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What is the word used for "devil" in Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" during the scene where Christ is interrogated by the Sanhedrin? The word "devil" appears in the English subtitles three times in this scene as a couple of characters give testimony against Christ. It sounds to me like they're saying "sha-dai-ah."

When I search for what I'm hearing I find El Shaddai, which is the Hebrew word for "God Almighty," not "devil."

I know that the dialog of this film is in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin. I can distinguish the Latin dialog from the rest, but I can't distinguish between the Aramaic and Hebrew. I think that Hebrew is used during the Sanhedrin scene.

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The words are spoken at approximately 31:30 as the Sanhedrin hears the testimony from witnesses.

One word is Hebrew, שֵׁדִים (shedim), which is translated as “demons” in most English translations. (This is spoken by the second witness, who also speaks the Aramaic cognate.)

Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius wrote,1

Gesenius, p. 805, shed

The other word is its Aramaic cognate, שֵׁדַיָּא (shedayya), likewise meaning “demons.” (This is spoken once by each of the first two witnesses.)

Marcus Jastrow wrote,2

Jastrow, Dictionary of Targumim, Talmud and Midrashic Literature, p. 1523, shed (Chaldee)

Both are declined in the plural number.


References

Gesenius, Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm. Gesenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. Trans. Tregelles, Samuel Prideaux. London: Bagster, 1860.

Jastrow, Marcus. A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature. Vol. 2. London: Luzac; New York: Putnam, 1903.

Footnotes

1 p. 805
2 p. 1523

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The word for Satan in Aramaic is Santanah. What you are hearing "the word for devil" is Shedayya. This does sound similar but it is different.

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What are the Hebrew and/or Aramaic word(s) for "devil" in The Passion of the Christ movie?

Sacred Scriptures never gives a proper name for the Devil, although it seems clear that at one time he had one. It is fitting that God does not glorify the Devil by telling us what his original name was.

Scriptures use terms like Accuser, Evil One, Opposer, and Slanderer, etc. To describe the Devil.

Σατανᾶς

The KJV translates Strong's G4567 in the following manner: Satan

Transliteration: satanas (Key)

Pronunciation: sat-an-as'

Root Word (Etymology): Of Aramaic origin corresponding to Σατάν (G4566)

Strong’s Definitions: Σατανᾶς Satanâs, sat-an-as'; of Chaldee origin corresponding to G4566 (with the definite affix); the accuser, i.e. the devil:—Satan.

STRONGS G4567:

σαταν indeclinable (2 Corinthians 12:7 R G (Tdf. in 1 Kings 11:14 accents σαταν (Lagarde leaves it unaccented))), ὁ, and ὁ σατανᾶς (i. e. with the article (except in Mark 3:23; Luke 22:3)), σατανᾶ (cf. Buttmann, 20 (18); Winer's Grammar, § 8, 1) ((Aram. סָטָנָא, stative emphatic of סָטָן.) Hebrew שָׂטָן), adversary (one who opposes another in purpose or act).

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