Timeline for Why do people interpret "Lucifer" as being Satan in Isaiah 14?
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7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 4, 2015 at 16:32 | comment | added | Dɑvïd | Although this is the "accepted" answer, it is just plain wrong (as other comments -- especially Schuh's, above -- and answers here suggest). See: "Has there been a paradigm shift in the 'image' of devil?" and the answer and comment trail there for documentation. | |
| May 29, 2015 at 17:24 | comment | added | Schuh | Yes, @MasonWheeler, belief in Satan is a post-exilic development. Prior to the exile the Hebrew word transliterated as satan meant ‘adversary’ and was used only of humans and obedient angels. In Job and Zechariah, likely written in the 6th century, the word ONLY appears with the definite article, ha-satan, meaning ‘the accuser’. Satan emerged as personified evil, the chief opponent of God, in Enochic Judaism (1st-3rd centuries BCE). Wikipedia's 'Satan' entry provides references. See also: biblestudytools.com/dictionary/satan | |
| May 29, 2015 at 9:39 | comment | added | Mason Wheeler♦ | @Schuh: Belief in Satan did not exist in Israel at the time of Isaiah? What about the book of Job, who the text suggests most likely lived sometime around Abraham's day? | |
| May 29, 2015 at 0:36 | comment | added | Schuh | DavidStratton, I like your principles of "reading in context" and "expecting consistency from the author". Those naturally support @jchaffee's answer. Belief in Satan did not exist in Israel/Judah at the time of Isaiah. This answer is completely anachronistic, unsupported by the text itself. | |
| Oct 13, 2011 at 2:55 | vote | accept | David Stratton | ||
| Oct 13, 2011 at 2:55 | comment | added | David Stratton | I'm still not 100% sure myself, but this answer does tend to ring true to me. Isaiah does seem to be full pf prophecies that have two possible meanings, both of which can be equally true. (I also learned the term for it today - the "double-reference principle" in hermeneutics). Reading in context and expecting consistency from the author, this explanation offers a more consistent interpretation of the passage. | |
| Oct 12, 2011 at 4:25 | history | answered | Mason Wheeler♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |