In Matt 6:13b, there is mention of “evil.” Many believe that “the evil [one]” (Greek: ο πονηρος) is a reference to the person of Satan. However, some Christadelphian apologists dispute this as the claim “the evil one” is never applied to Satan in the pre-Christian literature (e.g., Jonathan Burke).
Some may appeal to “the evil one” being
used of Satan in the Testament of Job 7:1 for Satan, but many scholars
believe that the original was not “the evil one” but Σατανας, and that these
manuscripts reflect a Christian interpolation to the text. Notwithstanding, in
Rabbinical sources . . .
Sammael, the Tempter, Accuser and angel of death, is described as ‘the most evil’ (רשע) of the satans, and that R. Joshua ben Hananias can apply the same adjective to the Serpent. He also noted the gloss on Aram רשע in the Targum of Isa. 11.4 where ‘the Evil/Ungodly One’ is identified with Armilos (Romulus?), a kind of Antichrist. (Matthew Black, “The Doxology to the Pater Noster with a Note on Matthew 6.13B,” in Philip R. Davies and Richard T. White, eds., Tribute to Geza Vermes: Essays on Jewish and Christian Literature and History [Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 100; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990], 327-38, here, p. 333)
In Targum
Jonathan on Isaiah (11:4) we read:
But with
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with faithfulness the needy
of the earth; and he shall smite the sinners of the earth with the word of his
mouth, and with the speech of His lips he shall slay Armillus the wicked.
Black also notes that in
Hebrew liturgical
comminations for recital at ‘Assemblies of the Community’ and similar to those
at 1QS 2.4bf., designated 4Q280.2 and 4Q286.10 ii 1-13 (with an overlap in
certain verses with 4Q287). It is at 4Q286 5 that we find the Hebrew הרשע used as a proper
name to describe Satan or Belial, in a text that is closely related to the 4Q
Melchireša’ texts at 4Q Amram, and 4Q280 2. These texts not only supply an
exact Hebrew equivalent of the Greek for the devil, but they also illustrate
and fill out the Aramaic and Hebrew background of this classical New Testament
term. (Ibid., 334)
And that
Melchireša’ reappears
at 4Q280.2 in a Hebrew liturgical commination of Belial-Melchireša’, side by
side with which Kobelski publishes the extended parallel Berakhah from
the Manual of Discipline, 1QS 2.4b-9, 15-17, 25b-26. Thus 4Q280.2221
begins ‘Accursed be thou, Melchireša’, etc.’, parallel to ‘Accursed be thou
(lot of Belial), etc,’ at 1QS 2.5. Here it is abundantly clear that Melchireša’
is simply another designation for Belial or Satan.
It is in the second
lot of fragments at 4Q286(287) 10 ii 1-13, also a commination of Belial (line 2
‘Accursed be Belial . . . ‘), that at line 5 we read:
Accursed be the
Evil/Ungodly one (הרש[ע])
[in all the times of his] dominion,
and maligned be all the sons of Belial in all the iniquities of their
offices, until their extermination for ever. Amen, Amen. (Black, The Doxology in the
Pater Noster, 335)
Black concludes his essay thusly:
So far as our
knowledge goes, these two sets of texts, 4Q Amramb, 4280, 286(287)
and the Targum of Isa. 11.4 are the only passages in Jewish literature where
the designations רשיעא/הרשע are used for Satan
or a manifestation of Satan. The designation, however, seems almost an
inevitable one for the Prince of Darkness, so that it may well have been in
more frequent use in Judaism than its extremely rare occurrence suggests. Was
it perhaps dropped by the Synagogue when it was adopted by the early Church, in
its almost literal Greek equivalent ο πονηρος? Such a term would
no doubt commend itself widely as a general concepts, immediately intelligible
in the Hellenistic world, whereas the Hebrew/Aramaic terminology for Satan must
have sounded strange and foreign in Greek ears. (Ibid., 336, emphasis added)
While not voluminous, there are instances of "the evil one" being used for Satan in the pre-Christian literature. Such is very problematic for Christadelphian apologetics vis-a-vis their Satanaology. For more, see:
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