Very rarely do matters of theological exegesis loom large in a work like 1 and 2 Supplements [1 & 2 Chronicles]. One of the few instances occurs at 1 Suppl. [1 Chronicles] 21.1, which, not surprisingly is styled by Sara Japhet [in I & II Chronicles: A Commentary] as “one of the most discussed and interpreted verses in Chronicles.” The question at issue is the precise identification of the one who instigated David to conduct the census, Satan or some undefined slander. In the counterpart to this passage at 2 Rgns [2 Samuel] 24.1 the perpetrator is God himself in his wrath. This the Chronicler has mitigated according to his normal practice by refocusing the intervention. At the same time, there is no indication that the author believed in a self-existing principle of evil. Moreover, when the Hebrew term שטן denotes a proper noun, it is normally found with the article [as in Job], whereas here [in 1 Chronicles 21:1 as well as in the LXX translation] it is unarticulated. Consequently, in sum, it appears that a human instigator is intended.
MT: ויעמד שטן על־ישראל [no article with שטן]
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Author: S. Peter Cowe
Keywords: Job, Satan, Job Satan, Adversary, Yetzer hara, Yetzer ha ra, Yezer hara, Yezer ha ra, Yetser hara, Yetser ha ra, Evil inclination, Fallen angel, God Satan, Satan Evil Inclination, Devil, Devil Satan
Bible reference(s): 2 Samuel 24:1, 1 Chronicles 21:1, Job 1:6-9, Job 1:12, Job 2:1-7
Source: New English Translation of the Septuagint (Oxford Univ. Press: 2007), pp. 347-8.
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