Friday, October 22, 2021

Ryan E. Stokes on "Satan" in 1 Chronicles 21 being a Celestial, not a Terrestrial, Being

  

Taking the satan in this verse as a terrestrial opponent, nonetheless, does not seem the most plausible reading of the passage. That a human adversary, rather than God, would stir up trouble for Israel creates more questions than it answers. If the adversary were a military opponent, whatever came of this threat to Israel’s safety? If one of David’s advisers, then why did this person counsel the king in this way? Parallels with other stories in the Hebrew scriptures also suggest that this satan is more likely to be celestial than terrestrial. For instance, 1 Kgs 22 (// 2 Chr 18) God entices Ahab to his death through the agency of a deceptive spirit. Moreover, that 1 Chr 21:1 speaks of a heavenly opponent in the service of God makes perfect sense as an interpretation of 1 Sam 24. The Chronicler clarifies that God did not incite David directly, but did so through the agency of a superhuman intermediary. If the satan is human, however, then a much more drastic and less easily explicable interpretive maneuver has taken place.

 

Reading the Census Story in Light of the Balaam Narrative

 

The satan of 1 Chr 21 is very likely a divine attacker or executioner like the one who comes against Balaam in Num 22. Several impressive similarities between the Chronicles and Numbers pericopes make this by far the most plausible interpretation of the Chronicles passage. . . . the parallels between the census story and Num 22 are abundant and significant. Before the Chronicles account was composed, several similarities existed already between Num 22 and the earlier version of the census story in 2 Sam 24. These links likely prompted the editor to read the account of David’s census in light of the Balaam narrative. These parallels include the following:

 

1. Both accounts begin in a like fashion, declaring that God is angry. Num 22:22: wayyiḥar ‘ap ‘ělōhîm, “God’s anger was kindled” 2 Sam 24:1: wayyōsep ‘ap yhwh laḥărôt, “Again the anger of the LORD was kindled”

 

2. In both stories the angel of Yahweh goes forth as an executioner to punish the guilty (Num 22:22-30; 2 Sam 24:15-16).

 

3. When Balaam and David see the angel of Yahweh, they confess their sin.

Num 22:34: wayyō’mer Bil’ām ‘el mal’ak yhwh ḥāṭ’tî, “he said, ‘It is I who have sinned’”

 

4. God instructs both Balaam and David as to how they can avoid (further) disaster. Balaam will not be killed if he speaks only what Yahweh commands him when he arrives in Moab (Num 22:35). The plague will be stopped and Jerusalem spared if David builds an altar and makes an offering on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Sam 24:18-25). Both men obey their orders.

 

5. A further and very important correlation is the perplexing theological paradox in both passages: God brings disaster upon an individual or group for a decision that is instigated by God’ In the Balaam story, God grants Balaam permission to undertake his journey, but then responds in anger when the prophet sets out on it (Num 22:20-22). Likewise, God incites David to take the census of Israel, but then sends a plague against the people in response (2 Sam 24:1).

 

With such an impressive list of commonalities between the two stories, it would have made sense to a postexilic interpreter to associate the narratives and borrow ideas and language from one to clarify the other. (Ryan E. Stokes, Satan: How God’s Executioner Became the Enemy [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2019], 22-23)