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I know that most people believe that "Satan" is actually a part of, what they believe is the "historical" book of Job. What is their belief based on? English translations and the "traditions of men," which are continually taught by "pastors." How do they know that what they believe is "true?" Because of the delusion that any "pastor," their "pastor" couldn't possibly be lying about what they teach the "Bible" is the inspired "word of God" and that English translations are 100% accurate and true to the original text.
Many "pastors" do lie, English translations are not accurate and the "Bible" does not mean "the accurate word of God. Did you know that the word "bible" is not found anywhere in Scripture? The Jews in the O.T. and the 1st century Jewish and Gentile believers never referred to Scripture as the "Bible. " The English word Bible comes from the Greek, "ta biblia," the books. The singular, "biblion" meant scroll and was later used as an ordinary word for book. What was originally called the "Canon" of Scripture began to be called "The Bible" in the 3rd Century, started by the Catholic Church. The "Bible" is a collection of the different scrolls (books) which contain, actual Scripture, the actual writing of the words God inspired, or spoke. Technically, there is nothing wrong with using the word "Bible" as a description, but to equate the word "Bible" with the actual words of Scripture is incorrect and misleading. I have been guilty of using the word "biblical" for many years, but from this point on, I will never use it again, as I have realized my error as I write this.
The original text is the pure word of God. English translations are not! English translations have damaged, twisted, and changed the original text in so many ways. In the book of Job, the translators, because of personal belief and bias, have forced the figure, known as "Satan," into the text.
Okay, in the English translations, the word "Satan" appears 14 times in Job. The word "Satan" is not found in the original text! What you will find, in all 14 instances the Hebrew,
"ha sa an, "sa an" is one word pronounced saw-tawn. Do you see any similarities with the pronunciation and the English word "Satan?" This is not the Hebrew word for "Satan," this is where the fictional name is derived from. How funny, rather than the word "Satan" stemming from an actual, written word, it comes from how a Hebrew word is pronounced!
"ha" is a definite article, thus, with the correct translation, where you read "Satan" in the English translations, they should read, "the adversary." Wouldn't you think that anyone who worked on translating the original Hebrew into English would have a duty to God and an obligation to man to correctly translate the original Hebrew?
Grammar doesn't lie, grammar is grammar. "sa an" is a noun, not a proper noun! This Hebrew word is never capitalized! A person's name is never, never preceded by a definite article! This little bit is enough to prove my point, for those interested in the truth, not relying on the traditions of men and English translations.
What was the theme of the T.V. show, "The X Files?" "The Truth is Out There." Yes, people, '..all of the Scripture truth is "out there," if one is willing to study and acknowledge that they haven't always been told the truth. I am not some minority voice of one. I have been studying the concept of Satan, yes, I said concept, for the last 8 years. Perhaps one day, I will post a study on Satan. There are hundreds of people, perhaps thousands who have looked at this subject of Satan in the book of Job. This has been studied for many years, years before our point in time. I am going to quote three articles, articles I just came across yesterday. I came to my conclusion years ago, concerning the book of Job, before I read these articles. They just validate what I already knew. I want you to see what three others have concluded.
From the Biblical Archaeological society; Bible History Daily, by Shawna Dolesky, July 28, 2022. (Not even a month ago!)
"...Satan does not make an appearance in Gen 2-3, for the simple reason that when the story (Gen 2-3.) was written, THE CONCEPT OF THE DEVIL HAD NOT BEEN INVENTED (Yes, she wrote "invented," something made up.) YET... In fact, while the word satan appears elsewhere in the Hebrew Old Testament (Not in the original text) it is never a proper name, since there is no "devil" in Ancient Israel's worldview, there could not have been a proper name for such a creature... Nothing else in the story, (1Chr 21-6-7, 27:4) or in any texts for another 300 years indicates that the idea of an evil prince of darkness exists in the consciousness of the Israelites.
From a different article on the same site,
"Who is Satan?" In the Hebrew Bible, God's greatest enemies are not "fallen angels" commanding armies of demons...but rather human beings. It isn't the Devil that spreads evil across the face of creation-it is mankind. Other than humans, God has no nemesis. God is behind the good and the bad, behind the blessings and the curses."
(Isa 45:7, I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do these things.
Deut 32:39, See now that I...am he, and there is no god with me. I kill, I make alive; I wound and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
1Sa 2:6-7, The LORD killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and lifted up. The LORD maketh poor and maketh rich...
Eze 14:9, And if the prophet be deceived when he has spoken a thing (prophecy),I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from among my people.
Amos 3:6, Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Job 42:13, ...and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him.
This is why I am doing this series on the Real God!)
The article continues, It is perfectly clear, however, that by the 1st Century AD, Judaism developed a belief in the supernatural forces of darkness doing battle against the forces of light (dualism!) There are likely several factors that inspired these developments, INCLUDING THE INFLUENCE OF PERSIAN AS WELL AS HELLENISTIC RELIGIONS.
If there was an army of evil, spiritual forces make war on the righteous, they have to have a commander...If someone were looking for a name that PERSONIFIED EVIL in the O.T., it would be Belial, not Satan.
Over the course of several centuries of INFLUENCE from MANY DIFFERENT CULTURES, the defeated Accuser of the Christians would go on to appropriate (assume) aspects of various divine enemies, (Typhon, Hades, Ahriman, Hela to name a few) to become the complex MYTHOLOGICAL monster that was thrown out of heaven at the beginning of time to rule the fiery underworld and torment the souls of the dammed, (the writer is not saying that she believes that "Satan" was thrown out of heaven, she is stating what the common belief is.)
Such a character makes for great movies, ( and T.V. and cable shows) and Halloween costumes, but would have been virtually unknown to anyone in Bible times.
From the "World History Encyclopedia", an article written by Rebecca Denova.
" Satan, or the Devil, is one of the best-known characters in the Western TRADITION of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (Islam is not as ancient as Christianity or Judaism. The Quran didn't appear until the beginning of the 600s AD.) Satan, as a totally evil being, is nowhere to be found in the O.T. (If something in the N.T. cannot be found in the O.T., it is a tradition of man, not Scripture!) He EVOLVED during the height of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, (beginning 550 BC) and was ADOPTED by Jews living under Persian rule at that time. The name "Satan" describes his eventual function as the opposer of God's creation. The CONCEPT of Satan emerged over time and in phases...Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 539BC...They took many elements of ancient Persian religion with them, and they MERGED the PERSONIFICATION of chaos with the earlier views of ha-satan. Now he was just Satan, or in Greek, diabolos, the Devil, and the Jews began assigning all evil to Satan instead of God.
One more. From "Learn Religions," by Ariela Pelaiz. "Satan is a CHARACTER that appears in the belief system of Christianity and Islam...In Judaism "Satan" is not a sentient being but a metaphor for the evil inclination, "yetzer hara," that exists in every person. The "yetzer hara," is not a force or being, but rather refers to mankind's innate capacity for doing evil in the world. References to "Satan" can be found in (Jewish) Orthodox and conservative prayer books, but they are viewed as a symbolic description of one aspect of man's nature.
The idea of Satan as a being with dominion over a metaphysical realm never caught on in Judaism.
You must keep in mind that historians and scholars who study the past use the same methods to research history. Any secular historians who has come to similar conclusions are not out to discredit Scripture, are ant'i-God or is an atheist. Documents are studied, and culture and history are included in the research. When many different historians and scholars of different nationalities, races and faiths, in different periods of time all come to the same or similar conclusions, must mean that what they have discovered is true! Are there not stories in the Evangelical/Church world about some individuals who set out to prove, historically, that Jesus, the resurrection, the Bible etc., are not true, but after researching things, all became convinced that these things were true?
One last point and I am done. We know the N.T. was translated into Koine Greek, which was developed by Alexander the Great, who wanted an easier version of Attic Greek, (Very hard to learn) made available to all people, thus, the common Greek. The Greek mythology did not include the Christian idea of "Satan," an evil, powerful fallen angel who opposed the gods, had millions of fallen angels (who somehow turned into evil, vile, grotesque 'demons') under his command, who opposed God, tried to overthrow God, tormented and caused people to sin, along with his "demons" and ruled the underworld and tormented souls for eternity. Since there was no "Satan" in Greek mythology, there would have been no Greek word for "Satan."
Yet, in some magical way, we do find a Greek word for Satan! How is this possible? There is only one way that I can figure it out. Just as the word "Lucifer," and "church" are "made up words" that have no Hebrew or Greek equivalent words, and were forced into the translations, so is "Satan" the Greek is "Satanas." Hmm, let's add "as" to Satan and we will have a new Greek word! My head hurts from looking at all of the different sites trying to legitimize the word "Satanas." It can't be grammatically done! There is no Greek root word for "Satanas." There is no "as" suffix in Greek! There is no Hebrew word that can be translated into the Greek word "Satanas!" Just about every explanation of the word states that the "Greek" word was actually a root word used by the Hebrew! HUH? The Greek language didn't appear for thousands of years after Hebrew was already in place! How could a Greek word be used as a source of a Hebrew word? The lengths people have gone to protect lies amaze me.
At some point in time, the made-up Greek word Satanas began to be included during the copying of the original text. Wow, in my years of study, I have found three made-up words that were forced into the English translations! When I started to study the original words, I was a novice. There were many things I missed. But since it doesn't take a genius to do word study, my skills in word study not only improved, I am now able to make connections that were over my head and unnoticed years ago. No, I cannot speak or write the original languages, but I can nail down meaning, context, and usage! I can parse the words!
Since God chose scripture to express Himself to believers in the form of the written word, a crucial factor in learning Scripture is learning what the words mean.
Many "pastors" do lie, English translations are not accurate and the "Bible" does not mean "the accurate word of God. Did you know that the word "bible" is not found anywhere in Scripture? The Jews in the O.T. and the 1st century Jewish and Gentile believers never referred to Scripture as the "Bible. " The English word Bible comes from the Greek, "ta biblia," the books. The singular, "biblion" meant scroll and was later used as an ordinary word for book. What was originally called the "Canon" of Scripture began to be called "The Bible" in the 3rd Century, started by the Catholic Church. The "Bible" is a collection of the different scrolls (books) which contain, actual Scripture, the actual writing of the words God inspired, or spoke. Technically, there is nothing wrong with using the word "Bible" as a description, but to equate the word "Bible" with the actual words of Scripture is incorrect and misleading. I have been guilty of using the word "biblical" for many years, but from this point on, I will never use it again, as I have realized my error as I write this.
The original text is the pure word of God. English translations are not! English translations have damaged, twisted, and changed the original text in so many ways. In the book of Job, the translators, because of personal belief and bias, have forced the figure, known as "Satan," into the text.
Okay, in the English translations, the word "Satan" appears 14 times in Job. The word "Satan" is not found in the original text! What you will find, in all 14 instances the Hebrew,
"ha sa an, "sa an" is one word pronounced saw-tawn. Do you see any similarities with the pronunciation and the English word "Satan?" This is not the Hebrew word for "Satan," this is where the fictional name is derived from. How funny, rather than the word "Satan" stemming from an actual, written word, it comes from how a Hebrew word is pronounced!
"ha" is a definite article, thus, with the correct translation, where you read "Satan" in the English translations, they should read, "the adversary." Wouldn't you think that anyone who worked on translating the original Hebrew into English would have a duty to God and an obligation to man to correctly translate the original Hebrew?
Grammar doesn't lie, grammar is grammar. "sa an" is a noun, not a proper noun! This Hebrew word is never capitalized! A person's name is never, never preceded by a definite article! This little bit is enough to prove my point, for those interested in the truth, not relying on the traditions of men and English translations.
What was the theme of the T.V. show, "The X Files?" "The Truth is Out There." Yes, people, '..all of the Scripture truth is "out there," if one is willing to study and acknowledge that they haven't always been told the truth. I am not some minority voice of one. I have been studying the concept of Satan, yes, I said concept, for the last 8 years. Perhaps one day, I will post a study on Satan. There are hundreds of people, perhaps thousands who have looked at this subject of Satan in the book of Job. This has been studied for many years, years before our point in time. I am going to quote three articles, articles I just came across yesterday. I came to my conclusion years ago, concerning the book of Job, before I read these articles. They just validate what I already knew. I want you to see what three others have concluded.
From the Biblical Archaeological society; Bible History Daily, by Shawna Dolesky, July 28, 2022. (Not even a month ago!)
"...Satan does not make an appearance in Gen 2-3, for the simple reason that when the story (Gen 2-3.) was written, THE CONCEPT OF THE DEVIL HAD NOT BEEN INVENTED (Yes, she wrote "invented," something made up.) YET... In fact, while the word satan appears elsewhere in the Hebrew Old Testament (Not in the original text) it is never a proper name, since there is no "devil" in Ancient Israel's worldview, there could not have been a proper name for such a creature... Nothing else in the story, (1Chr 21-6-7, 27:4) or in any texts for another 300 years indicates that the idea of an evil prince of darkness exists in the consciousness of the Israelites.
From a different article on the same site,
"Who is Satan?" In the Hebrew Bible, God's greatest enemies are not "fallen angels" commanding armies of demons...but rather human beings. It isn't the Devil that spreads evil across the face of creation-it is mankind. Other than humans, God has no nemesis. God is behind the good and the bad, behind the blessings and the curses."
(Isa 45:7, I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do these things.
Deut 32:39, See now that I...am he, and there is no god with me. I kill, I make alive; I wound and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
1Sa 2:6-7, The LORD killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and lifted up. The LORD maketh poor and maketh rich...
Eze 14:9, And if the prophet be deceived when he has spoken a thing (prophecy),I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from among my people.
Amos 3:6, Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Job 42:13, ...and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him.
This is why I am doing this series on the Real God!)
The article continues, It is perfectly clear, however, that by the 1st Century AD, Judaism developed a belief in the supernatural forces of darkness doing battle against the forces of light (dualism!) There are likely several factors that inspired these developments, INCLUDING THE INFLUENCE OF PERSIAN AS WELL AS HELLENISTIC RELIGIONS.
If there was an army of evil, spiritual forces make war on the righteous, they have to have a commander...If someone were looking for a name that PERSONIFIED EVIL in the O.T., it would be Belial, not Satan.
Over the course of several centuries of INFLUENCE from MANY DIFFERENT CULTURES, the defeated Accuser of the Christians would go on to appropriate (assume) aspects of various divine enemies, (Typhon, Hades, Ahriman, Hela to name a few) to become the complex MYTHOLOGICAL monster that was thrown out of heaven at the beginning of time to rule the fiery underworld and torment the souls of the dammed, (the writer is not saying that she believes that "Satan" was thrown out of heaven, she is stating what the common belief is.)
Such a character makes for great movies, ( and T.V. and cable shows) and Halloween costumes, but would have been virtually unknown to anyone in Bible times.
From the "World History Encyclopedia", an article written by Rebecca Denova.
" Satan, or the Devil, is one of the best-known characters in the Western TRADITION of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (Islam is not as ancient as Christianity or Judaism. The Quran didn't appear until the beginning of the 600s AD.) Satan, as a totally evil being, is nowhere to be found in the O.T. (If something in the N.T. cannot be found in the O.T., it is a tradition of man, not Scripture!) He EVOLVED during the height of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, (beginning 550 BC) and was ADOPTED by Jews living under Persian rule at that time. The name "Satan" describes his eventual function as the opposer of God's creation. The CONCEPT of Satan emerged over time and in phases...Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 539BC...They took many elements of ancient Persian religion with them, and they MERGED the PERSONIFICATION of chaos with the earlier views of ha-satan. Now he was just Satan, or in Greek, diabolos, the Devil, and the Jews began assigning all evil to Satan instead of God.
One more. From "Learn Religions," by Ariela Pelaiz. "Satan is a CHARACTER that appears in the belief system of Christianity and Islam...In Judaism "Satan" is not a sentient being but a metaphor for the evil inclination, "yetzer hara," that exists in every person. The "yetzer hara," is not a force or being, but rather refers to mankind's innate capacity for doing evil in the world. References to "Satan" can be found in (Jewish) Orthodox and conservative prayer books, but they are viewed as a symbolic description of one aspect of man's nature.
The idea of Satan as a being with dominion over a metaphysical realm never caught on in Judaism.
You must keep in mind that historians and scholars who study the past use the same methods to research history. Any secular historians who has come to similar conclusions are not out to discredit Scripture, are ant'i-God or is an atheist. Documents are studied, and culture and history are included in the research. When many different historians and scholars of different nationalities, races and faiths, in different periods of time all come to the same or similar conclusions, must mean that what they have discovered is true! Are there not stories in the Evangelical/Church world about some individuals who set out to prove, historically, that Jesus, the resurrection, the Bible etc., are not true, but after researching things, all became convinced that these things were true?
One last point and I am done. We know the N.T. was translated into Koine Greek, which was developed by Alexander the Great, who wanted an easier version of Attic Greek, (Very hard to learn) made available to all people, thus, the common Greek. The Greek mythology did not include the Christian idea of "Satan," an evil, powerful fallen angel who opposed the gods, had millions of fallen angels (who somehow turned into evil, vile, grotesque 'demons') under his command, who opposed God, tried to overthrow God, tormented and caused people to sin, along with his "demons" and ruled the underworld and tormented souls for eternity. Since there was no "Satan" in Greek mythology, there would have been no Greek word for "Satan."
Yet, in some magical way, we do find a Greek word for Satan! How is this possible? There is only one way that I can figure it out. Just as the word "Lucifer," and "church" are "made up words" that have no Hebrew or Greek equivalent words, and were forced into the translations, so is "Satan" the Greek is "Satanas." Hmm, let's add "as" to Satan and we will have a new Greek word! My head hurts from looking at all of the different sites trying to legitimize the word "Satanas." It can't be grammatically done! There is no Greek root word for "Satanas." There is no "as" suffix in Greek! There is no Hebrew word that can be translated into the Greek word "Satanas!" Just about every explanation of the word states that the "Greek" word was actually a root word used by the Hebrew! HUH? The Greek language didn't appear for thousands of years after Hebrew was already in place! How could a Greek word be used as a source of a Hebrew word? The lengths people have gone to protect lies amaze me.
At some point in time, the made-up Greek word Satanas began to be included during the copying of the original text. Wow, in my years of study, I have found three made-up words that were forced into the English translations! When I started to study the original words, I was a novice. There were many things I missed. But since it doesn't take a genius to do word study, my skills in word study not only improved, I am now able to make connections that were over my head and unnoticed years ago. No, I cannot speak or write the original languages, but I can nail down meaning, context, and usage! I can parse the words!
Since God chose scripture to express Himself to believers in the form of the written word, a crucial factor in learning Scripture is learning what the words mean.