The Devil and Satan

“Devil” is from the Greek diabolos, “slanderer, accuser,” from the verb diaballein, “to throw across, to set at variance”, the very opposite of symballein, “to bring together” (whence “symbol”). The devil’s name is thus his work: he divides.

The devil is the disjunction, the divorce, between word and reality: the lie, and the liar. He is the slanderer and deceiver who lied in the garden (Gen 3:4–5; see Q162); and this rupture between word and truth issues always in disintegration, disaster, and death.

“Satan” (Hebrew) means “adversary, the one who resists.” The Greek Old Testament typically translated the Hebrew satan by diabolos; the two words are distinct, but Scripture applies both to the same fallen spirit.

Noteworthy passages employing these names include: “Satan took his stand against Israel and incited David to take a census” (1Ch 21:1); “the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6; see Q171, Q402); the Lord “was in the desert for forty days, being tempted by Satan” (Mrk 1:13); “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven” (Luk 10:18; see Q055); “How is it that Satan has filled your heart so as to lie to the Holy Spirit?” (Act 5:3; see Q237, Q239); “your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1Pe 5:8; see Q390); and: “The great old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Rev 12:9; see Q107, Q118).