The Early History of Satan

Abstract

ha-satan (the adversary) is an ambiguous figure in the earliest Hebrew texts. Far from being the malevolent, majestic embodiment of pure evil imagined by Milton, the figure we confront in the Hebrew Bible can sometimes be a source of assistance around the heavenly court. Conversely, and even more surprisingly, Yahweh is depicted in some of these texts as having a moral character that is not wholly good. This Reflection assesses the way the depiction of ha-satan evolves across various parts of the Hebrew Bible, and relates it to the way the character of the devil is depicted in Christianity.