A being appeared on the scene quite early in human history and tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God. It is a story every Christian is familiar with as it resulted in the original sin and ultimately set up the greatest story of reconciliation. But who was the serpent? Barring any additional context, there would be no way to ascertain this serpent’s identity. Initially, all we know is that the serpent challenged God’s authority and his command to Adam and Eve. Was it a talking snake? Was it a Komodo Dragon? Or was it a supernatural being? We have the luxury today of knowing the serpent in the garden was Satan because Revelation 12:9 connects the dots for us back to the Genesis 3 narrative. Genesis 3:1 describes the serpent as “more crafty than any other wild animal the Lord God had made.” With that context alone, we can determine the serpent likely had an advantage over the two humans in the ensuing attempt to manipulate their actions, and other portions of Scripture fill in the gaps to reveal the serpent was a supernatural created being who chose to rebel against God. So, this verse in Revelation reveals Satan was the serpent. But he was not always known by this names.
The Hebrew word satan (שָׂטָ֔ן, śātān) appears 27 times in the Old Testament and is never used as a proper personal noun. It is used as a descriptive title that is literally translated as “the adversary” or “the accuser.” Like many languages, the Hebrew language makes use of a definite article to define nouns. The definite article in Hebrew is the word הַ (hă) and, as you may remember from your English grammar courses, its English equivalent is the word “the.” In use, הַ (hă) is attached to the noun that follows it, as opposed to the spacing we use in English. So, for example, “the satan” in English would be “הַשָׂטָ֔ן (hăśātān)” in Hebrew. You are undoubtedly aware that most languages do not use definite articles to precede a person’s name. One does not say, “the Susan” or “the Bob,” and yet, many translations of the Bible translate “הַשָׂטָ֔ן (hăśātān)” as the personal name Satan. These translations drop the definite article from the sentence.
Let’s look at the ten locations where the definite article is not used. The famous story in Numbers 22 about Balaam and the talking donkey refers to the angel of the Lord as an adversary (שָׂטָ֔ן, śātān) against Balaam (Num. 22:22, 32). Later, while David is fighting alongside the Philistines, some of the commanders question why he is there and if he will become an adversary (שָׂטָ֔ן, śātān) against them (1 Sam. 29:4). David also employs this word when arguing with the sons of Zeruiah over their desire to put Shimei to death (2 Sam. 19:23). In the most unique case of the absent indefinite article, an adversary (שָׂטָ֔ן, śātān) incited David to conduct a census (1 Chron. 21:1). Later, after Solomon became king, he declared he had no adversaries (שָׂטָ֔ן, śātān) against him (1 Kings 5:1). Years later when Solomon strayed from following the Lord, Hadad and Rezon were raised up as adversaries (שָׂטָ֔ן, śātān) against him (1 Kings 11:14, 23, 25). And in the final use, the psalmist lamented about his enemies wanting an accuser (שָׂטָ֔ן, śātān) to stand against him (Ps. 109:6). Now, let’s look at the 17 locations where the definite article is used. In one of Zechariah’s visions, he sees a being (הַשָׂטָ֔ן, hăśātān) accusing Joshua before the Lord (Zech. 3:1-2). And in the story of Job, which everyone is familiar with, an accuser (הַשָׂטָ֔ן, hăśātān) takes a similar stance against Job (Job 1:6-9, 12, 2:1-4, 6-7).
As is clear in the original language, Satan was never a personal name attributed to a being, but rather, a descriptive title used for one who was an accuser or another’s adversary. In some cases, we see this word used to describe humans and in others to describe supernatural beings. It is also clear in the Balaam narrative that the supernatural שָׂטָ֔ן (śātān) is the angel of the Lord. What is not clear is the identity of the שָׂטָ֔ן (śātān) being referenced in 1 Chronicles 21:1 and in the Job narrative. We know someone accused Job and based on the context we can ascertain it was a supernatural being. We also know someone incited David to conduct a census, but the account of that incident in 2 Samuel 24:1 records the Lord inciting David. The Lord likely incited David through another, and it is later revealed in each of those chapters that the angel of the Lord was engaged in destroying Jerusalem (1 Chron. 21:14-17, 2 Sam. 24:15-17). Considering the Balaam narrative and the presence of the angel of the Lord in this story, it is plausible to assume the angel of the Lord was the adversary who incited David. But we are still left with resolving the identity of the accuser of Job.
There are several questions that need to be answered. First, are the serpent and the accuser in the Job narrative the same being? Second, was the serpent an animal that was possessed by a supernatural being, or did this supernatural being appear directly to Adam and Eve? We’ll need to look in a few other places to find these answers, but first let us consider that if the first question proves to be true, the case is solved, and the role of Satan as the accuser throughout the Old Testament is solidified. This is not an easy thing to prove. The Job narrative does show that the accuser attempts to antagonize God, so that takes the good guys off the table of possibilities (Job 1:9-11). But is the accuser the serpent? Ezekiel’s prophecy against the king of Tyre fills in some of the gaps in the serpent’s identity.
In the middle of his prophecy against the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28, Ezekiel pivots in v.11 to a Lament against another being. Even though the king of Tyre is mentioned in v.12, the content of the verses that follow reveal this lament is not about a human being. He is described as physically being in the garden of Eden, being adorned with precious stones, and at some point, being cast away from the mountain of God because of his sin (Ezek. 11:11-19). Verse 14 gives us a clue to his former position as a cherub, one of the supernatural beings seen in the Bible often placed in the role of a guardian. Some have proposed that this cherub was responsible for guarding the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. We know for certain that this supernatural being was in the garden and was kicked out for sinning. Only one other being in the Bible fits that description, the serpent in Eden. Isaiah’s taunt towards Babylon takes a similar turn as this prophecy in Ezekiel and provides similar descriptions to what is seen here.
Like Ezekial, Isaiah pivots to a supernatural being in Isaiah 14:12 and describes him as desiring to place himself above God resulting in his being thrown out of heaven. The arrogance on display in Isaiah 14 is like what is seen in Ezekiel 28. The symbolism of הֵילֵ֣ל (hêlĕl’), rendered as “day star,” “light bringer,” and “shining” in different translations is also reminiscent of the gemstones listed in Ezekiel 28, as is the punishing action of being thrown down. One can be confident that these two passages speak about the same being and both provide the reader with details and background about the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Later, in Luke 10:18, Jesus is recorded as saying “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” This added reference from the New Testament likely describes the same fall Ezekiel and Isaiah provide in their accounts. Unless there were multiple supernatural beings who were kicked out of heaven for their attempts at leading a coup détat of God’s authoritative rulership of the universe, Satan and the serpent of Genesis 3 are one and the same. But this does not solve the issue of how the Hebrew word became a proper name.
There are a few different theories as to how Satan became a name but the one most likely to be correct is that the Hebrew word שָׂטָ֔ן (śātān) was transliterated into the Greek word Σαταν (Satan) and was used as a proper name ever since.