Jewish approach. In 1 Chronicles 21:1, it
states, “Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.”
However, another passage in the Jewish
Bible, 2 Samuel 24:1, states that God caused King David to count the Jewish
people. “The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He incited David
against them to say, ‘Go number Israel…’”
So, who made David number Israel – Satan or
God? The confusion is based on a misunderstanding of the word, “Satan.”
Unlike Christianity, Jewish Scriptures do not
teach that Satan is a “fallen and rebellious angel.” In fact, the first time
that Satan appears in the Jewish Bible, the word refers to an angel sent by God
to prevent Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet, from cursing the Jewish people. In
fact, Balaam winds up blessing them. Definitely not a mission for an evil
Satan!
The Jewish Bible states, “God was very
angry when he (Balaam) went, and the angel (מאלך) of the Lord stood in the road to oppose (לשטן) him…” [Numbers 22:22] In this verse, the Hebrew word for “oppose” is
“l’satan” and it is clearly not referring to an angel who is rebelling against
God’s will. Rather, it refers to a messenger designated to carry out His will.
The literal meaning of the Hebrew word “malach – מאלך” is “messenger” although it is usually
translated as “angel.”
This interpretation is also consistent with
the biblical account of Satan found in the book of Job. There we see that Satan
has no free will of his own and is given permission by God to torment Job to
test his loyalty to Him.
Thus, we see that Satan is a force, an
angel, used by God to test mankind. Furthermore, we can understand the purpose
of evil in this world and why the Jewish prophet Isaiah 45:7 states that God,
“makes peace and creates evil (רע).” Contrary to Christianity’s viewpoint, which is similar to the
one inherent in Greek mythology, Judaism does not regard Satan as a separate
force that exists to oppose God.
The
fallen angel concept is based on a mistranslation of Isaiah 14:12 – first
introduced by Saint Jerome in his Latin Vulgate – where the words “morning
star” (Venus) are mistranslated to “Lucifer” (the devil). The Babylonian King
Nebuchadnezzar was associated with the deity Ishtar/Venus and he was
metaphorically thrown from heaven for his evil role in destroying Jerusalem.
The word Lucifer is related to the words “lucent” and “lux” which mean shining
light.
