Difference between revisions of "Category:Devil (subject)"

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According to Jewish (Christian, and Islamic) traditions, the Devil is a rebellious angel, whose action was seen by some as a main source (if not the origin) of evil.

Overview

Book of Numbers

Balaam and the Angel (1836) by Gustav Jäger

The first occurrence of the word "satan" in the Jewish tradition in reference to a supernatural figure comes from Numbers 22:22 which describes the Angel of Yhwh confronting Balaam on his donkey:

"Balaam's departure aroused the wrath of Elohim, and the Angel of Yhwh stood in the road as a satan against him."

Satan is not a name but a function. An angel of God is sent by God as a satan (an accuser) against Balaam.

Book of Chronicles

In 2 Samuel 24, Yahweh sends the "Angel of YHWN" to inflict a plague against Israel for three days, killing 70,000 people as punishment for David having taken a census without his approval. 1 Chronicles 21:1 repeats this story, but replaces the "Angel of Yahweh" with an entity referred to as "a satan". A satan is an angel of God sent for punishment. Good and evil come from God as a direct consequence of human behavior. Angels are instruments of God's mercy or wrath. Depending on the circumstances an angel is a "messenger", a "savior", or a "satan".

The Satan in the Book of Job

Satan and Job

Job is a righteous man favored by Yahweh:

1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.

The Satan in the Book of Job is a member of God's heavenly council. He is not a rebellious angel; he is one of God's angels and court officers. The Satan questions the righteousness of Job, urging Yhwh to let him harm Job, promising that Job will abandon his faith at the first tribulation. Yahwh consents and at first gives the Satan only the authority to cause calamity to Job and destroy his properties (but not to touch him!):

6 One day the bene elohim (=the angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 The Lord said to Satan,[g] “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So Satan[h] went out from the presence of the Lord.

Following God's order, the satan destroys Job's servants and flocks, yet Job refuses to condemn Yhwh:

13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

Then the first scene repeats itself, with the satan presenting himself to Yahweh alongside the other "sons of God". Yhwh points out Job's continued faithfulness, to which the satan insists that more testing is necessary; Yahweh once again gives him permission to test Job (but not to kill him!):

2 One day the heavenly beings[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[b] also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Satan,[c] “Where have you come from?” Satan[d] answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 The Lord said to Satan,[e] “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” 4 Then Satan[f] answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives.[g] 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 The Lord said to Satan,[h] “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”

Once again, refuses to condemn Yhwh, not even at the invitation of his wife

7 So Satan[i] went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 Job[j] took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse[k] God, and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

At this point, having accomplished his task, the satan disappears from the narrative and the story focuses on Job's struggle to "understand" what happened to him. Job firmly believes that both "the good" and "the bad" come from God.

Job's three friends of his (Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite) cone to "console" him. First they are silent before such suffering, but then they try to convince him of the only possible explanation: he must have sinned.

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. 13 They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Job would not condemn God but he would not even recognize that he is a sinner, because he is not. There must be some other explanation.

A covenant in which the first party (God) is only the empire or judge is unfair to humans. Ant the covenant is a too strong limitation of God's liberty and power

The Satan is never blamed as the source or the cause of evil. God is the source of evil, and should not be blamed. Humans have to resign themselves to the will of God as his plans are good but mysterious. Humans cannot understand and should not try to understand; they should not question God's will, we can only accept it in obedience.

The Deal with the Devil: The Faust Legend

• The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus (1589 Marlowe), play
  • Faust (1808 Goethe), poetry
  • La damnation de Faust (The Damnation of Faust / 1846 Berlioz / Gandonnièr, Berlioz), oratorio
  • Faust (1859 Gounod / Barbier, Carré), opera
  • < The Black Crook (1866 Baker, Operti, Bickwell / Barras), musical >
  • Mefistofele (Mephistopheles / 1875 Boito), opera
  • La damnation de Faust (1903 Méliès), short film
  • Faust (1910 Andréani, Barnett, Guazzoni), short film
  • Faust (1915 Sloman), short film
  • Faust (1922 Bourgeois), short film
  • Faust – eine deutsche Volkssage (Faust / 1926 Murnau), feature film
  • La beauté du diable (Beauty and the Devil / 1950 Clair), feature film
  • Faust (1960 Gorski, Gründgens), feature film
  • Doctor Faustus (1967 Burton, Coghill), feature film
  • Bedazzled (1967 Donen), feature film
  • < Mephisto (1981 Szabó), feature film >
  • Bedazzled (2000 Ramis), feature film
  • Faust: Love of the Damned (2001 Yuzna), feature film
  • Faust (2011 Sokurov), feature film

The Devil in ancient sources

• Devil (sources) -- survey of ancient sources

The Devil in literature & the arts

• Devil (arts) -- survey of fictional works

The Devil in scholarship

• Devil (research) -- survey of scholarly works

References

• Devil / Jeffrey B. Gibson / In: Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans: 2000)

External links

• Wikipedia