I addressed this a bit in a post a few days back: Somewhat of a history of Satan
The Anchor Bible Dictionary, on the entry about Satan, gives a really good overview of the topic. But basically, what we see in the Old Testament period isn’t really a specific individual, but some individual (generally a terrestrial individual, but there are a few cases of a celestial individual taking part) who is an Adversary. I believe the Anchor Bible Dictionary uses the word Accuser, but the idea really is the same. Generally its used as a common noun, with the exception of 1 Chr 21:1. Here, the term is generally translated as a proper noun, a proper name, but it could also be translated more to “a satan rose up.” The major issues with this passage though is that we get the same story in 2 Samual 24; however, in that version, it isn’t Satan but Yahweh who is the stimulus for a census.
Yehezkel Kaufmann, in the Religion of Israel, sums up the major view though that the Biblical religion of Israel couldn’t reconcile the idea that there was some power in the universe that defied the authority of God. So instead, it transferred the idea of evil from a metaphysical world to a moral realm: sin.
It is around 300 B.C.E (maybe as late as 200 B.C.E.) though that Satan begins to really develop into what we know of him today, and that corresponds to the Book of Enoch. Philip Harland has a great podcast called Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean. He has a series there called the Predecessors of Satan, which is basically a recording of his college lectures on the subject. Its a great source for this subject.
What led up to this time period though was the conquest of Israel by Persia (the Persian period is 539-332 B.C.E.). During this period, Satan is beginning to be mentioned more and we can see a forming of the idea. In the book, The Birth of Satan, Tracing the Devil’s Biblical Roots, the authors argue that this is probably the time period that Satan, as a specific individual who is in opposition to God (so a figure similar to what we think of Satan today), entered ancient Judaism. Specifically, it was the exposure to Zoroastrianism, and their dualist belief. It is a belief in dualism that built the foundation that allowed Satan to enter the religious thought.
However, we also have to be a bit careful on how much influence we give to Zoroastrianism. While we can be rather certain that ancient Judaism was influenced by the idea of dualism, many other tenants of Zoroastrianism aren’t present where we would expect to see them. For instance, Nehemiah, which should give us the most evidence of influence, just doesn’t show an awareness to Persian beliefs. There are two main explanations for this: It may that the prophets repressed such views. It also maybe that the works we see as part of the apocrypha just represented the quasi-mythology that was widely accepted throughout the time period.
Also, we have to be careful as the writings we have about Zoroastrianism, as Harland points out, are extremely late. Close to 2,000 years after the life of Zoroaster. So whether they reflect the teachings of Zoroaster, or later individuals can be difficult to flesh out.
So we see the development of Satan really moving forward at this time, but it probably is in the next 300 years (the intertestemental period that we see the most development. In her book, Origins of Satan, Elaine Pagels makes a really good point. What happens during this period is one conquest after another of Israel. We have the Persian conquest, and the Greek conquest, followed by Romans. This all really left the people of Israel in a state of chaos and division. In that mess, the idea of Satan really develops. One can almost see it as a coping mechanism, or an explanation of why a just God would allow for such disaster. Its not God, but a supernatural being that is opposed to God.
During this time you have many of the common ideas popping up in Jewish texts. In the Life of Adam and Eve, Satan is placed in the Garden of Eden, and that Satan and his followers were cast from heaven. In 1 Enoch, you get the idea of Satan being a rebellious angel who was cast into a pit of fire. The Book of Jubilees also follows this idea, and we get the idea that suffering on Earth is caused by Satan and his forces. Its 2 Enoch that really cements a lot though. Satan goes from a high ranking angel, where he tries to overthrow God, fails, and is cast into a bottomless pit. It is here that the term Lucifer really becomes stuck with Satan as well. Its taken from an ancient Canaanite myth, about a god name Day Star (or Morning Star), which is then applied to Satan.
This is the ideology that leads into the New Testament period. We have to make a short mention of the Qumran sect though, as they give us a background here. They also appear to have a dualistic view, but it has been modified from what the Persian idea was (there is no equality in their view). They speak of an Angel of Darkness and a Prince of Light. But its not equal forces. Darkness is limited.
We see this view in the New Testament as well. The names for Satan expand, and we see some final touches being placed on him. Satan doesn’t have unlimited powers. He can be resisted. God can use him (such as in 1 Cor. 5:5), he is judged (John 16:11), that he is bound (Rev. 20:2) and incinerated (20:10). We basically get the idea that Satan is here to tempt us, the source of evil, and is a great opponent to those who worship God. However, that is only temporary and God will overcome Satan in the end, and Satan will be destroyed.
By the end of the New Testament period, the ideas surrounding Satan really have been worked out. It really just a polishing of the ideas after that. The early church fathers really connect the name Lucifer and Satan together. We also get different depictions of Satan as time goes on. But that more changes from generation to generation. Just looking at artistic representation of Satan, we can see this. We also get more discussion on hell; however, that is a pretty debated subject, with many disagreements.
Follow up question: This is a compelling narrative, but I don’t see how the boo of Job fits in?
My understanding is that Job is thought to be the oldest of OT books, and it describes Satan having many characteristics that you attribute to later periods.
Two separate things here, so I will try to deal with both.
First, the book of Job being the oldest of the Old Testament works. That is a claim that is often mentioned; however, I don’t think the evidence supports such a claim (and in the scholarship, it is rather debated as well). One of the issues is that dating the book is very difficult as it doesn’t give many internal clues. Avi Hurvitz, in an article titled The Date of the Prose Tale of Job Linguistically Reconsidered, which was published back in 1976, made a very compelling argument that based on just linguistic evidence, the book can probably be placed around the 6th century B.C.E. This would mean that it wasn’t the oldest book written, but is preceded by works such as Amos, Nahum and Hosea.
Just as a note, as I’m always a bit hesitant to use sources that are too dated, in 2009, Ian Young wrote an article titled Is the Prose Tale of Job in Late Biblical Hebrew? He directly looks at Hurvitz study, and examines it anew. Young does shed some light on the subject, and demonstrates that in places, Hurvitz study has some flaws. However, the chronology that Hurvitz set up, that Job is probably from the 6th century or so, held up to the scrutiny. Youngs view is that it is more in line with Early Biblical Hebrew (with some affinities with Late Biblical Hebrew), but that it being written in more of an Early Biblical Hebrew did not change the actual chronology here.
A second note, the standard Jewish position (as in, the consensus there), is similar to that of Youngs. The Babylonian Talmud, specifically b. Bava Batra 15a, shows that on both linguistic criteria, and from historical allusions in the work, the book of Job has allusions to nearly every Biblical literature period. Based on that, the view is also that the work is of a later date, sometime before 600 B.C.E and the mid-4th century B.C.E. But since there are allusions to earlier Hebrew linguistic styles, it is thought that the author was purposely writing in that manner.
So most likely, Job is not the oldest book of the Bible. It is a debated subject, and the view is often mentioned, but the internal evidence really doesn’t fit such a view.
As to how Satan is viewed in Job. One of my favorite commentaries on Job was done by Solomon Freehof, titled just Book of Job: A Commentary. It is a commentary from a Jewish perspective, and highly regarded. The view he takes, and the one that is common in other scholars of Job as well, is that the book of Job is really two books. You have a prologue and epilogue, the prose, which is the earliest section (probably around 600 B.C.E.), and in between the prose, you have the heart of the material.
If we look at this prose section, where Satan appears, and in fact, it is in this portion that the term Satan appears most often (the vast majority of mentions of Satan appear in this prose area in Job), what we get is a celestial being, who is part of Gods council. Its not that Satan here is a formal name, but designates more of a role. He is part of the heavenly host, and submits to what God wants. If we read carefully, Satan never does anything here unless God explicitly commands it. In other words, Satan is just a tool of Gods. Satan does what God wants and is part of the heavenly host here.
Coincidently, the heart of Job (the prose is most likely an older folktale that the author surrounds his argument with for an added theological pop) actually argues against the view of suffering that is created within the prose. For the author of Job, the folktale contains an outdated view of suffering, and he’s offering a new theological approach to it.
If you’d like to delve more into the question of Job, and his argument towards suffering, I’d be happy to do that as well. Job is by far one of my favorite works in the Bible, and it was a focus of mine at college. So if you’d like to delve more into it, please create a post in this subreddit and I’d be happy to jump into it.
