The term ‘the evil one’ (ton ponērou), has no Second Temple pre-Christian witness as a reference to a supernatural evil being. It is found in one fifteenth century Ethiopian manuscript of 1 Enoch (manuscript A, 1 Enoch 69:15), but not the other two main recensions (manuscripts B and C).1
Evidence against the reading ‘the evil one’ is that Satan in 1 Enoch is not described as one of the evil angels, and is represented as the obedient servant of God rather than an evil being. In Slavonic Enoch there is only reference to ‘the worship of evil’ (2 Enoch 34:2), though Charlesworth adds a gloss, ‘the worship of (the) evil (one)’2 regardless, there is evidence the text here has been interpolated by Christian scribes.3
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Author: Jon Burke
Keywords: Satanology, Demonology, Adversary, Christ tempted, Christ's temptation, Christ's temptation in the wilderness, Devil, Devil and Jesus, Devil tempts Jesus, diabolos, Evil angel, Evil Inclination, Evil nature, Evil one, Good angel, Good nature, Hara Yetser, Ha-ra Yetser, Hara Yetzer, Ha-ra Yetzer, Hara Yezer, Ha-ra Yezer, Jesus' temptation, Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, Jesus tempted, Jesus tempted by Satan, Jesus tempted by the devil, Jesus tempted in the wilderness, Jesus's temptation, Man's sinful nature, Personification of evil, Satan, Satan and Jesus, Satan tempts Christ, Satan tempts Jesus, Seducer, Sin in the flesh, Sin within, Sinful nature, Snatcher, Temptation, Temptation from within, Temptation in the wilderness, Tempted in the wilderness, Tempted of Satan, Tempted of the devil, Tempted sexually, Tempted to do evil, Tempts Christ, Tempts Jesus, The devil tempts Christ, The devil tempts Jesus, The Evil Inclination, The Evil One, Wicked one, Wilderness temptation, Yatsar, Yetsarim, Yetser ha ra, Yetser ha tov, Yetser ra, Yetser tov, Yetzer, Yetzer ha ra, Yetzer ha tov, Yetzer Hara, Yetzer ra, Yetzer tov, Yezer ha ra, Yezer ha tov, Yezer Hara, Yezer tov, Two inclinations
Bible reference(s): Matthew 6:13, Matthew 13:19, Matthew 13:38, John 17:15, Ephesians 6:16, 1 John 2:13-14, 1 John 3:12, 1 John 5:18-19
Source: “Satanological Terminology in the Synoptics: The Evil One,” Berea Portal.
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