Person
Satan
Also called Beelzebub
Mentioned in 71 verses across 19 books, first in Acts 5:3. 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
All 4 verses in Acts, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
Acts
- Acts 5:3
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
- Acts 10:38
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.
- Acts 13:10
and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
- Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
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.