“What are the names of
the devil?”
The writers
of scripture refer to mankind’s most virulent and determined enemy by a number
of names and titles and with many different images. Some of these started as mere
descriptions and evolved into proper names, while others originally referred to
lesser spiritual beings and came to be used as euphemisms for the devil
himself. In some cases it is debatable whether they are really intended to be
used as proper names at all.
This list
is not exhaustive, but I have tried to include the most common ones
and to group similar names and concepts together.
Beelzebub. The words baʿal zᵊḇûḇ
are Hebrew for “lord of the fly”. Beelzebub, or Baal-zebub, was the local deity
of the Philistine city of Ekron. In 2 Kings 1, a dying King Ahaziah
sent messengers to Ekron to inquire of him (presumably through a Philistine
priest or medium) about a personal matter. By New Testament times, Jews were
using a variant of this name as a euphemism for the devil. The name Beelzebul
is used seven times in the first three gospels to describe the “prince
of demons”, which can really only refer to one person.
Belial. This
is the Hebrew word for “uselessness”, “ruin” or “destruction”. In Deuteronomy
the “children
of Belial” were men who incited others to serve false gods. Those who are
called children of Belial always display a rebellious spirit, the
devil’s own trademark. Though bᵊlîyaʿal is used generically of evil or worthless
men in the Old Testament, the expression “son of Belial” refers to one who is
the personification of evil and rebellion. In the New Testament it appears
likely that Belial had evolved into a
proper name for the devil himself.
Dragon, Serpent, Leviathan. The book of Revelation refers to a “great
dragon” (also “great red dragon”), described as “that ancient
serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole
world”. The “ancient serpent” reference takes us right back to the Garden of
Eden and Genesis 3,
making the devil the antagonist of all the scriptures from beginning to end.
Isaiah prophesied of a coming day when “the Lord … will punish Leviathan
the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will
slay the dragon that is in the sea.”
Father of lies. Jesus called the devil “a murderer from the
beginning”, and “a liar and the
father of lies”. The devil “does not stand in the truth, for there is no
truth in him”. We find him manipulating Eve with his lies in the Garden of
Eden, and effectively murdering the entire human race.
God of this age, Prince of the power of the air. Paul refers to the
devil as the “god
of this age” or “god of this world”, depending on your translation. The
idea is that the devil is the most prominent influence on the thinking of men
in their natural state. He deceives not just individuals but sways entire
cultures and blinds them to the truth. The philosophies, speculations and false
religions of the world are all the product of his lies and manipulations. The
systems of our world are under his power, though the men who head them are
often completely unaware they are his pawns. In Ephesians the apostle
calls him the “prince
of the power of the air”, the spirit which secretly (and sometimes
non-so-secretly) directs men who disobey God, but also gives orders to those in
the spiritual realm who do his bidding.
Lucifer. Used commonly by the church
fathers, “Lucifer” is a Latinization of the Hebrew word hêlēl. It comes from the word hālal, or “brilliant”, and is translated “light-bearer”. Isaiah calls the king of Babylon
the “day
star”, “morning star” or “son of the morning”, and readers of scripture
have for generations understood the prophet’s exaggerated description of a fallen
human authority as cryptically revealing for us the origin story of the devil
himself. Ezekiel does something similar in his prophecy against the king of
Tyre. The name Light-bearer calls us
back to the devil’s beginnings as the most glorious of God’s creations (“You
were in Eden, the garden of God” and “You were an
anointed guardian cherub” cannot possibly refer to the king of Tyre). The
devil still has the ability to conceal his presence and true motives from men
with this aspect of his persona. The apostle Paul writes that he “disguises
himself as
an angel of light”.
Perdition, Abaddon, Apollyon. The Greek apōleia means “ruin”
or “loss”, usually in perpetuity, and is related to the word apollyon, or “destroyer”, which is the
name of the
angel of the bottomless pit in Revelation. (In Hebrew the same person is
called Abaddon.) In his prayers, Jesus referred euphemistically
to Judas as the “son
of perdition” or “son of destruction”. The apostle Paul refers to
another coming “son of perdition” called the
man of lawlessness. The thought is that both Judas and the future leader of
the world were and will not just be characterized by their destructive acts but
are willing agents of a destructive person, the devil himself.
Satan, Devil, Accuser, Adversary, Enemy. The Hebrew śāṭān means “adversary”. We find it used first in
the book of Job, where the “sons of God” come to present themselves before
the Lord, and an “adversary” or “accuser” is among them. It is not clear in Job
whether this is a proper name or simply a description of the devil, but he
shows his true colors immediately by trying to incite God against Job. In 1 Chronicles 21,
he “stood against Israel”. Later, in the book of Zechariah,
he appears at the right hand of the angel of the Lord to make accusations
against the Israelite high priest. In Matthew, the devil is the enemy
who sowed weeds among the wheat. In Revelation he
is called “the accuser
of our brothers, who accuses them day and night before our God”. The Greek word diabolos means “slanderer” or “false
accuser”, and is translated “devil”, the New Testament equivalent for Satan.
And that is certainly enough for one day on that subject!
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