{"id":79214,"date":"2020-08-24T15:56:05","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T12:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79214"},"modified":"2020-08-24T15:56:05","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T12:56:05","slug":"meet-the-satan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/meet-the-satan\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet “The Satan”"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"79214","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"553","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Accursed accuser\r\n\r\n","content":"

Of 16 appearances of the definite noun <\/span>ha-Satan<\/span><\/em> (the Accuser) in Tanakh, 15 are in the Book of Job; the sixteenth is in the opening verse of our chapter: \u201cHe further showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the LORD, and the Accuser standing at his right to accuse him\u201d (1).<\/span><\/p>\n

The presence of the definite article (<\/span>ha<\/span><\/em>) indicates that <\/span>Satan<\/span><\/em> is not a proper noun (one never says <\/span>the<\/span><\/em> Moses or <\/span>the<\/span><\/em> Abraham) and the <\/span>nun<\/span><\/em> at its end is often a suffix attached to a noun to indicate profession (e.g., <\/span>kablan<\/span><\/em>, a contractor, or <\/span>safran<\/span><\/em>, a librarian). Indeed, the proof that Satan is a noun of profession derived from the verbal root S-U-T (or Sh-U-T) is explicit in Job 1:7: God asked the Satan: \u201cWhence do you come?,\u201d to which he replied: \u201cFrom roaming (<\/span>mi-shut<\/span><\/em>) the earth and crisscrossing it.\u201d A <\/span>Satan<\/span><\/em> is one who is constantly on patrol\u2014looking for flaws in peoples\u2019 characters on which to capitalize.<\/span><\/p>\n

In our case, the use of the verb S-T-N (<\/span>le-sitno<\/span><\/em>, \u201cto accuse him\u201d) resonates with the Book of Ezra\u2019s description of the opposition raised against the rebuilding of Jerusalem (see our comments to Haggai) as: \u201cIn the reign of Ahasuerus, at its inception, they wrote accusations (<\/span>sitnah<\/span><\/em>) against the residents of Judah and Jerusalem\u201d (Ezra 4:6). This is reinforced in the continuation of our chapter: \u201cThe Lord rebuke you, O Accuser; may the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you\u201d (2). Hence, Ibn Ezra\u2019s commentary:<\/span><\/p>\n

Accuser: Enemy, such as Sanbalat and the [other] enemies of Judah who \u201cwrote accusations.\u201d They were in opposition to Joshua because they did not want the Temple to be rebuilt [whereupon] Joshua would become the High Priest.<\/span><\/p>\n

A singular ritual curiosity derives from the opening verse. Because the Satan is described as standing to Joshua\u2019s right, it was assumed that that is the position he always assumes. Hence, custom requires the shofar blower on Rosh ha-Shanah to place the ram\u2019s horn on the right side of his mouth facing outward, the better to \u201cconfound the Accuser\u201d (<\/span>le-balbel et ha-Satan<\/span><\/em>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79215,"id":79215,"title":"zech3-accuser","filename":"zech3-accuser.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-accuser.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/meet-the-satan\/zech3-accuser\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zech3-accuser","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79214,"date":"2020-08-24 12:54:31","modified":"2023-09-23 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