The Origins of Satan
The word "Satan" comes from the Hebrew word satan meaning "adversary." Early Hebrew scriptures site a satan as nothing more than an opponent. It is in the later books of the bible such as Job and Zechariah that the phrase "the satan" begins to represent an "accuser," who stands to argue cases against men before God. He is overtly zealous in doing so and as he tries to accuse the righteous Joshua, and prevent God from making him High Priest, "the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan…is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" (Zechariah 3:2). Notice in this passage the Satan is referred to as a proper noun. An important distinction needs to be made here. In the Hebrew Bible, with the exception of Chronicles I, 21:1, "satan is not a proper name, referring to a particular being, a demoniac one, who is the antagonist, a rival of God." (Encyclopedia of Judaica). Rather, the satan is a common noun representing one who opposes and obstructs. Obviously, the quotation above from the King James Version uses the word "Satan" to suggest a specific figure. The distinction is essential in that it demonstrates how the meaning of "satan" has changed from a common noun representing merely anyone or anything that opposes, to the all powerful, supernatural being we think of today. When the Old Testament was converted into Greek, the word satan was replaced by diabolos, meaning "the accuser," implying "slanderer" or "false accuser." In The Book of Job, written about 100 years (Cavendish 284) after Zechariah, the satan essentially tries to bring out the inherent wickedness in man. In this book, the satan acts as not "an evil devil – the arch enemy of God and humanity, but rather as "a henchman, who carries out god’s evil instructions."*
This implies an interesting unification. In these first books of the Bible, God is the creator of everything, both the heavens and the firmament, and both good and evil, and the satan was merely God’s puppet. "I am the LORD, and there is none else. / I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things" (Isaiah 45:6-7). The conviction that God was the source of evil, as well as good remained through the Cabala, where evil powers were effectively offshoots, or emanations from God. This explains how the Devil's presence as an all powerful supernatural being is relatively insignificant throughout Judaism, "because a supernatural evil power is unnecessary unless God is believed to be entirely good." (Cavendish 282).
Deviation from this conviction occurred in about the sixth century B.C.E, when Zoroaster, a Persian prophet similar to Jesus, was tempted by worldly pleasures, performed miracles and did many great deeds. Zoroaster established the unity of God, rejecting the trinity of Varuna, Mithra and Indra. In this, he created what is believed to the first monotheistic religion ever. Zoroastrianism, as it came to be called, had one male god, Ahura Mazda, who was the creator of all things. In fact, he was almost identical to the Israelite god, Jehovah. But, Ahura Mazda had a twin brother, Angra Manyu, the God of Evil, who was the creator of nothing more than snakes and demons and the evil of this world (Mercatante). The influence of Zoroastrianism helped create a basis for Christianity’s separation of God, from evil. God was now entirely good and Satan was purely evil. Satan became God’s enemy, not his "prosecuting attorney, helper or lackey."*
The figure of the Devil as a specific entity did not come about until 1 Chronicles 21, when "Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel," id est to take a census (1 Chronicles 21:1). God is angry about this task that David has done, and puts a plague on the land, killing 70,000 men. The most interesting fact about this story is that in the second book of Samuel "the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel" (2 Samuel 24:1). The story is the same in both books: David takes a census, and God is angry and puts a plague on the land killing 70,000 men. In two different books, two different beings provoke David to sin, but Samuel was written about 100 years before Chronicles. This is the most obvious example of the evolution of Satan from merely one of God’s attendants to the cause of evil.
This idea of dualism: opposing gods of good and evil existing independently of each other originated with Zoroastrianism, influenced Judaism and finally made its way logically to Christianity. Dualism is very important because it not only makes devil worship possible, but it helps compromise the opposition by placing Satan on the same plane as God. In doing so, however, the Devil has been painted as a romantic figure. In Milton’s Paradise Lost the daring, rebellious, non-fearing deviant from authority looks almost admirable. This authority that the devil has in his pride, unhumbled, even in defeat, lands justification for some to desire to follow him.