Today’s daf continues a discussion of the Book of Job that began on yesterday’s page. Job is a strange biblical book that struggles to understand why a good God allows innocent people to suffer and offers some important (and, to many, troubling) theological ideas about God and the nature of the world. Job is also famous for being one of two books in the Hebrew Bible where we explicitly meet hasatan, often translated simply as Satan but better rendered as “the satan” or “the adversary.”
In the Hebrew Bible, the word satan is used to describe both human adversaries and those who are more than human. For example, 1 King 11:14 reads: “So the Lord raised up an adversary (satan) against Solomon: the Edomite Hadad, who was of the royal family of Edom.” In Zechariah 3, the prophet is shown a vision of a divine court case, between Joshua the high priest and the satan (with the definite article “the”), with an angel of God as supreme judge. In Job, when God describes Job as “a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil” (2:3), the satan (again, note the definite article), this time obviously angelic, challenges God on that description, suggesting that if Job’s life was less easy, he’d be less faithful to God. In these biblical texts, “the satan” seems to be a formal title for a servant of the divine justice system, much like a state-appointed prosecutor today.
But by the time of the Talmud, for both Jews and Christians, the satan has become Satan, a personal name for a specific entity, maybe a fallen angel or a malicious force that works to seduce human beings away from God’s intended plan for humankind. On today’s daf, the Talmud digs into the identity of this individual, now understood to be ominous.
Reish Lakish says: Satan, the evil inclination, and the Angel of Death are one.
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Reish Lakish identifies Satan with two other dark supernatural forces, the yetzer hara (the evil inclination) and the Angel of Death. The Talmud next asks how Reish Lakish came to this conclusion.
He is the Satan, as it is written: “So the Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with vile sores” (Job 2:7). He is the evil inclination, as it is written there: “The impulse of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuously” (Genesis 6:5); and it is written here: “Only upon himself do not put forth your hand” (Job 1:12). He is the Angel of Death, as it is written: “Only spare his life” (Job 2:6)— meaning that it apparently depends on him.
Using close readings of Job (and an analogy between the word “only” in Job and Genesis), the Talmud insists that the same Satan who accuses people before God is the evil inclination who causes them to sin in the first place and the Angel of Death who then carries out their executions. Co-conspirator, prosecuting attorney, and executioner: That seems like quite the conflict of interest.
Ultimately, the Talmud rejects the idea that Satan operates in opposition to the divine plan. Today’s daf continues with a statement from Rabbi Levi who insists that Satan acted:
… for the sake of Heaven. Satan, when he saw that the Holy One, Blessed be He, inclined to Job, and said: “Heaven forbid that He should forget the love of Abraham.”
In order to remind God of the importance and holiness of Abraham (and, by extension, Abraham’s descendants), Satan tries to demonstrate that Job is not as holy as our biblical forefather. His actions appear harmful on the surface (and are objectively harmful to Job), says Rabbi Levi, but his motivations are pure, and aligned with God’s ultimate wishes for the world.
This reading makes sense: How could an independent, or even semi-independent, evil force fit into the belief that the whole world was created by a single good God who is in control of everything? For the rabbis, Satan becomes just another part of God’s rich court of angels, demons and other supernatural entities.
The Talmud’s discussion of Satan’s identity and nature ends with this anecdote:
Rav Aha bar Ya’akov taught this in Papunya, and Satan came and kissed his feet.
Apparently, Satan is all too aware of his malignant reputation and it bothers him. Charmingly, the Talmud leaves us with an image of Satan expressing his gratitude when the rabbis tell the truth about his vastly under-appreciated role in the divine plan.
Read all of Bava Batra 16 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on July 11, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
