2, he questions Job's integrity in the latter's

absence and suggests to the Lord that it be tested. He is clearly subordinate

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to God, a member of His suite (Heb. bene ha-e’lohim), who is unable to act

without His permission. Nowhere is he in any sense a rival of God. (72)

In his book The Devil and God, William Robinson further exemplifies this relationship

between the Satan and God, explaining that “The name means ‘the accuser,’ and this is

significant. This is the role he plays. He is Public Prosecutor to the Court of Heaven, and,

moreover, in the fulfillment of his task is full of suspicion, though making a just report, as

he becomes an unbiased prosecutor” (54).

This role of “Satan” is wholeheartedly different than the representation that we see

today. The Satan of the Hebrew Bible is fundamentally a servant of God. His role is divinely

mandated. His purpose is to test humans, to search for and bring to light the perfection that

God wishes to see in his human subjects. The abrupt appearance of the Satan in the Hebrew

Bible begs further questioning, however. How did the common term satan evolve to

become the name or title of an official position within God’s host?

Before Satan’s appearance in Job, there are no references made to “the Satan” in the

Hebrew Bible. The only satan referenced is the human “satan,” or adversary. While rarely

used, this concept of a “human” satan is so commonplace that David himself is called an

adversary, in some translations a satan, by the Philistines. “‘Send him back, so that he may

return to the place that you have assigned to him; he shall not go down with us to battle, or

else he may become an adversary to us in the battle” (1 Sam. 29:4). The Hebrew Bible

teaches a strict understanding that there is only one God, and that he has the capacity to be

both benevolent and vengeful. The same God that has the ability to flood the Earth has the

ability to deliver the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. If one God possesses the ability to save
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and at the same time to judge, what would be the need for an official Satan figure?

Robinson proposes that:

It remains true that in pre-exilic Hebrew literature the Devil and Satan do not

figure. It is therefore almost certain that the Hebrews made their first

acquaintance with Satan during their stay in Babylon, where, as we have

seen, there was a strong influence of dualism. Certainly they emerged from

Exile with both a demonology (a hierarchy of evil spirits) and an angelology

(a hierarchy of good spirits). And this they later developed, maintaining at

the same time most tenaciously their belief in one God, Jehovah…. (52-53)

Satan’s appearance in the book of Job is to play an accusatory role in the prologue to the

story. He has doubts about Job’s loyalty to God, and, therefore, calls that his faith should be

tested. “You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the

land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your

face” (Job 1:10-12). Satan’s accusation that Job would lose his faith in God at the first signs

of hardship prompts God to allow Satan to test him.

This is an interesting point that must be considered carefully. God allows Satan to

test Job. This fact dispels the belief that Satan is acting in defiance of God. On the contrary,

he is performing the duties that seem to have been bestowed upon him by God. He has

reason to doubt one of God’s most faithful subjects and, therefore, will proceed to test Job’s

loyalty to God. God does have one stipulation, however. “The LORD said to Satan, ‘Very well,

and all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!’” (Job

1:12). God tells Satan that he is not allowed to physically harm Job, and Satan is bound to

abide by this rule until God amends it in Job 2. Rabbi Leo Jung, PH.D., in his book Fallen
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Angels in Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedian Literature concludes that, “Satan appears

among the sons of God, not as an opponent of His will, for he would otherwise not have

been permitted to appear amongst the angels. He doubts Job’s sincerity as a routine of his

Satanic office. He has no joy in evil” (27).

One of the most profoundly controversial gray areas of Satan’s role in the Hebrew

Bible, and ultimately the New Testament, is the role of Satan in the Garden of Eden.

Traditional Christian theology holds that the serpent in the Garden is indeed the Devil in

disguise, but is this truly so? Within the Hebrew Bible, there would be no place for the

serpent in the Garden to be Satan, because, to follow previous assertions, Satan as God’s

official “accuser” did not yet exist. So, who is this character? Robinson offers, “It is a

primitive story to account for the fact of sin…. it declares that the result of this entry of sin

into the life of man is to bring about a perpetual struggle between good and evil. Man is

perpetually battling with evil, overcoming it and being overcome by it” (51-52).

While the common conception today among Christians is that the serpent, which

tempted Eve, is indeed the Devil, modern scholarly study begs to differ. The Garden story is

now read to indicate that the struggle with evil, from the Hebrew perspective, was not

between man and a Devil. The struggle was man’s struggle with the evil, the imperfection,

within himself. The Garden story gives a place where sin originated, and an explanation as

to why it exists. The serpent is not a symbol for Satan in disguise; rather it is a metaphor for

the temptation within ourselves.

Of the three monotheistic scriptures, the New Testament has by far the most in-

depth analysis of Satan and his role as an antagonist to God. Within the New Testament,

Satan morphs from his original form as the accuser, to the rival of God and the prince of all
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things evil. The generally accepted history of the New Testament Satan is that he was once

called Lucifer. He was the most beautiful of all the angels that God had created. However,

this high status he possessed soon consumed him, and he felt that he deserved to rule

Heaven more than God. In an attempt to overthrow God, he and one-third of the Heavenly

host were cast out and Lucifer became Satan, the Devil. What are the origins of this story?

Jung indicates that the interpretation of this fall from grace comes from passages in Isaiah

in the Hebrew Bible (otherwise called the “Old Testament”).

How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut

down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I

will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…. I will

ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High. But

you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)

When one approaches this passage with the belief that it refers to Lucifer, it is easy to make

the assumption that it refers to Lucifer’s fall. It would seem that the speaker refers to a

coup against God, in which he is able to “raise” his throne into a position of power in

heaven.

There seems to be a discrepancy, however; even if one does believe that this refers

to Lucifer. If one accepts that Lucifer is an angel, why would he need to “ascend to heaven?”

As an angel, he would already reside in heaven, and would have no need to ascend into it in

order to take power from God. With this oddity in mind, is it possible to argue that this

passage does not refer to Lucifer? Jung explains, “It requires but a careful reading of the

text to see that the chapter as a whole…can refer to the King of Babel…” (28). Even in the

Harper Collins Study Bible, from which the above passage was derived, the portion of
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Chapter 14 in which this passage resides is referred to as the “Downfall of the King of

Babylon.” Jung indicates that there is something of a movement away from the

interpretation that Isaiah 14 refers to Lucifer. Jung asserts that the “power” loaned the

Devil and his evil host is simply a mistake in the interpretation of the Isaiah passage (28).

Yet, even with the possibility of a misinterpretation, much credence is still given to the

belief that Lucifer is a fallen angel.

The Devil of the New Testament is far more wicked than the Satan of the Hebrew

Bible. He is considered to be able to control all things evil, capable of possessions,

responsible for death and disease, and determined to draw innocent humans away from

God. His mandate is not at the order of God, and he resides in a world of fire and brimstone

where those who follow him are damned to reside for eternity after death. The New

Testament representation of the Devil is as a powerful adversary to God. Despite this

power, however, theologians are quick to point out that the Devil is not, and never will be,

more powerful than God. Maurice Garcon and Jean Vinchon, in their book The Devil,

indicate that there is a distinct difference between the powers of God and the Devil.

It is a general opinion that the Devil cannot work miracles. A miracle, indeed,

changes the laws of nature, which appertains to God alone, the creator of all

things. Thus the Demon is reduced merely to performing prodigies which

make men marvel, but are actually carried out by natural means, which men

cannot use because they are unheard-of or quite unknown.” (76)

This is an important distinction to be made in the case of the Devil. It is believed that one

method Satan uses in order to turn humans from God is trickery; specifically, he will make

humans believe that he is just as powerful as God, if not more powerful, by performing
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“miracles” as God would. Even more sinister still, though, were the Devil’s methods of

forcibly taking over the souls of vulnerable humans.

Possession at one time was a powerful trait of the Devil. By far it was it his most

feared and dastardly ability. Possession is believed to be the occupation of a human’s body

by a demon, either the Devil himself, or a lesser demon acting on Satan’s behalf. Unlike the

Hebrew Bible, where an almost-baseless case can be made for only one possible case of

possession, several cases of possession can be seen throughout the New Testament. Mary

Magdalen, one of the most prominent female figures of the New Testament, was possessed

by seven demons that Jesus exorcised. In the Book of Luke it is explained that, “When the

unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through the waterless regions looking

for a resting place, but not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I

came.’ When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other

spirits more evil than itself and they live there….” (11: 24-26). In fact, demon possession

became such a center point for the power of the Devil that not only was extensive literature

produced on the ways to recognize possession, but also the Catholic Church constructed

the proper means by which a priest was to exorcise a demon.

Michael O’Donnell, writing in The Catholic Encyclopedia, states that, “All through the

Middle Ages councils continued to discuss the matter: laws were passed, and penalties

decreed, against all who invited the influence of the Devil or utilized it to inflict injury on

their fellow men; powers of exorcism were conferred on every priest of the Church. The

phenomenon was accepted as real by all Christians.” The notion of possession is generally

dismissed today; however, this does not deny the real role it played in the formation of the

diabolical nature of the Devil. Due to the powers he is understood to possess, the Devil in
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the New Testament has permeated throughout society as the cause of all things wrong or

evil in the world, a role that the Hebrew Bible’s Satan did not accomplish.

Generally speaking, very little is known about the scripture of Islam outside of the

Islamic states of the world. The Qur’an itself is seemingly as mysterious as the question of a

Qur’anic Satan. One who is a non-Muslim, unfamiliar with the teachings of the Qur’an,

would certainly have to ask, does Islam have a Satan-figure? Indeed it does, and the

Qur’anic Satan’s basic history is surprisingly similar to that of the New Testament Satan.

The Qur’anic Satan was once an angel named Iblis. After the creation of Adam, God orders

all of the angels to bow to Adam, but Iblis refuses. “God said, ‘What prevented you from

bowing when I ordered you to?’ [Iblis] said, ‘I am better than he – You made me from fire,

whereas You made him from clay” (Qur’an 7:12). For this disobedience, Iblis is banished

from heaven. Iblis vows to become a tempter to humans, striving to lead them from God’s

path. “He said, ‘Then since You have entrapped me, I will waylay them on Your straight

path. Then I will come upon them from before and behind them, and from their right and

their left. And You will not find most of them grateful” (Qur’an 7:16-17). The most striking

similarity to be found here is that, if one accepts the notion that Lucifer was an angel

banished from Heaven, both Iblis and Lucifer challenged God. For this disobedience, both

angels are cast from Heaven as punishment.

A major difference between the stories of the New Testament and Qur’anic versions

of Satan is the point at which Satan disobeys God. Jung indicates that, “Another difference,

of course, lies in the fact that Iblis sins after the creation of man, whilst Lucifer does so

before Adam is thought of….” (35). He further indicates that Lucifer’s rebellion was indeed

one of the reasons why God decides to create man. The Qur’anic Satan sees himself as being
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directly superior to humans, despite God’s orders to bow to them. What is more, Jung

states, “The Mohammedan angel…could disobey, but he could not rebel against God, he

could never think of trying to dethrone Him….” (35). Jung suggests that the story of the

Qur’anic Satan is largely borrowed from Christian and Hebrew scripture. The cause for the

discrepancy between the New Testament and Qur’anic Satans, and the extent to which they

were disobedient, is, according to Jung, due to the Qur’an’s acceptance of the Hebrew

Bible’s idea that an angel could not rebel against God (35). By contrast, some of the

Qur’anic concepts about Satan are almost entirely removed from either of the other two

scriptures.

The deeds of Satan in the Qur’an are particularly unique. Unlike the New Testament

Devil, who has the abilities to trick and possess humans, the Qur’anic Satan is more of a

nuisance. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, Satan is charged as being able to “[put]

knots, [stay] in nose at night, touch babies, make babies cry, cast aspersions into

prophecy…steal a hearing, [urinate] into ears, laugh at one who yawns and [enter] a person

when yawning.” Many of these abilities seem odd, and maybe even tame, at first glance.

Why would Satan urinate in a person’s ear, or put knots in their neck? In fact, many of these

traits seem to serve the purpose of effectively punishing those who are disobedient to the

will of God. The Encyclopedia explains that Satan will urinate in the ears of those who fall

asleep during prayer, and he laughs at and enters into those who yawn because “Allah

dislikes yawning.” Still others seem to be slightly more sinister in nature, such as making

babies cry, or stealing a hearing – which means to steal from someone knowledge that they

have heard. The general lack of a truly sinister nature in the actions of the Qur’anic Satan
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seems to go back to the idea that an angel cannot truly challenge God. While he can be

something of a problem to humans, he is nonetheless incapable of truly standing up to God.

While he may only be something of a bother in most instances, the Qur’anic Satan is

not devoid of the ability to cause humans to stray from the path of God. Indeed, he makes

the effort to live up to his promise to God that he will cause humans to be turned from

God’s straight path. “For it has declared, ‘I will take to myself a certain portion of Your

servants; and I will mislead them, and I will create desires in them, and I will get them to

cut off the ears of cattle, and I will get them to alter the creation of God…’” (Qur’an 4:118-

19). The Qur’anic Satan does have the ability to deceive, as well. “It makes them promises,

creating desires in them, but what diversion promises them is only delusion” (Qur’an

4:120). While the Qur’anic Satan does not rebel against God directly, he is certainly

vengeful in his intent to pull humans from the path of God. It seems as though, because

Satan was cast from heaven, due to his refusal to bow to humans, he intends to turn God’s

beloved humans away from Him in an act of revenge.

Satan is a truly complex character within scripture. Not only are his roles within the

three scriptures noticeably different, but his evolution seems to progress with the birth of

each new monotheistic religion. In the Hebrew Bible, Satan is a regent of God, the accuser

of humans with a divine mandate to be such. There is no evidence within the Hebrew Bible,

when read contextually, which would indicate that the Satan would intend to rebel against

or disobey God. It is the Satan’s job to be distrusting of humans, and to question their

faithfulness to God. It would appear that this questioning is what is supposed to keep man

innocent and faithful. The role of the Satan in the Hebrew Bible, and his sudden emergence

in the book of Job, may indicate a slow trend away from a God who was both benevolent
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and wrathful, to a God who was less capable of destroying the world when he was angered.

By dissociating the testing of the faithfulness of humans from God, God is invariably made

to seem kinder. The scapegoat of sorts becomes the Satan, who is the accuser of humans,

rather than God. With the birth of Christianity and the New Testament, however, we find a

complete reformation of the role of the Devil within scripture.

The New Testament brings about a new understanding of the one God. Instead of

being both good and feared, as he is in the Hebrew Bible, the God of the New Testament is

understood to be entirely benevolent. He is the merciful God who is Father to all of the

children of the world; the poor, the sick, the needy. With such a drastic shift, where does

that leave the evil in the world? The Devil enters a new realm of possibility once God is

removed of any inclination towards vengeance or direct punishment. While God is still to

be feared, because one day He will pass judgment on the souls of men, the Devil assumes

the role of the prince of evil and sin. The Devil becomes the explanation not only for why

evil exists, and why men sin, but also for why it continues to permeate through human

society. The New Testament’s Devil is the ultimate scapegoat for the evil and mishaps in the

world, far more so than the Hebrew Bible’s Satan. With the belief that God is entirely

benevolent, it is easy to see the necessity for a figure of evil to explain the evil in the world.

What is more, it is not too far a stretch to reason that if the evil in the world is caused by

one malevolent figure, that same figure would be the one to cause humans to commit

original sin. Hitherto, he becomes the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Ultimately, the

Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are polar ends from each other, leaving the Qur’an to

fall somewhere in the middle.

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The Qur’anic Satan is truly the middle ground Satan of the three versions of Satan.

The Qur’an combines many of the ideas of both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament,

including the idea of a Satan figure. As discussed previously, the Qur’anic Satan has a

similar history to the New Testament Devil, and yet he is not as “evil” as the Devil. By that

same token, the Qur’anic Satan is not entirely “good” in the sense that his position is no

longer in the service of God. The Qur’an teaches that God is benevolent, but that humans

will not be saved by virtue of faith alone (as the New Testament teaches). The God of the

Qur’an requires true testaments of faith in order for humans to be considered worthy, and

the Satan of the Qur’an mirrors this image. He runs the middle ground much the same as

the Qur’anic God (Allah) does. There is no need for an ultimate evil, nor is there a need for

an accuser of humans because the role of Allah does not mandate a need for one.

Satan is a figure whose role is highly dependent upon the scripture he is being

presented in, and the God he is juxtaposed against. His persona ranges from angelic to pure

evil, and he provides the balance for the God of the different scriptures. His role as a

character of scripture seems to be to provide an explanation for why there is evil in the

world, or to balance out the traits of God, and each scripture does this differently. The role

of Satan serves a purpose within scripture, and that role is whatever the specific scripture

requires him to be.

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Bibliography

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Francisco: HarperOne, 2006. Print.

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Online. Web. 07 Apr. 2011.
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id=islam_islam>.

Berenbaum, Michael, and Fred Skolnik. Encyclopaedia Judaica. Detroit: Macmillan

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Cleary, Thomas, trans. The Qur'an: A New Translation. Starlatch, 2004. Print.

Garcon, Maurice, and Jean Vinchon. The Devil: A Historical Critical

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York. 1945. Print.