Job 1:6-12 - The Divine Council Index

Job 1:6-12

Job 1:6-12, in every translation this tool compares.

First, in plain English

The real question: is “the satan” here the devil's proper name, or a job title for a prosecuting role in God's court? "The accountant" names a job. "Mr. Accountant" would sound odd, because accountant is doing the work of a title there, not a name. A figure in an old story gets introduced with "the" in front of a role-word the same way. That marks an office, not a specific someone. He's holding a position, not wearing a name badge. This card reads “the satan” as an office, not a name.

The problem

There is a scheduled convening, an attendance report, and a figure who must ask permission before acting. None of that fits a freelance enemy of God.

King James

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

The capital S does the damage. Four centuries of English readers have met a character here rather than an office.

What this reading resolves

An office within an assembly explains the attendance, the permission, and the limits placed on him in the same stroke.

What it still does not

It does not tell you whether the office-holder here is the same figure later theology calls Satan, or a role that later thought grew into that figure. The text simply moves on, and Walton's own split between how he reads Job 1 and Genesis 6:2 shows working scholars don't agree how much continuity to assume.

What the alternatives leave open

Reading the figure as the later Satan of the New Testament has to explain why he reports in, why he asks, and why he obeys the boundary.

What this is not

The satan is a title here, not a name. The Hebrew carries the definite article, which a proper name cannot take.

The phrase

The sons of God here are bene ha-elohim, the same construction as Genesis 6:2 and the Qumran reading of Deuteronomy 32:8. Walton reads it as divine in this verse and not in Genesis 6, which is the split recorded below.

Where Walton splits from Heiser

Walton affirms the divine council here without hesitation, which is the interesting part. The same phrase he declines to read supernaturally in Genesis 6 he reads supernaturally in Job. Whether that is inconsistency or context-sensitivity is a fair argument to have.

Walton, Job (NIV Application Commentary)

Reads with

Psalm 82 Genesis 6:1-4 Deuteronomy 32:8-9

Beings in this passage

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{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/the-satan-of-job\/","n":"The satan of Job","s":"The accuser in Job, a job title in God's court rather than a personal name.","r":"Job 1:6-12"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/satan-ho-satanas\/","n":"Satan (ho satanas)","s":"The name the New Testament gives the chief adversary, a role that had become a name.","r":"Matthew 4:10"}

Sources

Parker, “Sons of (The) God(s),” Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2nd ed.
Cooke, “The Sons of (the) God(s),” ZAW 76 (1964): 22-47
Ellen White, Yahweh’s Council: Its Structure and Membership (FAT 2/65; Mohr-Siebeck, 2014)
Walton, Job (NIV Application Commentary): the dissent
Unseen Realm chs. 3, 8 bibliography