Person
Satan
Also called Beelzebub
Mentioned in 71 verses across 19 books, first in Matthew 4:1. The verses below are the ones linked to this person (the Theographic dataset, with our sourced corrections), not counting Old Testament verses read as about them.
Questions about this
In the Bible
The first 10 of 71 verses, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
Matthew
- Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
- Matthew 4:3
The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
- Matthew 4:5
Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.
- Matthew 4:8
Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
- Matthew 4:10
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- Matthew 4:11
Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.
- Matthew 10:25
It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
- Matthew 12:24
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.”
- Matthew 12:26
If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
- Matthew 12:27
And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
Identified with Satan in later Jewish and Christian tradition
The Hebrew śāṭān means "adversary" or "accuser". In Job 1–2 and Zechariah 3 it has the article ("the satan"), a title rather than a name, and in Psalm 109:6 it is a human accuser ("let an accuser stand at his right hand"). 1 Chronicles 21:1 has no article and is the likeliest use as a name. Later Jewish and Christian tradition identifies these figures with Satan. These 15 verses are not counted above.
Read as Satan's fall in later Christian tradition
Isaiah 14:12-15 is a taunt over the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4); the "day star, son of the dawn" (Hebrew hêlēl, "shining one"; "Lucifer" in the King James and Douay-Rheims) is the king. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1908, "Devil") says the passage "is expressly directed against the King of Babylon, but both the early Fathers and later Catholic commentators agree in understanding it as applying with deeper significance to the fall of the rebel angel." These 4 verses are not counted above.
Events
Events the dataset lists Satan as taking part in. Dates follow its Ussher–Jones reckoning (one of several traditional counts), not established history.
- c. AD 26Temptations of Jesus
- c. AD 30Ananias and Sapphira lie to God
Dictionary
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. The entry is for the name and can describe more than one person who bore it. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.
Read Easton’s entry
Adversary; accuser. When used as a proper name, the Hebrew word so rendered has the article “the adversary” (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7). In the New Testament it is used as interchangeable with Diabolos, or the devil, and is so used more than thirty times.
He is also called “the dragon,” “the old serpent” (Rev. 12:9; 20:2); “the prince of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30); “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2); “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4); “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). The distinct personality of Satan and his activity among men are thus obviously recognized. He tempted our Lord in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11). He is “Beelzebub, the prince of the devils” (12:24). He is “the constant enemy of God, of Christ, of the divine kingdom, of the followers of Christ, and of all truth; full of falsehood and all malice, and exciting and seducing to evil in every possible way.” His power is very great in the world. He is a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). Men are said to be “taken captive by him” (2 Tim. 2:26). Christians are warned against his “devices” (2 Cor. 2:11), and called on to “resist” him (James 4:7). Christ redeems his people from “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). Satan has the “power of death,” not as lord, but simply as executioner.