Friday, December 31, 2021

Maimonides (1138-1204) on Bava Batra 16a on Guide to the Perplexed and the "Satan" of the Book of Job

In Bava Batra 16a, we read of Satan in the Book of Job being identified with both the “Angel of Death” and the “Evil Inclination”:

 

Reish Lakish says: Satan, the evil inclination, and the Angel of Death are one, that is, they are three aspects of the same essence. He is the Satan who seduces people and then accuses them, as it is written: “So the Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with vile sores” (Job 2:7). He is also the evil inclination, as it is written there: “The impulse of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuously” (Genesis 6:5); and it is written here: “Only upon himself do not put forth your hand” (Job 1:12). The verbal analogy between the various uses of the word “only” teaches that the evil inclination is to be identified with the Satan. He is also the Angel of Death, as it is written: “Only spare his life” (Job 2:6); apparently Job’s life depends upon him, the Satan, and accordingly the Satan must also be the Angel of Death. (Bava Batra 16a)

 

Maimonides’ commented on this in his Guide for the Perplexed III:22:

 

They said in the Talmud as follows: R. Simeon, son of Lakish, says: "The adversary (satan), evil inclination (yeẓer ha-ra’), and the angel of death, are one and the same being." Here we find all that has been mentioned by us in such a clear manner that no intelligent person will be in doubt about it. It has thus been shown to you that one and the same thing is designated by these three different terms, and that actions ascribed to these three are in reality the actions of one and the same agent. Again, the ancient doctors of the Talmud said: "The adversary goes about and misleads, then he goes up and accuses, obtains permission, and takes the soul." You have already been told that when David at the time of the plague was shown the angel "with the sword drawn in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem" (2 Sam. xxiv. 17), it was done for the purpose of conveying a certain idea to him. The same idea was also expressed in the vision concerning the sins of the sons of Joshua, the high priest, by the words, "And the adversary stood on his right hand to accuse him" (Zech. iii. 1). The vision then reveals that [the adversary] is far from God, and continues thus: "The Lord will rebuke thee, O adversary, the Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem win rebuke thee" (ibid. ver. 2). Balaam saw prophetically the same vision in his journey, addressing him with the words, "Behold I have come forth to be a hindrance to thee" (Num. xxii. 32). The Hebrew, satan, is derived from the same root as séteh, "turn away" (Prov. iv. 15); it implies the notion of turning and moving away from a thing; he undoubtedly turns us away from the way of truth, and leads us astray in the way of error. The same idea is contained in the passage, "And the imagination of the heart of man is evil from his youth" (Gen. Viii. 21). The theory of the good and the evil inclinations (yeẓer ha-tob, ve-yeẓer ha-ra’) is frequently referred to in our religion. Our Sages also say, "Serve God with your good and your evil inclinations." (B. T. Ber. 57a.) They also say that the evil inclination we receive at our birth: for "at the door sin croucheth" (Gen. iv. 7), as is distinctly said in the Law, "And the imagination of the heart of man is evil from his youth" (ibid. Viii. 21). The good inclination, however, comes when the mini is developed. In explaining the allegory representing the body of man and his different faculties, our Sages (B. T. Ned. 32b) said: "The evil inclination is called a great king, whilst the good inclination is a child, poor, though wise" (Eccles. ix. 14). All these sayings of our Sages are contained in their writings, and are well known. According to our Sages the evil inclination, the adversary (satan), and the angel [of death], are undoubtedly identical; and the adversary being called "angel, "because he is among the sons of God, and the good inclination being in reality an angel, it is to the good and the evil inclinations that they refer in their well-known words, "Every person is accompanied by two angels, one being on his right side, one on his left." In the Babylonian Gemara (Shabbath 119b), they say distinctly of the two angels that one is good and one bad. See what extraordinary ideas this passage discloses, and how many false ideas it removes.

 

I believe that I have fully explained the idea contained in the account of Job; but I will now show the character of the opinion attributed to Job, and of the opinions attributed to his friends, and support my statement by proofs gathered from the words of each of them. We need not take notice of the remaining passages which are only required for the context, as has been explained to you in the beginning of this treatise.

 

Commenting on Maimonides’ interaction with Reish Lakish in Guide For the Perplexed III:22, Robert Eisen noted that he seemed

 

particularly intrigued by the equation of Satan with the evil inclination or the imagination. He discusses this association at some length, adducing a number of rabbinic passages that he believes support his interpretation of this conception. This focus on the evil inclination has prompted Kravitz and Levinger to conclude that Satan represents nothing other than the imagination in Maimonides’ reading of the Book of Job. However, the evidence would indicate that this is too narrow an interpretation of Maimonides’ views on Satan. . . . Maimonides’ clues about Satan throughout Guide III;22 point in the direction of privation as the referent of Satan. Moreover, in his the angel of death, and the evil inclination are all caused by one underlying factor, and privation is the best candidate for linking these three. (Robert Eisen, The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004], 253 n. 62)

 

In other words, Maimonides’ does not reject “Satan” being a supernatural personal being.