How God’s Executioner Became the Enemy
Ryan E. Stokes
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546
© 2019 Ryan E. Stokes
All rights reserved
Published 2019
ISBN 978-0-8028-7250-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Stokes, Ryan E., 1977– author.
Title: The Satan : how God’s executioner became the enemy / Ryan E. Stokes.
Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018056929 | ISBN 9780802872500 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Devil—History of doctrines. | Devil—Biblical teaching.
Classification: LCC BT982 .S76 2019 | DDC 235/.47—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018056929
To the one who shared our flesh and blood
so that through death he might destroy
the one who has the power of death
Foreword by John J. Collins
The Satan Tradition in the Hebrew Scriptures
The Angel of Yahweh as a Satan in Numbers 22
The Satan Rebuked by the Angel of Yahweh in Zechariah 3
The Satan Who Stands against Israel in 1 Chronicles 21
What Kind of Satan Stands against Israel?
Reading the Census Story in Light of the Balaam Narrative
Early Notions of God’s Executioner
2. The Satan and the Innocent Job
The Composition of the Job Story
The Satan as Attacker/Executioner
The Satan Attacks an Innocent Person
Is the Satan an “Accuser” in Job?
The Contributions of Job to the Satan Tradition
3. Demons, Evil Spirits, Fallen Angels, and Human Sin
Taxonomies and Terminology for Harmful Superhuman Beings
Demons, Evil Spirits, and the Sons of God in the Hebrew Scriptures
Demons, Evil Spirits, and the Sons of Heaven in the Book of the Watchers
The Watchers and Forbidden Knowledge
The Origin and Activity of Evil Spirits
Demons, Evil Spirits, Fallen Angels, and the Worship of False Gods
Superhuman Beings and Human Sin
4. The Prince of Mastema and His Deceptive Spirits
Taxonomy, Terminology, and Titles for Harmful Superhuman Beings
Satanic Titles and Terminology
Designations for Demons and Evil Spirits
The Prince of Mastema, Deceptive Spirits, and the Nations
The Danger of Deceptive Spirits
The Prince of Mastema, Chief of the Deceptive Spirits
Evil Spirits and the Election of Israel
The Satan and the Deception of the Nations
5. The Prince of Mastema, Enemy of God’s People
The Prince of Mastema Attempts to Harm God’s People
The Prince of Mastema Causes a Famine
The Prince of Mastema Tests Abraham
The Prince of Mastema Assists the Egyptians
Two Perspectives on the Prince of Mastema
The Prince of Mastema as “Accuser”
Jubilees on the Origin of Evil
Unity and Diversity in the Portrayal of the Satan in Jubilees
6. Demons, Evil Spirits, the Satan, and Human Responsibility for Sin
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About The Satan: How God’s Executioner Became the EnemyMany people today think of Satan as a little red demon with a pointy tail and a pitchfork—but this vision of the devil developed over many centuries and would be foreign to the writers of the Old Testament, where this figure makes his first appearances. The earliest texts that mention the Satan—it is always “the Satan” in the Old Testament—portray him as an agent of Yahweh, serving as an executioner of evildoers. But over the course of time, the Satan came to be regarded more as God’s enemy than God’s agent and was blamed for a host of problems. Biblical scholar Ryan E. Stokes explains the development of the Satan tradition in the Hebrew scriptures and the writings of early Judaism, describing the interpretive and creative processes that transformed an agent of Yahweh into the archenemy of good. He explores how the idea of a heavenly Satan figure factored into the problem of evil and received the blame for all that is wrong in the world. |
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