The key passage reads in Greek, “και εξ υμων εις διαβολος εστιν.” No article is used before the word διαβολος and most translations render this
passage “one of you is a devil” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, RSV). Although an
article is lacking, Greek syntax allows for the translation, “one of you is the
devil” because the predicate precedes the copula (the conjugated form of the
verb “to be”). We have the same grammatical construction in John 1:1: “και θεος ην ο λογος.” Here the predicate also precedes the copula, and we
translate the passage “and the Word was God,” rather than “the Word was a god.”
Given the close association between Judas and Satan elsewhere in the Gospel,
and given the fact that nowhere else does the New Testament speak of a
plurality of devils, I consider the translation “One of you is the devil” is
the best translation. (Torsten Löfstedt, The Devil, Demons, Judas, and “the
Jews”: Opponents of Christ in the Gospels [Eugene, Oreg.: Pickwick
Publications, 2021], 332)
To Support this Blog:
