Who is Satan - Part 1

Christianity and Judaism see ‘Satan’ quite differently.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word ‘satan’  means to act as an accuser, adversary or opposer.  This opposition (and the one opposing) is always subordinate to the will of God, and appointed or allowed by God to test man’s faith.  In the Torah, the term satan refers to a human acting as adversary.  In the Tanak there are several instances where ‘satan’ could be understood to be an evil influence or character, which may reflect Jewish understanding at that time.  In the Jewish pseudepigrapha (writings that are not included in the canon of Jewish Scripture), there is at times a picture of Satan being an adversary of God Himself; though this understanding is generally rejected by Judaism. 

The Hebrew term ‘satan’ (H7853) is a noun from a verb, and means to oppose or obstruct.  The word ‘ha-satan’ (H7854) is a title bestowed on a being, rather than the name of a being.  In a proper English translation, ‘ha-satan’ would be ‘the satan’.  ‘The satan’ is not a prominent figure in the Torah.  The term ‘ha-satan’ appears in Job 1-2 and Zechariah 3:1-39.

The Christian perspective is that ‘Satan’ is a specific divine or superhuman entity who is self-appointed as the arch-enemy of God; who is the chief of an army of similarly fallen beings cast out of heaven by God; and who works on his own initiative to destroy man’s faith. The Greek manuscripts of the Christian New Testament, as with the Jewish pseudepigrapha, may reflect a particular philosophy of the day, as they do uphold a similar view.

Yom Kippur

Today, according to the moon cycles, is the tenth day of the seventh month.  That is the day christians generally refer to as the ‘Day of Atonement’, which in Hebrew is ‘Yom Kippur’.  Yom is translated ‘day’ and ‘kippur’ is literally translated ‘covering’.  It means covering in the sense of ‘to cover over, to expiate, to cancel’.

Leviticus 23:27 gives instruction for this day, which is translated as ‘you shall afflict your souls’, ‘you shall humble yourselves’, ‘you shall deny yourselves’ or ‘you shall fast’.  Traditionally, the Jewish custom is to fast. 

Few people question this long standing tradition, or verify if this is really what ‘humble yourselves’ is intended to mean.  What exactly is the Hebrew word used, and how is it used elsewhere in the Bible?

Leviticus 23:27 uses the Hebrew word ‘anah’, Strong’s H6031.  Interestingly enough, it’s never translated as ‘fast’ in the sense of doing without food.  Its primary meaning seems to be to look downwards, to be humble.  It’s linked with words that mean to heed, to respond, to answer, to testify of, to bear witness to. 

The Hebrew word that means to ‘fast’ or to do without food in a religious context, is ‘tsum’, H6684.  That word means to ‘cover the mouth’, to abstain from food.  The first time it appears in the Hebrew Bible is Judges 20:26.  It’s not found in the Torah!

Leviticus 23:27-32 should be read as a whole.  There is not one command to fast from food.  There is, however, a very strong command to abstain from all work.  It’s actually mentioned 4 times!  If you add in the references to Shabbat, it’s mentioned 6 times.  If you consider that ‘humble yourself’ and ‘do no work’ may mean similar things in this context…then it’s mentioned 8 times!

If you fast on this Day, you aren’t fulfilling any commandment of Torah.  Is fasting wrong then? Not at all! To abstain from food in an effort to increase one’s awareness of humility before YHVH may be quite helpful.  But to fast simply to observe a religious ritual is to miss the point.  To ‘humble yourself’ according to the actual command is the point.  To fast from religious tradition and to feast on Torah’s command is perhaps a far better use of the Day.