ad ́vẽr-sa-ri, ad ́vẽr-sā̄̇-ri: This word (in the singular or plural) is used in the Old Testament to render different Hebrew words. In thirty-two cases the word corresponds to the noun צר, cār, or the verb צרר, cārař. This noun is the ordinary word for “foe” or “adversary.” In twelve passages the Hebrew word, of which “adversary” is the translation, is שׂטן, sāṭān = noun or שׂטן, sāṭan = verb. This stem means “to oppose,” or “thwart” anyone in his purpose or claims.
The angel of Yahweh was sāṭān to Balaam (Numbers 22:22). The word often denotes a political adversary (1 Kings 11:14, 23, 25). In four cases (namely, Prologue to Job; Zechariah 3:1-2; 1 Chronicles 21:1; Psalms 109:6) the King James Version retains Satan as the rendering. But it is only in 1 Chronicles that the word is used without the article. The Septuagint gives διάβολος, diábolos, as the rendering, and both in Job and Zechariah, [the] Satan is portrayed as the “false accuser.” In two cases “adversary” represents two Hebrew expressions which mean the “opponent in a suit” or “controversy” (Job 31:35; Isaiah 50:8).
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Adversary, Satan
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.