Satan in Biblical Imagination^ - A4T.org

Theological Review XXVI/1, 2005, pp. 111-126
Satan in Biblical Imagination^
Johnny Awwadt
Introduction
; For those who have seen Mel Gibson's latest movie "The Passion
of the Christ," the image of that androgynous cunning character, Satan, is
probably still roaming in the imagination. For centuries, tradition has
described Satan as a fallen angel, as a rebellious spirit to God's purposes,
a spirit that incites and seduces humans in their vulnerable moments, a
spirit that invades and destroys. Who is this character? Where and how
did it originate? Does it really exist in the ways tradition has imaged it?
My interest in the character Satan began when I was studying the
exorcisms of Jesus. I often wondered about the phenomena of demon
possession and demon exorcism. I knew that demon exorcism was an
important element of Jesus' ministry, but I always had questions about the
actuality of Satan's character and demon possession.
In this paper, I hope to answer some of the questions raised above.
I have decided to take my reader on a short journey tracing the character
of Satan in biblical and extra-canonical material. The paper will be
divided into three sections. The first deals with Satan in the Old
Testament. The second deals with Satan in some of the literature of the
Inter-Testamental period. And the third deals with Satan in the Synoptic
1 This paper is a slight revision of a public lecture given at the Near East School of
Theology in Beirut on May 27, 2004.
t Johnny Awwad is an Assistant Prof, of New Testament at the Near East School of
Theology Beirut.

I '^ ' : • ' Theological-Review
Gospels, with the purpose of shedding light on the significance of Jesus'
exorcistic activity and what it means .^
Satan in the Old Testament
A quicklpokjat aBiblicaLiconcordancewillinimediately reveal that
the word Satan is scarcely present in the Old Testament. This might be an
indicator that in traditional Judaism Satan did not play as crucial a role as
he does in the New Testament, especially in the ministry of Jesus as it is
reported to us in the Synoptic Gospels.
The Hebrew word for Satan is Shatan, with the root meaning of "to
obstruct," "to oppose," "to accuse:," or "to be an adversary.'*' *rhe verb
Shatan occurs only six times, mostly in the Psalms." As a noun, Satan
occurs 26 tinies in the ehtire Old Testament. In seven instances it is used
with reference to a human being (e.g., in I Sam. 29:4, David is depicted by
the Philistines as an "adversary" [shatan]). In the 19 other instances it
refers to a celestial being (Num. 22:22,32; Job 1-2; Zech. 3:1-2 and I Chr.
21:1). As a noun, Satan is used in three instances without the definite
article, i.e, as a personal pronoun, or a proper name (I Chr. 21:1, Num.
22:22, 32), and in the remaining instances the noun is used' with the
2 In part of this paper, I am indebted to Prof. Elaine Pagels of Princeton University,
particularly to her book The Origin of Satan (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), and
to" her article' "The Social History of Satan, The 'Intimate Enemy': A Preliminary
: Sketch,". [Harvard Theological Review. (1991) 105-28, whose arguments and
,.' conclujions.I follow very closely-in the first two sections of this paper.
,3| See on this Victor Hamilton , "Satan," in Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by David
Noel Freedman (New York: Dbubleday, 1992) vol 5:985-89; Jeffrey Gibson, "Satan,"
• in the Eerdmans'Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by David Noel Freedman (Grand
. •Rapids: :Eerdmans,, 2000) 1169-70; Adrian Hastings, "Devil," in the Oxford
Companion to the Christian Thought. Edited by A. Hastings, A. Mason and H. Pyper
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 164-66; and C. Breytenbach and P. L. Day,
' '"Satan," in the Dictionary of Deities "and Demons in the Bible (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1999) 726-32.
4 See Ps.'38:20; 71:13; 109:4,20,29; Zeeh. 3:1. Pslam 38:20 reads for example: "Those
who render me evil for good 'slander' [shatan] me when I seek what is good."

Awwad: Satan in Bibiical Imagination
1 113
definite article (Hashatan^ literally the Satan), i.e., as a proper noun having
a functional role as "the accuser," or "the adversary," or the "obstructor."
The Satan we first encounter in the Bible (especially in Job and
Numbers) is not necessary evil or opposed to God. On the contrary, he is
depicted as one of God's angels (member of God's royal court). The
Satan, i.e, the angel who plays this functional role does not act
independently, or at his own initiative. Rather, he is one of God's
obedient angels, acting as God's agent and serving God's purposes.
A good illustration of the Satan who performs a function assigned
by God, i.e, as one who blocks or obstructs human activity at God's
command, can be seen in the story of Balaam in the book of Numbers
(22), who disobeyed God and went where God had ordered him not to go.
In the story, Balak king of Moab sends messengers to Balaam, a non-
Israelite prophet, to come and curse the Israelites who were encamped in
the plains of Moab. As he saddled his ass and set off, the angel of the Lord
took his stand in the road as his Satan, i.e., as his "obstructor." Though
the angel with the sword in his hand remained invisible to Balaam, it was
the ass that saw him. Twice the angel of the Lord tried to obstruct
Balaam's ass, and twice did Balaam try to keep the ass on the road. The
third time the ass saw the angel of the Lord it stopped and lay down under
Balaam. As Balaam struck the ass with his staff, continues the teller of
the story, the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam:
"What have I done to you, that you have struck me three times?" And
Balaam answered the ass saying: "Because you have made a fool of me.
I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you" (Num. 22:29).
The story continues: the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam and he saw the
angel of Lord standing in the way with the sword in his hand. He bowed
his head and fell on his face. Then Satan speaking on behalf of the Lord
rebuked Balaam saying: "if she (the ass) had not turned away from me, I
would surely have killed you right then, and let her live."
Although the Satan, in the story of Balaam is a celestial being, he
does not act at his own initiative. He is God's agent, serving God's
purposes. Most importantly, the functional role he plays as an

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"obstructor" of human activity is a role assigned to him and not a
characteristic of his being. As a being he is not necessarily evil or
malevolent, but rather plays the role of an "obstructor."
While the Satan in the story of Balaam is an "obstructor" of human
activity, the Satan in the story of Job "takes a more adversarial role."'
Nevertheless, his functional role remains within the boundaries set and
defined by God.
In Job the Satan is depicted as a supernatural being, a member of
the heavenly host. In fact the book of Job provides the only instances
where God and the Satan are in conversations with each other. According
to the second chapter of Job, the Lord admits that the Satan had incited
him to act against Job, even though it is God who draws the Satan's
attention to Job (Job 2:3). The story begins when the Lord boasts to Satan
about Job, one of his loyal servants, saying: "have you considered my
servant Job, that there is no one like him on earth, a blessed and upright
man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" (1:8) The Satan
challenges the Lord to put Job to the test: ".. .put forth your hand now, and
touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." (1:11) The Lord
agrees that Job is put to the test, and allows the Satan to afflict Job on the
condition that he spares his hfe (1:12). The story is well known; Job
withstands all the loss. When the Satan appears before the Lord, the Lord
reminds him: "Job still holds fast to his integrity, although you moved me
against him, to destroy him without a cause." (2:3) The Satan responds:
"put forth your hand now, and touch his flesh and bone, and he will curse
you to your face." The Lord agrees on condition that Job's life is spared
(2:4-6). As the story progresses. Job withstands the test and the Lord
restores Job's fortunes (42:10). In the story of Job the Satan is a heavenly
being who performs functions the limits of which are set by God. While
it is true that Job is harmed in this testing game, yet everything remains
within the boundaries set by the divine order.
5 Elaine Pagels, Origin of Satan, 41.

Awwad: Satan in Biblical Imagination
I I lO
In the book of Zechariah tbe image of the Satan begins to change.
He is no longer an obedient servant of God, but turns into an opponent of
God inciting factions among the people of Israel.' As Pagels argues,
behind the book of Zechariah is a conflict that arose within Israel after
thousands of exiled Jews returned to Palestine. The returning exiles seem
to have had aspirations to reestablish the worship of the Lord as well as to
reestablish themselves as leaders of the people. But those who were in the
land resisted those aspirations. Zechariah sides with the returning exiles,
recounting a vision in which the Satan "speaks for the rural inhabitants
who accuse the returning high priest [Joshua] of being a worthless
candidate:"' "The Lord showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing
before the angel of the Lord, and the Satan standing at his right hand to
accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, 'the Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The
Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you." (Zech. 3:1-2). As a
character in Zechariah's account the Satan image begins to change from a
character who plays a functional role in obstructing human activity, into
an opponent of God creating factions among the people of Israel. In I
Chronicles (21), Satan (without the definite article) plays a similar role
when he incites King David to order a census which fuels opposition
among the people of Israel.
Within the Old Testament itself, we see a shift in the depiction and
portrayal of the Satan. The Satan is first depicted in functional terms, as
an "obstructor," who could be any one ofthe angels who fulfills the divine
orders of obstructing human activity. While performing this role, the
Satan is one of God's obedient servants. Later on, in Zechariab the Satan
begins to get loose from divine control creating divisions among the
people of Israel. In I Chronicles he becomes a somehow a personified
character, acting independently as God's enemy.
6 Elaine Pagels, Origin of Satan, 43.
7 Elaine Pagels, Origin of Satan, 44.

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Theological Review
Satan in Inter-Testamental Litarature^
During the Inter-Testamental period' reflections on Satan
flourished and the image of Satan as a personified character became more
and more acute. The driving force behind the development of the image
of Satan is attributed partly to internal confiicts among various Jewish
groups due to outside pressures to assimilate to Hellenistic culture and
life-style and partly to internal Jewish-Jewish confiicts for power (or
"intra-Jewish" confiicts as Pagels calls it). Prime examples of these
confiicts were the Maccabean Revolt and the withdrawal of the
community that settled later at Qumran from ordinary Jewish life in
Palestine. In this atmosphere, Jewish enthusiasts to Hellenism ultimately
found themselves in direct confrontation with Torah observant Jews.
Amidst these conflicts questions about what constitutes "true Israel," and
who does/doesn't live in fidelity to God and to his covenant, began to be
asked. As a result a number of "dissident, nonconformist" groups
emerged. Again, Pagels summarizes the scene quite well when she says:
"these dissidents began increasingly to invoke the satan to characterize
their Jewish opponents; in the process they turned this rather unpleasant
angel into a far grander...[to] denounce their opponents as apostate and
accuse them of having been seduced by the power of evil, whom they
called by many names: Satan, Beelzebub, Semihazah, Azazel, Belial,
Prince of Darkness. These dissidents also borrowed stories, and wrote
their own, telling how such angelic powers, swollen with lust and
arrogance, fell from heaven into sin,"'° and have become personified in
their Jewish contemporary opponents. There wasn't a unified story to tell
but a variety of stories.
8 By the phrase "Inter-Testamental" literature I mean the writings of some Jewish
groups known nowadays as the OT Psuedepigrapha (see the two volumes work edited
by James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Psuedepigrapha (^New York:
Doubleday, 1983,1985), as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
9 The phrase Inter-Testamental period means the span of time between third century
BCE and second century CE (others date it between BCE 200 and CE 200).
10 Elaine Pagels, Origin of Satan, 47. See also E. Isaac, "I (Ethiopic Apocalypse of)
Enoch," in The Old Testament Psuedepigrapha, vol 1:10.

Awwad: Satan in Biblical Imagination .
One of the stories about the origin of Satan comes from the
composite Book of I Enoch, and in particular the opening part of it (The
Book of the Watchers)." The Book of the Watchers (chaps. 6-11) tells the
story of a heavenly angelic rebellion and the loss of the angelic heavenly
glory. Scholars speak at least about two conflated traditions in the story
of the Watchers.'^ The first draws on Genesis 6-9, and tells how,
Semihazah the leader of the watchers, led the "sons of God" (the
watchers) into intercourse with mortal women, breeding a race of giants
that brought evil and violence over the earth. The second tradition of
angelic rebellion tells about the angelic leader Azazel who reveals and
discloses the secrets of weapon making and mining, helping humans to
make weapons of war and jewelry for women from silver and gold, thus
facilitating sexual seduction and inciting violence, greed and lust.
The ultimate question behind these stories is to what events in
world, or Jewish, history they are referring, or trying to decode. Here
scholars disagree. But what is intriguing is how in the imagination of
these writers worldly conflicts and tensions are depicted as the result of a
cosmic conflict in the heavenly realm." And how the self-understanding
of these groups, as well as their understanding of their opponents, were
determined by these reflections. As this imagination developed, the
image of Satan developed also within it and became sharper and more
acute.
11 See J. J. Collins, Tite Apocaiyptic Imagination: An Introduction to tiie Jewisii Matrix
of Ciiristianity (New York: Crossroads, 1984) 127, who argues that the opening
section of I Enoch is the oldest of the Enoch material and is probably Pre-Maccabean.
12 On the possible conflation of two or three traditions in the story, as well as parallels in
Ancient Near Eastern literature, see George Nickelsburg, "Apocalyptic and Myth in I
Enoch 6-11," JBL 96 (1977) 383-405, and "Enoch, First Book of in the Anciior Bible
Dictionary. Edited by David N. Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992) vol 2:509-10.
13 Pagels argues that the story of the Book of the Watchers has a moral tone. If angels
can sin and, therefore, be cast down, humans, even those who belong to the people of
God, will also be cast down. She suggests that the Book "articulates the judgment of
certain Jews upon other Jews, and specifically upon some who hold positions that
ordinarily convey great authority" (Origin of Satan, 52).

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118 [—~~
The book of Jubilees does not have a clear account about the fall of
heavenly angels. But scattered references to Mastema, the chief of the
evil spirits, can be found throughout Jubilees. Although Satan's name is
primarily Mastema, yet he is also called Belial. Mastema and bis allies
bring violence upon the earth (10:6); they are behind the fragility of
human beings. Mastema tests Abraham and demands to kill his son.
Moses warns the people of Israel not to be led by the spirit of Belial. In
many ways the traditions about the fallen angels in Jubilees presuppose
the traditions found in the Book of the Watchers. Jubilees is an evidence
of a Jewish reaction to some of Antiochus IV policies of Hellenizing the
land of Palestine.''' The book urges the people of Israel not to walk after
the Gentiles and calls upon Israel to maintain its separation from them
(Jub. 1:9). Gonflicts over assimilation that divided Jewish communities
internally are attributed by the author to Mastema, Satan and Belial, and
like I Enoch the Book of Jubilees carries a similar moral and ethical
warning: if even angels when they sin bring God's wrath upon them, then
humans will not be spared."
The withdrawal of the people at Qumran from ordinary Jewish life
must also be seen as a response to Jewish accommodation of Hellenistic
life-style and politics. They understood themselves as the "true Israel"
standing on the side of God, at war with the powers of evil (Satan,
Mastema, and the Prince of Darkness) that has infiltrated and taken over
God's people. They understood themselves, and saw others, as part of a
cosmic war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness: "The
Prince of light thou has appointed to come to our support: but Satan, the
angel Mastema, thou hast created for the pit; he rules in darkness, and his
purpose is to bring about evil and sin." (I QM 19:10-12)
During the Inter-Testamental period Satan as a personified evil
character became more acute. He stands as the leader of an evil empire
opposed to God and God's purposes. Stories about its origin proliferated
14 O. S. Wintermute, "Jubilees," in The Old Testament Psuedepigrapha, vol 2:46.
15 Elaine Pagels, Origin of Satan, 53.

Awwad: Satan in Biblical Imagination
out of the imagination of "dissident groups" to describe their Jewish
opponents, and to explain divisions within Israel. Although the
development of the image of Satan took place on the margins of
traditional Judaism, i.e, among "dissident groups," yet it became central
to Jesus' teaching and practice. As far as Satan is concerned, the Intertestamental
literature provided Jesus and the early Christians with a
world-view and a reservoir of imagery."
Satan and the Ministry of Jesus
What has been said thus far provides the religious matrix for the
ministry of Jesus. Jesus led a movement within Judaism that was
apocalyptic in scope. By apocalyptic I mean that mode of thinking in
which the world and human culture are perceived as becoming so evil and
under the grip of Satan, and consequently unable to redeem and rectify
itself. If redemption is no longer possible from within, the only hope is
from without. One of the important features of apocalyptic is that hope
for redemption is only possible through an act of God. Once redemption
is made possible, human existence turns into a battleground for the
supernatural forces of God and Satan (good and evil). In this dualistic
world-view humans cannot be free from either force.
As far as Jesus is concerned, he understood himself in the manner
of other Jewish groups as the representative of the true Israel. Israel from
Jesus perspective was taken over by Satan and his allies in every way
possible, religiously, socially and politically. He understood his ministry
as one of liberation, delivering the people of Israel from Satan's bondage
and transferring them into the sovereign control of God.
The central theme for the renewal movement that Jesus led within
16 In the New Testament Satan figures out prominently in the Gospels. Satan is known
in the New Testament by the following epithets Beelzebul (Mark 3:22; Matt. 10:25;
12:24), Belial/Beliar (II Cor. 6:15), the devil (Matt. 4:1; 25:41; Lk. 4:2; 8:12; John
13:2; Acts 10:38), the evil one (Matt. 13:19; John 17:15; I John 5:18,19; cf. Matt. 6:13;
II Thess. 3:3), the ruler of demons (Mk. 3:22 and Para.), the enemy (Matt. 13:25, 28,
39; Lk. 10:19), and the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30).

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Israel was the coining of the kingdom of God. His preaching, teachings,
healings and exorcisms were not only manifestations of the coming of
God's reign, but also pointers to his being God's agent. By the Kingdom
of God, Jesus spoke in symbolic.terms about God himself coming in
power to manifest and exercise his definitive rule in the end time, a
symbol (not in phraseology) common in Old Testament prophecy and
some psuedepigraphical works. John Meier, in his erudite contribution to
the study of Jesus, explores the theme of God's kingship in the post-exilic
period, and arrives at the conclusion that "the symbol of God's kingly rule
increasingly came to be connected with the hope that God would bring to
an end the present state of the world and would embark upon his full and
definitive rule over his rebellious creation and people."" Jesus deeply
believed that God was working out God's purposes through his ministry,
and in particular through his exorcisms, bringing to an end the present
state of the world that is dominated by Satan and embarking upon God's
full definitive rule.
Perhaps the parable of "Binding the Strong Man" according to
Mark's Gospel (3:20r27) is a good illustration of these ideas. Jesus tells
the parable as a response to his opponents who accuse him of being in
league with Beelzebul: "and the crowd came together again, so that they
could not even eat; And when his family heard it, they went out to seize
him, for people were saying, 'he is beside himself.' And the scribes who
came down from Jerusalem said, 'he is possessed by Beelzebul, and by
the prince of demons he casts out demons.' And he called them to him,
and said to them in parables, 'How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom,
is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is
divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan
has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming
to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his
goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder
his house."
17 John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus (New York:
Doubleday, 1994) vol 2: 348 - 349.

Awwad: Satan in Bibiical Imagination
Variations of this account are found in the Gospels of Luke (11:17-
23) and Mathew (12:22-32). Luke inserts at 11:20" Jesus' saying "But if
by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you." Matthew's version of the saying has the "spirit of God"
(12:28) instead of the Lukan "finger of God.'' According tp these versions
of the parable, Jesus' exorcisms are the concrete vehicle by which the
Kingdom of God comes right now, in the present.
The coming of the kingdom of God is the hope for the redemption
ofthe world and of human culture. Jesus cannot be Beelzebul's (Satan's)
agent, otherwise he will be destroying himself. Jesus is God's agent in
bringing the hope for redemption into the world. What the parable also
says is that the world as it stands unredeemed is under the control of
Beelzebul and his allies. Jesus' exorcisms are the indication that the
world and its inhabitants have become the battleground for the
supernatural forces (God and Satan). It also envisages Jesus emerging
victorious over Beelzebul in this battle. The strong man (Satan) is now,
and through the exorcisms of Jesus, is being bound by a stronger one."
The plundered goods are meant to signify those possessed persons whom
Jesus frees from the power ofthe strong man. Jesus' exorcisms meant
that God's royal power has already reached, touched and is transforming
the lives of certain Israelites, now. And although his exorcisms worked
on individual Israelites, they also meant eschatological liberation to all of
Israel.^"
18 "Finger of God "could mean God's direct and concrete intervention in Jesus'
exorcisms (cf. Exod. 8:15).
19 This reminds us of a well-known saying by Jesus in Luke's Gospel: "Behold I saw
Satan fall like a lightening froin heaven." (Luke 10:18) ... .
20 In this context John Meier says: that "the idea that evil spirits could not only inflict
suffering on people from without (demonic obsession) but could even invade and take
over their bodies (demonic possession) was widespread in ancient cultures" (Marginal
Jew, vol2:405). Jesus saw exorcisms as part of his overall ministry of healing and
liberating the people of Israel from illness and other physical and spiritual evils that
beset them.

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Theological Review
Jesus was well known as an exorcist and a number of his exorcisms
are narrated by the Synoptic Gospels.^' Early Christians even used his
name in exorcising demons. However, he was not alone in this.
Exorcising demons was a wide spread phenomenon during the time of
Jesus and the New Testament speaks of other Jewish exorcists (Mk., Q,
and Acts). His uniqueness was not his exorcisms, but, as John Meier notes
"his integration of the roles of exorcists, moral teacher, gatherer of
disciples, and eschatological prophet all into one person."" Meier
cautions that Jesus' exorcisms need to be distinguished from the common
practice of magic. Contrary to common practice in the ancient world,
Jesus does not pray to God, or lay on hands, or use specific incantations
or spells. He does not cast demons in the name of someone, as early
Christians did in his name (Acts 16:18; 19:13). All Jesus does is rebuke,
command and cast out the demon.
But if Satan, as a personified evil character, a leader of an evil
empire opposed to God was the product of a development in the Biblical
and extra-canonical imagination in the context of "intra-Jewish" conflict,
how do we interpret Jesus' exorcisms? Did Jesus really exorcise a
supernatural being? How do we understand the phenomena of demon
possession and demon exorcism in the 21^^ century?
In response to these questions, I will draw on some directions and
suggestions offered by some scholars. In this regard John Meier argues
that: "Granted the primitive state of medical knowledge in the firstcentury
Mediterranean world, mental illness, psychosomatic diseases, and
such afflictions as epilepsy were often attributed to demonic possession.
If Jesus saw himself called to battle against these evils, which diminish
the lives of his fellow Israelites, it was quite natural for him, as a firstcentury
Jew, to understand this specific dimension of his ministry in terms
21 The Gospels speak about the following exorcisms: The Demoniac in the Synagogue at
Capernaum (Mk. l:38-28//Lk. 4:33-37); The Gerasene Demoniac (Mk. 5:1-20); The
Possessed boy (Mk. 9:14-29, Para.); The Mute (and Blind?) Demoniac (Matt. 12:22-
23a//Lk. 11:4); A Mute Demoniac (Matt. 9:32-33); Reference to Mary Madgdalene
(Lk. 8:2); The Story of the Syrophoenician Woman (Mk. 7:24-30, Para.).
22 John Meier, Marginal Jew, vol 2: 407.

Awwad: Satan in Biblical Imagination
—— 1 123
of exorcism. All of this simply underscores the obvious: Jesus was a man
and a Jew of his times.""
Looking at the issues of demon possession and demon exorcism in
Jesus' ministry from perspectives coming from cross-cultural
anthropological analysis and the field of psychiatry, Stevan Davies, in his
book Jesus The Healer, argues that demon possession occurs mostly
among individuals who are the most subordinate within family structures
(wives and children).^" The anxiety that women suffer either because of a
psychosocial problem or a conflict in interpersonal relationships, or
sexual abuse, or have a low status within the family is relieved through
demon possession. Through demon possession these women receive
sympathy and attention from others. Demon possession, therefore, is a
coping mechanism by which relatives can be controlled, an attempt for
survival. Men who also find themselves in socially subordinate positions
or are the victims of abusive family relations could also suffer the same.^'
Davies concludes, "it is almost certain that the majority of demonpossessed
individuals whom Jesus exorcised found themselves to be in
intolerable circumstances of social subordination within their family
groups, and it is likely that many and perhaps most of these were women
(as Luke indicates in 8:1-3: ...Jesus went through cities and villages,
preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the
twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil
spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven
demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward,
and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their
means)."" He continues: "what we can know is that becoming a demon
is normally a mode of response, a coping mechanism, and not a
supernatural event per se.""
23 John Meier, Marginal Jew, vol 2: 407.
24 Stevan L. Davies, Jesus The Healer (London: SCM Press, 1995), 81.
25 Stevan L. Davies, Jesus The Healer, 81-82.
26 Stevan L. Davies, Jesus The Healer, 85.
27 Stevan L. Davies, Jesus The Healer, 85-86.

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Theological Review
Davies proposes another model for the analysis of demon
possession from the field of psychiatry, one that has long been suggested,
that of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD),^' i.e., the presence of one or
more personalities within the same person controlling his/her behavior.
MPD "is almost always caused by specific traumatic instances in the past,
usually during childhood, and that those instances are more often than not
instances of sexual abuse."^' Other causes may range from "exposure to
death of a loved one, to accidents, to calamities of war, to cultural
dislocation and family chaos.'"" Davies adds, in dealing and coping with
the abuse, the abused creates a personality within which the experience is
encapsulated, and over the time "anger about the abuse...might also
become organized into alter-personalities"^' that begins to affect the
person's social relations. Mary Magdalene who was exorcised of seven
demons along with other New Testament instances of demonic
possession, argues Davies, were victims of MPD.
I do not wish to adopt all of Davies' conclusions. This area of study
requires more intensive research. But I think it is time to begin thinking
of demon possession along those lines sketched by Davies. More so, we
need to think of Jesus as a healer, a man of power, the power of God,
bringing wholeness (well being, salvation) to individuals and mending
their psychologically tormented lives, apart from the existence or nonexistence
of Satan.
Jesus' exorcisms were not limited in their significance to the
healing of individual cases, but had a collective significance on the sociopolitical
level of life." In a story that occurs only in Luke's Gospel, and
as Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem some of the Pharisees come and warn
28 My understanding is that MPD is nowadays called Dissociative Identity Disorder
(DID).
29 Stevan L. Davies, Jesus The Heaier, 88.
30 Stevan L. Davies, Jesus Tiie Heaier, 88.
31 Stevan L. Davies, Jesus Tiie Heaier, 88.
32 On this see, Richard A. Horsley, Jesus and The Spirai of Vioience: Popuiar Jewish
Resistance in Roman Palestine (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987).

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him to flee because Herod Antipas wants to kill him. Jesus responds with
a provocative saying against Herod describing him as a fox: "Go tell that
fox. Behold I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and
the third day I finish my course" (Lk. 13:31-32). Jesus' descriptipn of
Herod as a fox is to be understood as a negative evaluation of Herod, ahd
a critical assessment of his rule. But the fact that Jesus combines his
negative assessment of Herod's reign (fox) with his intent of going on
casting out demons, suggests that Jesus viewed Herod's reign as
demonic." The socio-political and economic realities enslaving the people
of Israel under Herod's supervision are demonic, and therefore, miist be
exorcised. In this context, I wish to suggest that Jesus' teaching in
general, and his parables in particular, must be understood also as
exorcistic in function, in that they are meant to combat the evil powers of
injustice, which Jesus viewed as the direct impact of Satan, sponsored and
protected by the power structures of his day.** I wish to also suggest that
Jesus' symbolic demonstration in the temple, as a protest against priestly
elitism of the temple under the leadership of the High Priest, was an
exorcistic act. Jesus' protest about the temple in the saying "...you niade
it a den of robbers," is a quotation from Jeremiah's well-known temple
sermon (7:11), and the phrase is used against the Jerusalem elite for not
amending their ways and for not executing justice with one another.
Yahweh will grant Israel a dwelling place only if the crooked ways and
injustices are eliminated. These crooked ways and injustices are spoken of
as the oppression of aliens, the fatherless and the widows, the shedding of
innocent blood and going after other gods. From Jesus' perspective, the
temple and its leadership, Herod and his reign, the power structures that
govern Israel are in the grip of Satan, ahd, therefore, must be exorcised.
The injustices committed are manifestations of Satan's rule over Israel's
See on this Walter Pilgrim, Uneasy Neighbors: Church and State In The New
Testament (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999) 87.
See on this my article, "The Kingdom of God and the State: Jesus' Attitude to the
Power Structures of His Day," Theological Review 22 (2001), pp. 35-60.

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126 1 ^
governing institutions. Jesus' ministry of parables, miracles and
exorcisms were Jesus' weapon against the powers of evil manifested in
psychological illnesses and social injustices, which he thought to be the
direct infiuence of Satan as an evil personified supernatural character.
Conclusion
Does Satan exist? I dare to say that he does not exist as a
supernatural personified evil that stands as God's enemy and opponent.
To a certain degree, this image was the product of shifts in his portrayal
in the Old Testament and the imagination of its writers. But more so,
Satan is the product of the imagination of "dissident groups" during the
Inter-Testamental period in the context of "intra-Jewish" conflict
concerning assimilation to Hellenistic culture and life-style and/or
struggle for power in which enemies were satanized. Does this mean that
Jesus' exorcistic ministry was an illusion? To the contrary, the
psychological illnesses he healed in his exorcisms, and the injustices he
battled in his teachings, and the stands he took against the power
structures of his day were real. We may not share his world view of Satan,
but the evils that were attributed to Satan, and which he combated, were
real. In this regard, the personal status of Satan is irrelevant for the reality
of evil and to its power in the human heart and society.