SATAN. The doctrine of Satan and of Satanic agency is to be made out from revelation, and from reflection in agreement with revelation.
Scripture Names or Titles of Satan. —Besides Satan, he is called the Devil, the Dragon, the Evil One, the Angel of the )3ottoMless Pit, the Prince of this World, the Prince of the Power of the Air, the God of this World, Apollyon, Abaddon, Belial, Beelzebub. Satan and Devil are the names by which he is oftener distinguished than by any other ; the former being applied to him about forty times, and the latter about fifty times.
Satan is the Hebrew word it*, transferred to the English. It is derived from the verb pv, which means to lie in wait,' to oppose," to be an adversary.' Hence the noun denotes an adver sary or opposer. The word in its generic sense occurs in Kings xi. 14 : The Lord raised up an adversary (pt.') against Solomon,' i.e. Hadad the Edomite. In the 23d verse the word occurs ag,ain, applied to Rezon. It is used in the same sense in r Sam. xxix. 4, where David is termed an adver sary ; and in Num. xxii. 22, where the angel stood in the way for an adversary (Int,) to Balaam,' i.e. to oppose hint when he went with the princes of Moab. See also Ps. cix. 6.
In Zech. iii. 2, the word occurs in its specific sense as a proper name : And he showed me Joshua the high-priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan (pt!,n) standing at his right hand to resist ' (=th, to satanize him '). And the Lord said unto Satan (itotvri), The Lord rebuke thee, 0 Satan.' Here it is manifest, both from the context and the use of the article, that some particular adversary is denoted.
In the rst and 2c1 chapters of Job, the same use of the word with the article occurs several times. The events in which Satan is represented as the agent confirm this view. He was a distinguished adversary and tempter. Se also Chron. xxi. When we pass from the O. T. to the N. T., this doctrine of an invisible evil agent becomes more clear. With the advent of Christ and the opening of the Christian dispensation, the great opposer of that kingdom, the particular adversary and anta gonist of the Saviour, would naturally become more active and more known. The antagonism of Satan and his kingdom to Christ and his kingdom runs through the whole of the N. T., as will appear from the following passages and their con texts : Matt. iv. ro ; xii. 26 ; Mark iv. 15 ; Luke x. 18 ; xxii. 3, 31 ; Acts xxvi. 18 ; Rom. xvi. 20 ; 2 Cor. xi. 14 ; Rev. ii. 13 ; xii. 9. Peter is once called Satan, because his spirit and conduct, at a certain time, were so much in opposition to the spirit and intent of Christ, and so much in the same line of direction with the workings of Satan. This is the only application of the word in the N. T. to any but the prince of the apostate angels.
Devil (AuipoXos) is the more frequent term of desigmation given to Satan in the N. T. Both Satan and Devil are in several instances applied to the sante being (Rev. xii. 9), That old serpent, the Devil and Satan.' Christ, in the temptation (Matt. iv.), in his repulse of the tempter, calls him Satan ; while the evangelists distinguish him by the term Devil.' Devil is the translation of SicipoNos,
from the verb aiapciXXEd, to thrust through," to carry over,' and, tropically, to inform against,' to accuse.' He is also called the accuser of the brethren (Rev. xii. to). The Hebrew term Satan is more generic than the Greek Stcli3oXor. The former expresses his character as an opposer of all good ; the latter denotes more particularly the re lation which he bears to the saints, as their traducer and accuser. Azd,t3oNos is the uniform translation which the Septuagint gives of the Hebrew jU'tv, when used with the article. Farmer says that the term Satan is not appropriated to one particular person or sphit, but signifies an adversaiy or opponent in general. This is to no purpose, since it is also applied to the Devil as an adversary in particular. There are four instances in the N. T. in which the word SzcitioNos is applied to human beings. In three out of the four it is in the plural number, expressive of quality, and not personality (I Tim. iii. r ; 2 Tim. iii. 3 ; Tit. ii. 3). In the fourth instance (John vi. 70), Jesus says to his dis ciples, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ? (StdiEtoXos). This is the only in stance in the N. T. of its application to a human being in the singular number ; and here Dr. Camp bell thinks it should not be translated devil.' The translation is, however, of no consequence, since it is with the use of the original word that this article is concerned. The obvious reasons fin this appli cation of StOoNos to Judas, as an exception to the general rule, go to confirm the rule. The rule is that, in the N. T. usage, the word in the singular number denotes individuallty, and is applied to Satan as a proper name. By the exception, it is applied to Judas, from his resemblance to the Devil, as an accuser and betrayer of Christ, and from his contributing to aid him in his designs against Christ. With these exceptions, the usu.s loguendi of the N. T. shows 6 AzgloNos to be a proper name, applied to an extraordinary being, whose influence upon the human race is great and mis chievous (Matt. iv. r-r ; Luke viii. 12 ; John viii. 44 ; Acts xiii. to ; Eph. vi. ; Pet. v. ; r John iii. 8 ; Rev. xii. 9). The term devil, which is in the N. T. the uniform translation of SLcigoNos, is also frequently the translation of baibu.ov and oat A6vLov. Between these words and Stcii3oXos the English translators have made no distinction. The former are almost always used in connection with demoniacal possessions, and are applied to the possessing spirits, but never to the prince of those spirits. On the other hand, StcigoXos is never applied to the demons, but only to their prince ; thus showing that the one is used definitely as a proper name, while the others are used inde finitely as generic terms. The sacred writers made a distinction, which in the English version is lost. In this our translators followed the German version: tezfel, like the term devil, being applied to both 3LdpoXos and 3ali.twv.