Satan

Satan is a Hebrew word, which roughly means ‘opponent' or ‘accuser'. In the Old Testament, Satan is generally portrayed as a lawyer-angel, who spends his time prosecuting sinners. It isn't entirely clear from these texts, however, whether Satan is a good or an evil figure. When the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek, the word satan was translated as diabolos, which in ancient Greek means ‘evil opponent' or ‘slanderer'. So by that point, Satan was clearly beginning to be understood as a more sinister person.

By the time the New Testament was written, the devil (diabolos) is described far more clearly as an evil person and as the leader of the fallen angels. Some interpreters would therefore say that there is a contradiction between Satan as described in the Old Testament (particularly in the book of Job) and the devil as described in the New Testament. Others would say that there is no contradiction, merely a clearer understanding of the nature of this person as time went on.

On the other hand, some do not believe that the devil is a literal individual. In their view, the devil is merely a personification of our own wrong desires. The Bible certainly never describes the devil as someone who wears red, has horns or who carries a pitchfork. Nor does it give such a being the name Lucifer. It was later Christian writers who applied the Latin text of Isaiah 14.12 (which refers to the king of Babylon as ‘Lucifer', meaning ‘light-bringer'), to the devil.