Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Duane A. Garrett on Satan (הַשָּׂטָ֖ן haśśāṭān) in the Book of Job (cf. Zechariah 3)

  

Many scholars believe that הַשָּׂטָ֖ן (haśśāṭān) here is not “Satan” but translate the term as a common noun, “the adversary,” and regard him a loyal angel whose take it is to make accusations against humans, bringing their misdeeds to God’s attention (he is a prosecutor), or to serve as YHWH’s executioner. That is, the figure is not to be identified as the devil but as a prosecutor faithfully doing the work that God assigned to him. In favor of this interpretation is the fact that הַשָּׂטָ֖ן has the definite article, suggesting that it is a common noun and not a proper name. Indeed, שָּׂטָ֖ן is used as a common noun meaning “adversary” in several passages, such as 1 Sam 29:4 and 1 Kgs 5:4. Also, שָּׂטָ֖ן without the article appears as a proper name (“Satan”) in 1 Chr 21:1, suggesting that in Job, because it has an article, it should be regarded as a common noun. The fact that this is a divine assembly suggests that he is merely another angel making a report.

 

Several factors, however, go against this interpretation. First, his presence in the divine assembly does not demonstrate that he is a good and holy; the “lying spirit” of 1 Kgs 22:22 should not be considered to be a holy being, and yet he was in the divine assembly. Second, his words have an undeniable tone of malevolence. In 1:8, God calls Satan’s attention to the righteous Job, and Satan responds by declaring that Job does good only because God protects and enriches him (1:9-11). That is, when confronted with Job’s obvious virtue, Satan is determined to explain it away. A faithful prosecutor should not try to make the innocent seem guilty. Third, he does his best to provoke Job to do evil by afflicting him as savagely as possible. This, again, is not the behavior of a righteous being. Such a royal official, one who abused people in an effort to get them to commit crimes against the crown so that he could execute them. would rightly be regarded as exceedingly corrupt and malevolent. Fourth, the definite article is not proof that הַשָּׂטָ֖ן is a common noun. In Zech 3:1-2, הַשָּׂטָ֖ן stands near Joshua the high priest as a hostile and spiteful accuser, suggesting that even if translated as “the accuser,” הַשָּׂטָ֖ן is a specific, malevolent spirit, a being that can be equated with “the devil.” Zech 3:2 is especially telling with respect to how he is addressed: וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜הa אֶל־הַשָּׂטָ֗ן יִגְעַ֨ר יְהוָ֤ה בְּךָ֙ הַשָּׂטָ֔ן (wayyōʾmer yəhwâa ʾel-haśśāṭān yigʿar yəhwâ bəkā haśśāṭān, “And YHWH said to הַשָּׂטָ֖ן, ‘May YHWH rebuke you, הַשָּׂטָ֖ן.’”) Here, הַשָּׂטָ֖ן functions as a proper name and can be correctly translated as “Satan.” Fifth, the primary object of Satan’s accusation is not Job but God. He declares that God is maintaining a fraudulent system of justice by dolling out wealth and other blessings to Job in exchange for pious service. God keeps up the charade whereby he pretends to be a righteous judge and Job pretends to be a devout man of integrity. This, too, is not the stance of a loyal servant of the crown. Sixth, in the Bible, a supernatural accuser who seeks to bring people under condemnation, is by definition an evil being. In Rev 12:10, Satan the “great dragon” is identified principally as “the accuser” (κατηγωρ, katēgōr) of our brothers.”

 

Andersen (87) suggests that “and Satan came among them as well” suggests that Satan had no right to be among the divine assembly and was an intruder. God, in effect, asked what business he had being there. Though perhaps attractive, this is not persuasive. The clause noting that Satan was among them does not imply he had no right to be present, and God only asks what he had been doing, not why he was there. In his answer, moreover, Satan made no defense of his right to be present; he simply answered God’s question. From the standpoint of Christian theology, Satan did have a right to be present until the cross. After Christ made atonement for sin, Satan was “cast out of heaven,” but until that moment, he was in the heavenly throne room accusing people “day and night.” (Rev 12:10). (Duane A. Garrett, Job [Evangelical Exegetical Commentary; St. Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Academic, 2024], 63-65)

 

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