Who Is Satan and Was He Always Called Satan?
The first use of the name Satan is found in 1 Chronicles 21:1; chronologically, Job, which was written much earlier, surpasses this. Satan is found throughout Job 1 and Job 2. Satan literally means “adversary” in Hebrew. Another name appears in the Old Testament in the King James Version: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isaiah 14:12; KJV). This is the only passage that uses the name Lucifer to refer to Satan. This name doesn’t come from Hebrew but Latin. Perhaps this translation into English was influenced by the Latin Vulgate, which uses this name. In Latin, Lucifer means “light bringer.” The Hebrew is heylel and means “light bearer,” “shining one,” or “morning star.” Many modern translations translate this as star of the morning or morning star. In this passage, heylel refers to the king of Babylon and Satan figuratively. Of course, Jesus lays claim to this title in Revelation 22:16.
